The NBA trade deadline is merely days away and the Miami Heat have already made a midseason trade by acquiring guard Terry Rozier from the Charlotte Hornets. Despite that, a new rumor suggests that the Heat are far from done.
The Athlete's Jared Weiss claims that the Heat may have interest in a highly sought-after Portland Trail Blazers power forward. Let's take a look at Miami's potential perfect trade target and grade the trade!
Grade the Trade: Miami fortifies major weakness amid slump with potential deal with Portland
“If Miami makes a move, it seems like a big wing is the main priority…Jerami Grant is the one guy who makes sense, as he has a similar contract to Herro & can bring comparable scoring & shooting efficiency while filling that defensive side need. Having a logjam of young guards… pic.twitter.com/lnSDm1SpsK
— Dru (@dru_star) February 3, 2024
In the proposed deal, the Heat would send shooting guard Tyler Herro to the Trail Blazers in exchange for Jerami Grant. That would be a fascinating deal for both sides. For Miami, they'd upgrade at power forward, a position of weakness for a team that has been struggling of late.
Grant has proven to be a consistent scorer at the four, averaging better than 21 points per game this season while shooting a blistering 40.3% from 3 on high volume. When paired with Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo in the front court, the Heat would suddenly have both size, defensive versatility, and scoring.
Of course, moving on from Herro would leave them thin at shooting guard, but they do have veteran Josh Richardson who could slot in and start in the backcourt with Rozier. For Portland, they would get a potent offensive guard who is nearly six years younger than Grant, on a better contract, and has more room to grow as an offensive player than Grant does. That being said, the Blazers did have a chance to acquire Herro last summer, but they declined the opportunity to do so.
They also have guards Scoot Henderson and Anferee Simons, as well as Shaedon Sharpe, making Herro a shaky fit at best for the Blazers. Then there is the supposed beef between the two franchises stemming from trade negotiations involving superstar Damian Lillard.
The Heat played hardball with the Blazers, daring them to find another deal, which they did with the Milwaukee Bucks. However, despite his preference to play there, Portland seemed uninterested in sending their best player to Miami.
The two teams linking back up for a big trade six months later seems hard to imagine but not impossible. Ultimately, the rumored trade makes far more sense for the Heat than it does for the Blazers. Therefore, the proposed deal gets a C-.