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Miami Heat: A trade proposition for the Indiana Pacers

By Simon Smith

NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 6: Goran Dragic #7 of the Miami Heat reacts during the game against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden on April 6, 2018 in New York City. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Matteo Marchi/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 6: Goran Dragic #7 of the Miami Heat reacts during the game against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden on April 6, 2018 in New York City. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Matteo Marchi/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Matteo Marchi/Getty Images)
(Photo by Matteo Marchi/Getty Images) /

Heat outlook

At his season-ending press conference, team president Pat Riley was asked for his overall assessment of the current roster:

To this point, clearly the right name has not presented itself, with the Heat returning with essentially the same nucleus. So while he may not have been able to snare a “transformational player,” Riley’s next step will most likely be garnering enough future cap space to have a genuine run at the crop of free agents available in the summer of 2019.

Of course, it’s noteworthy that Riley stated that no player was untouchable. Unfortunately for Riley, the Heat also possess a number of deals that are fairly close to untradeable.

Center Hassan Whiteside, fresh off a disappointing regular season and disastrous postseason, has two years and $52.5 million remaining on his deal. Combined with the fact the league is moving further away from the traditional center and thus becoming smaller and faster, these factors make moving Whiteside incredibly difficult.

Another contract crippling the Heat significantly is guard Tyler Johnson, owed $38.5 million over the coming two years. While Johnson is a valuable and solid contributor, trading him straight up for an impact player is clearly not viable.

Furthermore, there’s also the likes of James Johnson and Dion Waters on the books for the coming three seasons, who are each coming off a disappointing season in their own right.

This leaves a handful of other players as the most tradeable. While the young, up-and-coming trio of Josh Richardson, Justise Winslow and Bam Adebayo are attractive trade pieces, removing their salaries doesn’t make a great deal of difference in terms of cap relief.

This leaves Goran Dragic, who, at 32 and fresh off his first All-Star appearance, still retains a relatively high amount of currency. His $37.3 million owed over the coming seasons is more than reasonable, and when you combine this with the fact that he’s still performing at a high level, it couldn’t hurt a team such as the Pacers to make inquiries as to the status of the Slovenian star.

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