Why the Miami Heat should pursue a trade for Bradley Beal

Now that the Brooklyn Nets just swung a massive trade for James Harden, the Miami Heat should do the same for All-Star shooting guard Bradley Beal.

The Brooklyn Nets shook the basketball world by trading for James Harden, pairing up the reigning scoring champion with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving (eventually). To keep pace, the Miami Heat should look to swing a big trade, too, and Bradley Beal of the Washington Wizards should be the prime target.

There’s chemistry to be made with Brooklyn’s new big three, as well as some gaps in the rest of their roster, namely at the center spot. But if the Nets play their cards right, they can be unstoppable. Head coach Steve Nash can stagger his rotations so that two the greatest offensive weapons in recent memory can always be on the floor for 48 minutes.

The Heat, meanwhile, don’t have much of a reason to feel all that giddy. They don’t look like the same team that took the league by surprise last season. Miami’s offense is less crisp, committing 17.8 turnovers per game – which ties for the most in the league – and ranking 22nd in offensive rating. The Heat’s death-by-3-pointers-and-off-ball movement attack isn’t as lethal as it was last year.

It hasn’t helped that Jimmy Butler is off to a horrid start to this season. Miami’s go-to player is averaging a mere 15.8 points per game. Even though his slump isn’t a major cause for concern, Miami’s offensive prowess declining is.

The Miami Heat’s defense is in the middle of the pack right now, posting a 109.8 defensive rating that ranks 17th in the league. The defense certainly won’t be good enough to take down the Nets at full strength. Miami doesn’t have enough individual defenders to dole out one to each Brooklyn star and a zone defense likely won’t be effective against a team with so many knockdown shooters.

Swinging a trade for improved defenders would likely snip off some of Miami’s offense. Last season, Miami traded an injured Justise Winslow to the Memphis Grizzlies for Jae Crowder and Andre Iguodala. Having a young talent available helped them bolster their defense without sacrificing their offense. Crowder, in fact, helped Miami’s offense with his lights-out 3-point shooting.

Miami may not have the chance to make a trade like that. Rookie of the Year nominee Kendrick Nunn has fallen out of the Heat’s rotation, so he may be available for trade. But the 25-year-old guard might not bring back anything of serious value.

Moving Tyler Herro, Duncan Robinson and/or Goran Dragic may net valuable defensive reinforcements. But it may also devalue Miami’s offense by an unhealthy amount. Floor spacers are crucial to Butler and Bam Adebayo, whose offensive diets consist almost exclusively of shots inside the arc and therefore require space to operate.

The best chance the Miami Heat have to compete at a higher level is to acquire another star. The most realistic chance they have at doing that may be prying away Bradley Beal from the Wizards.

Let’s analyze why Beal would fit with the Heat.