Winderman: Heat possess untouchables, shiny objects when it comes to trades | Commentary
The lesson learned from the 2019-20 NBA season that seemingly would never end is that some couldn’t wait for it to end to speculate about potential trades.
That has proved to be the case even with the league remaining in a personnel moratorium as the 2020-21 salary cap is computed and the personnel schedule is reset.
So to get ahead of the curve, perhaps it is best to set the Miami Heat’s exchange rates ahead of the market’s opening.
Untouchables
Bam Adebayo: There are two ways teams tend to structure their future — either a draft pick to build around or a free agent to build around.
In Adebayo’s case, unbeknown to even the Heat when they selected him at No. 14 in 2017, Adebayo became that draft pick.
Seemingly everything the Heat do on both sides of the court is designed around the emerging 23-year-old All-Star.
The only way you shift course with someone so impactful would be if you were rebuilding. The Heat are not rebuilding.
Jimmy Butler: And then you have the free agent you build around in Butler, which is why it would make no sense to reverse course with a player who is every bit the franchise yin to Adebayo’s yang.
Based on what Butler delivered in 2019-20, and based on how he delivered it, there are not many, if any, wings the Heat would trade for straight up.
Udonis Haslem: A completely different story here. But the Heat, at this point, would never trade Udonis Haslem. Just wouldn’t.
Not even worth discussing, for reasons that should be apparent to any and all, beyond the fact that he is an impending free agent.
Shiny objects
Tyler Herro: This is where you start if you want to trade to for proved, win-now talent (Bradley Beal? Jrue Holiday? Paul George? To a lesser degree, Victor Oladipo?).
There is the emerging talent, the youthful swagger, and the manageable rookie-scale contract — all rolled up into a single, tempting package.
Basically, if you refuse to take calls when Herro is mentioned, you essentially are telling the league you are going forward with the status quo.
And in a quick-turnaround season ... there is nothing wrong with that.
Kendrick Nunn: The runner-up for 2020 NBA Rookie of the Year stands as another potential trade sweetener.
Again, you have to offer something to get something. This would be a case of buying low and selling high.
Duncan Robinson: Shudder at the thought? Understood.
But the Heat have a knack for finding and refining shooters, from Jason Kapono to James Jones to Wayne Ellington to Robinson.
If Robinson is what is takes to close a bigger deal (Beal, for example), do you allow that to become a deal killer?
Creative assets
Kelly Olynyk: With so many of the Heat’s prime trade assets on minimal deals, an amount of ballast could be needed to balance deals. At $13.2 million on the final season on his contract (should he, as expected, opt in), Olynyk could well help facilitate a deal.
For that matter, if the Heat need to move Olynyk’s deal (once he opts in), it could be sweetened with, say, Nunn as part of such a package.
Andre Iguodala: Similarly, Iguodala’s $15 million for 2020-21 could balance a trade that includes one of the Heat’s smaller contracts.
As the Memphis Grizzlies showed last season, even if the intention by an acquiring team merely is to pass Iguodala along, there could be eventual value, with Memphis winding up with Justise Winslow.
Balancing acts
Chris Silva: Sometimes you simply need a minimum contract to balance a deal.
KZ Okpala: And sometimes a team covets your unknown prospect enough to seal a deal.
Sign-and-trades
Goran Dragic: While a sign-and-trade technically is possible, the real trade impact would be that if Dragic takes a one-year Heat contract, he automatically would receive the right to veto any trade.
Jae Crowder: It is possible there could be an asset gained in a sign-and-trade. But the preference seemingly remains a one-year deal as a keeper.
Meyers Leonard: This is where the Heat could potentially assist Leonard in receiving a higher salary elsewhere than the steep pay cut that appears inevitable.
Derrick Jones Jr.: It would seem, at this point, as if this will be a simple free-agent parting.
Solomon Hill: Perhaps to be re-signed to then fill out a trade. But that would appear the limit of trade impact .
IN THE LANE
BOSH ON BAM: Former Heat center Chris Bosh said it is time to show Bam Adebayo the money now and worry about 2021 free agency later, when it comes to Adebayo being eligible this offseason for a rookie-scale extension. Speaking on the Load Management podcast, Bosh said the possible machinations for Giannis Antetokounmpo can wait. “If it’s me in the GM’s chair, I’m locking Bam up right away. Will be no thoughts, nothing necessary. You can put that to the side.” Bosh said if Antetokounmpo becomes available in 2021 free agency, then deal with it then. “There’s always a way to figure out cap space,” he said. “You can concentrate on getting as far into the salary cap as you can, probably have a trade scenario in my pocket, just in case there’s a sign-and-trade opportunity.” If anything, Bosh could serve as a case study for Adebayo getting what you can when you can, considering the way Bosh’s career was suddenly cut short by blood clots.
MOST INTERESTING MAN: The Athletic’s survey of player agents offered an interesting response from an unidentified agent when asked about the general manager he would choose to hire. “Riley, no question,” was the response. “You sit in those free-agent meetings with him ... that guy is smooth. He just starts talking and doesn’t feel like a sales pitch at all. It just feels like history, wisdom. He’s just good. We’ve been in his office and it’s a cool layout, cool setting. It’s like the dude from the Dos Equis commercials. The most interesting man in the world. He’s such a good storyteller. And he’s not arrogant, either. He’s just cool and connects with people. He’s just really impressive.”
ABSOLUTE DOG: Count tennis star Nick Kyrgios among those impressed by the playoff leap of the Heat’s Jimmy Butler. “I was heartbroken when the Celtics went down to the Heat, I honestly thought that was a series we were going to take,” he told ESPN of his Boston fandom and disappointment in the Eastern Conference finals. “All credit to Jimmy Butler. He was an absolute dog all playoffs, and he’s solidified himself as a superstar in the league.” The animated Australian said he was happy for LeBron James, with the former Heat forward making his championship breakthrough with the Lakers. “But I’m glad LeBron James got that ring,” he said. “They always said he was doing it in a ‘weak East,’ and now he went to the West, finished as the No. 1 seed, and got it done. So I’m super stoked for LeBron.”
LEGACY LEFTOVER: Andre Iguodala has been gone from the Golden State Warriors for 16 months, but one element of the Heat forward’s departure from the Bay Area remains, the $17.2 million trade exception acquired in the trade with the Memphis Grizzlies. Ironically, it is available for the Warriors to utilize to reacquire Iguodala, with his salary fitting into that slot. Not only is that highly unlikely, but it looks as if it might not be utilized, because of the Warriors' position against the luxury tax. It expires seven days after the start of free agency, which has yet to be established. For their part, the Heat retain a $7.5 million trade exception from that Iguodala trade with Memphis, for the outgoing salary of James Johnson. Such exceptions must be utilized in a trade (not free agency) and cannot be aggregated with another exception or player. The Johnson exception expires at the 2020-21 NBA trade deadline, a date yet to be set.
NUMBER
2. Teams to be coached by multiple former Heat coaches. The New Orleans Pelicans became the second this past week, hiring Stan Van Gundy to replace former Heat coach Alvin Gentry. The Detroit Pistons have employed three former Heat coaches: Ron Rothstein, Gentry and Van Gundy.
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