Miami Heat: Grading The Offseason

Tax-Shaving Trades

With the roster basically set, Riley’s next task became shedding salary to avoid a harsh luxury tax punishment. He also needed to trim the roster since there were 17 players on it at one point. The first move came by trading Shabazz Napier to the Orlando Magic for a 2016 second round pick that is top-55 protected.

The odds of the Heat ever getting that pick aren’t great since it’d have to fall in the 56-60 range, but the point of this deal was getting rid of one player and whatever salary — even Napier’s minimum salary — that Miami could manage.

I’m not convinced Napier was as terrible as everyone made him out to be in his rookie season, especially since he shot the ball relatively well from three-point range, but the Heat really only selected him in the first place because LeBron James tweeted that he liked his game.

The Heat then made the move to send Zoran Dragic, brother of Goran Dragic, to the Boston Celtics for a heavily protected second round pick. Miami also had to send a 2020 second round pick and $1.5 million in cash to facilitate the deal.

Unlike Napier, this one doesn’t hurt so much, even with the added incentives. While Napier had a bumpy rookie season, he showed flashes of potential. Zoki, by comparison, wasn’t able to prove he belongs in the NBA in his time with the Suns or the Heat.

Dragic played a grand total of 75 minutes last season, with 41 of them coming in Miami’s season finale when he scored 22 points. But other than that one game, Zoki has mostly been nothing more than bench support. His brother Goran knew about the trade and OK’d it, so there’s no reason to worry about pissing off the franchise point guard either.

Zoran will now either get his opportunity with another NBA team (Boston will waive him), or he’ll be paid better by going back overseas.

Grade: C+

Next: Overall