Miami Heat Sheds Salary in Jarnell Stokes Trade

The Miami Heat shed salary by trading power forward Jarnell Stokes to the New Orleans Pelicans.

It’s looks like the Miami Heat are priming to make a splash in the 2016 offseason. The team reportedly traded second-year power forward Jarnell Stokes to the New Orleans Pelicans Thursday.

The Pelicans will reportedly use their trade exception, acquired when they traded point guard Ish Smith to the Philadelphia 76ers in December.

In an attempt to target the premier free agents on the market come July, Miami is doing their due diligence to shed whatever excess they have on their roster. While Stokes, a former second-round pick back in 2014, won’t solely get the Heat back to an ideal flexible position to make moves, it’s definitely a start.

Stokes wasn’t featured in Erik Spoelstra’s rotations this season, as the head coach preferred a more consistent contributor in Amar’e Stoudemire off the bench and as a starter in Miami.

Stokes played most of the season in the Heat’s D-League affiliate Sioux Falls, where he averaged 20.6 PPG and 10.2 RPG in 16 total games. Playing in 26 career games in the association, Stokes has been efficient in limited minutes.

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A career 57.1 percent field-goal percentage is a gaudy number, but at a  relatively low sample size-he’d ideally be more viable on a rebuilding team like the Pelicans instead of a playoff contender such as the Heat. Stokes is averaging just 1.4 PPG and 0.4 RPG in only five games this season.

Per Marks, the Heat are incrementally finding ways to unload salary without having to add additional sweeteners like draft picks. The Heat are almost devoid of first and second round picks in the next few years. However, with a championship pedigree, Pat Riley is banking on luring in a big fish to add firepower to an aging roster.

The Heat have been linked in the past to the premier talent on the market this summer. It looks like many teams will be making moves in order to lower their salary cap for Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant.

Since LeBron James took his talents back north to his hometown of Cleveland, Miami hasn’t been able to find consistent production from the small forward position. While it’s almost impossible to replicate James’ numbers on the court, the Heat have been inept at the three.

Per hoopsstats.com, Miami is last in offensive efficiency, and near the bottom of the league in field-goal percentage, defensive efficiency and points per game. Whether they have enough of a pitch to land Durant or not, the Heat can target more realistic options now that they’re making a play for free agency.

While Harrison Barnes is a restricted free agent, who could demand a max contract due to his uptick in production as he reaches his prime, the Mavericks’ Chandler Parson has a player option worth monitoring.

Maybe a Jeff Green or an Evan Turner could play under the Miami sun next season, as the Heat try to find the most optimal route to the Eastern Conference finals. They also can targets guys on the market currently, driven to help a contending team advance far in the playoffs.

At 29-24, Miami is currently fifth in the Eastern Conference. Only the Cavaliers look to be in the tier of heavyweights, while the rest of the conference fights for positioning in the seeding. Getting a top spot in the East is a definite selling point for free agents, despite the aging of the teams’ core players in Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.

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Pat Riley acknowledged that Stokes wouldn’t be part of the team’s long-term plans and wisely shipped him off to a team that could possibly have a use for him. The boss has been known to have locked on to star players before (LeBron, Chris Bosh), and shedding salary played favorably for the Heat previously.