After reaching the NBA Finals last year, falling for the Los Angeles Lakers, the Miami Heat entered the 2020-21 NBA season with high expectations and failed to meet any of them. They are currently below 0.500 at 11-15 and have a lot of work ahead of them if they want to make it to the playoffs this year!
Projections still have the Heat as a playoff team in the East this season, but if they continue to fight and lose games they shouldn’t have, then they can end a first round match against the 76ers, Nets or Bucks, which does not would be ideal for Heat.
With Jimmy Butler wasting time due to injuries this season and COVID-19 affecting several Heat players, this team barely played at full strength, which is a direct reason why they have been fighting this year. Getting this team back to 100% is the number one priority for Heat now, but it better be soon, because they don’t have time to wait.
Even though they are at full strength, this Miami Heat team seems to be missing out on something this year. They basically return the entire team from a year ago, except Jae Crowder and Derrick Jones Jr, but outside of Butler and Adebayo, that team has sometimes struggled to find production.
Miami really needs that third-caliber All-Star talent to push them into the title race again, which is why we were able to see Pat Riley and the Heat front-office be aggressive in the negotiation deadline this year. With several All-Star talents, rumored to be available, Heat may be at stake to make it a box office success.
With that said, let’s take a look at three highly successful trades that the Heat should consider doing as this year’s NBA negotiation deadline approaches quickly.