Miami Heat: 3 crucial areas to address at the trade deadline

Acquire a good defensive guard

The Heat own the league’s best defensive rating over the last two weeks, per Cleaning the Glass. But there is still room to grow. Miami’s main guards are solid team defenders but not very good individually. Avery Bradley, who was signed as a free agent to fix this issue, has dealt with injuries and isn’t the same impactful defender he used to be in Boston.

Delon Wright should be a relatively easy target. The bottom-dwelling Detroit Pistons have already cut bait with veterans Derrick Rose and Blake Griffin. A full-on rebuild is underway in the Motor City, so the 28-year-old Wright should be on the trade block.

In 29.2 minutes per game, Wright is averaging 10.5 points, 4.9 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 1.5 steals, all of which are career highs. His 38.5 percent shooting from beyond the arc is nearly a personal best as well. He should be fine, if not helpful, on offense while providing solid defense. He has the size to match up with both guard spots and ranks in the top 20 in steals per game.

Other options are San Antonio’s Patty Mills and New York’s Elfrid Payton, who could be easily acquired due to their expiring salaries. Mills is feisty, lighting quick and shoots 39.4 percent from deep. Payton is less useful on offense – rather useless when he doesn’t have the ball, to be honest – but he has the strength to bother opposing guards and hand quickness to steal and deflect passes.