4. Trade assets
This really depends on how you view the various players on both teams, but it does look like one team has a bit of an advantage here. The Heat may have Hassan Whiteside, a monster in the paint, but the league has moved away from placing a premium on these types of players.
Whiteside only played 15.4 minutes per game (77 minutes all series) in the Heat’s first round playoff loss to the Philadelphia 76ers last season. This was because the matchups that were being thrown at Miami made using him difficult.
He’s a traditional player in an ever changing league. He’s also making over $50 million over the next two seasons before becoming an unrestricted free agent. Other organizations aren’t going near that.
James Johnson is probably their best trade piece, but he seems to fall somewhere in between a borderline star and an excellent role player, muddling his true value.
Goran Dragic has been a great point guard for years now. But the league is saturated with players in that position at this stage, and at 32 his best years are likely behind him. Looking at Orlando, there seems to be more to like about their ability to move players.
Aaron Gordon is now the face of the franchise, but his four year, $80 million deal, while a lot of money, is moveable if the team wants to go in another direction. Especially if he continues to improve the way he did last season.
Although they’re not going to want to ditch him for the foreseeable future. Jonathan Isaac and Mohamed Bamba are two other young players who will be on rookie deals for years to come that could be easily moved as well.
Again, it makes sense to keep all three to see if the core can be built around all of them. But it is more likely another team comes enquiring about one of those players than essentially anybody on Miami’s roster.
Even Jonathon Simmons, who had a poor first season with the Magic, could be moved before the trade deadline. Simmons is only making $11.7 million over this coming season and the next one, and it is not hard to see a playoff team wanting to acquire his services for a playoff run.
It’s kind of close, but the Magic have more flexibility to make roster moves.