Miami Heat: Trading Goran Dragic And Starting Anew

By Quentin Haynes | Jan 24, 2017

Mar 17, 2016; Miami, FL, USA; Miami Heat guard Goran Dragic (tight) talks with Heat center Hassan Whiteside (left) during the first half against the Charlotte Hornets at American Airlines Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports /

The Miami Heat are in the midst of their worst season since 2006-07. With the team looking more towards rebuilding, should they trade Goran Dragic?

Two years ago, the Miami Heat swiped Goran Dragic from Phoenix. It wasn’t exactly fair; Miami was one of the few teams Dragic said he would re-sign in free agency with, mere days before the actual deadline. Suppressing his trade value worked as the Heat got Dragic for a 2017 first round pick, a 2021 first round pick and four players – three of which are no longer in the league.

The move was supposed to help Miami stay afloat as a contending team. After losing LeBron James, the Heat traded for Dragic and found gold in Hassan Whiteside. Those two, plus Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, were supposed to be good in the Eastern Conference.

But things changed. Wade, clashing with management, opted to leave for Chicago this past offseason. Bosh’s medical condition has him on the sidelines, most likely for good. Whiteside became a force, Dragic was good, and they even found two good rookies in Justise Winslow and Josh Richardson, but it wasn’t enough to sustain and continue the stretch of winning seasons.

Now, at the time of writing, the Heat sit at 15-30, 14th in the Eastern Conference. Even though they’ve gone 5-5 in their last 10 games, Miami stands 29th in the league with just Brooklyn ahead of them in draft positioning.

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Justise Winslow is out for the season, while Josh Richardson has missed time with various leg injuries. There are positives, like the play of Dragic and Whiteside. Tyler Johnson is making good on his $50 million contract and I quietly like Rodney McGruder a nice piece for backcourt depth.

But now, as the Heat continue to show their wares, I believe they should play the role of seller. And that should start with Goran Dragic.

At 30, Dragic is enjoying a great season. After a dip last season, Dragic’s Player Efficiency Rating has climbed up to 18.0, his usage rate – 26.5 percent – would be a career high, and he’s still a deadly all-around weapon on offense. His averages of 19.6 points and 6.3 assists per game are great, but he also knocks down 41 percent of his threes. While no longer mentioned as a top 10 point guard, Dragic is still pretty good.

The Heat should also consider trading Whiteside, but when you consider the center situation around the league and the fact he just signed a max contract, his list of possible destinations is tough to figure out. On the other hand, Dragic makes sense for a few teams who could use another ball-handler or scorer for their offense, even though he’s in his age-30 season.

There are positives and negatives to moving Dragic. Miami is destined to have a top-five pick with him on the roster and could keep him moving forward with its young nucleus. The Heat could move him and add a cheaper point guard, but it’s never a bad thing to have a point guard/creator to go with young players still figuring it out.

On the other hand, the Heat have those young assets and maybe the addition of Dragic could bring back a few assets back to add to the collection. The Orlando Magic were rumored to be interested in Dragic, but the price wasn’t right. Even with Elfrid Payton’s improvement this season, Dragic would be an improvement to an offense that needs a true playmaker.

Sacramento is another team who could use him, and after adding several young players in last year’s draft, maybe the Kings could put a deal together to attach a good point guard with DeMarcus Cousins. If the Denver Nuggets wanted to sell on Emmanuel Mudiay, I could also see that fit as Denver tries to make the playoffs for the first time since the 2012-13 season.

I also like the idea Philadelphia, but Dragic is a bit old for that team’s window and there’s no natural fit in terms of assets.

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Goran Dragic is a fine point guard on a decent contract and based on the direction the Miami Heat are going, they should trade him. Teams like Denver and Orlando could take a considerable step forward by acquiring Dragic and both teams have assets — both in draft picks and players — that could entice the Heat and add to their group of young players.

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