Miami Heat: 5 predictions for the 2018-19 NBA season

3. A key rotation player will be traded

Put simply, there are too many mouths to feed at present on the Heat roster.

With the signing of Wade, the Heat now have a plethora of options to run at the shooting guard spot. Dion Waiters, Wayne Ellington, Rodney McGruder, Tyler Johnson, Josh Richardson and Wade are all ideally suited for the shooting guard spot.

Granted, Richardson will most likely resume duties as the starting small forward, while Waiters’ return from ankle surgery is still uncertain. However, having such a logjam at the 2 does no favors to the players involved, and thus the overall morale of the team. Once the season commences and all these players listed are available and healthy, something is going to have to give.

In all likelihood, this will mean a trade of a key rotation piece. Of those listed, Johnson is the most unlikely to be moved, purely because of the $38.5 million owed to him over the coming two seasons. Furthermore, Johnson has a 15 percent trade kicker inserted into his deal, meaning the team acquiring him would be paying him a significant amount in order to facilitate the trade.

Richardson is highly unlikely to be moved simply because of his upside, while Ellington and McGruder possess team friendly, one-year deals. That leaves Waiters as the most likely to be dealt, but his present injury concerns and the length of his current deal mean it’s also going to be tough finding a taker for his services.

In all likelihood, a move is going to be made for a player not listed above, namely Goran Dragic or Justise Winslow. While dealing either Dragic or Winslow in essence doesn’t free up this logjam per se, it still frees up playing time at other positions. In the event Dragic were dealt, players such as Johnson and Waiters have demonstrated the requisite ball-handling and playmaking skills necessary to perform on the fly.

While there’s no easy answer, removing a piece of the rotation is not just likely, it’s necessary.