The Miami Heat and the Los Angeles Lakers are having very different seasons. The Heat have managed to exceed expectations thus far despite striking out in free agency and seemingly failing to upgrade their roster. However, they have played surprisingly well, due in part to rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr., who's been far better than anyone expected.
Currently, the Heat are just two and a half games out of the third seed. That puts them in a far better position than they were last season when they finished as the ninth seed and had to win the play-in tournament to make it into the playoffs. Meanwhile, the Lakers also had a solid start to the season and even won the first-ever NBA In-Season Tournament but have been in free-fall ever since then, going 2-9 in their last 11 games.
That puts them 10th in the West and uncomfortably close to the Utah Jazz and the rising Memphis Grizzlies. With the Lakers struggling, The Ringers' Bill Simmons recently proposed an absolutely wild deal between the surprising Heat and the disappointing Lakers. Next, we will take a look at the proposed deal and grade the trade!