Miami Heat: Why they should pursue Kevin Love or Harrison Barnes over James Harden

Why Kevin Love or Harrison Barnes are better options for the Miami Heat

Consequently, Miami would be better off pursuing Kevin Love or Harrison Barnes at the deadline as they would fulfill the floor spacer role at a lower price. Love has made 38.1 percent of their catch-and-shoot threes on 5.2 attempts per game over the last seven seasons. Conversely, Barnes is shooting 37.1 percent on catch and shoot threes during that span on three attempts.

More importantly, the Houston Rockets are looking to acquire a young player with franchise cornerstone potential and multiple first-round picks in a Harden trade. Miami won’t have to give up as much to get Barnes or Love. The Dallas Mavericks traded Barnes to the Sacramento Kings for Justin Jackson and Zach Randolph in 2019.

On the other hand, the Cleveland Cavaliers are having difficulty creating a trade market for Love. John Hollinger told Chad Ford last month that he didn’t believe Love had a trade market at that moment. Therefore, Miami could offer both teams a young player in Kendrick Nunn and salary filler (Kelly Olynyk and/or Andre Iguodala) for either player.

Although Harden is the better player, Butler’s current limitations would force him into a role that the team could fill with a cheaper alternative.