Why This Trade Makes Sense For The Miami Heat
The biggest question is why wouldn’t this trade make sense for the Miami Heat? Players like Damian Lillard do not come around too often and hardly do teams have a chance to trade for a player of his caliber. Adding Damian Lillard to a core of Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo recreates a version of “The Big 3” in Miami, making them virtually unstoppable.
With Lillard’s scoring abilities, Adebayo’s dominance in the paint and Jimmy Butler’s “do-it-all” personality and style of play, the Miami Heat would be able to run through teams in the Eastern Conference. Not to mention, they would still have Goran Dragic, Duncan Robinson and Avery Bradley as high-level contributors.
The only non-benefit of this trade for Miami is that they would be giving up a lot of depth and would not have many assets for the future. Tyler Herro and Kendrick Nunn are two players the Heat have in their plans for a long time and while they would still have Duncan Robinson and Precious Achiuwa as two young players moving forward, it would not be the same in terms of having a sustainable young core.
Not to mention, they would be giving up two first-round picks, leaving them with fewer opportunities to build a young core for the future. However, the Miami Heat may not have to be thinking long-term with youthful talent as Damian Lillard is 30 years old, Jimmy Butler is 31 years old and Bam Adebayo is only 23 years old.
All four of these guys will be able to play late into their 30’s and Bam Adebayo still has a whole decade plus of playing time before he begins to decline barring no major injuries or setbacks. Bench depth is the only major concern for the Heat in this trade, but they would have no problem going out in free agency and signing veteran players to minimum deals, much like the Lakers have done.
There are always high-level players chasing rings and championships and Pat Riley is no stranger to putting together championship caliber rosters. He faced the same situation creating a roster around LeBron, Wade and Bosh and he would have no problem creating a sustainable roster around Lillard, Butler and Bam.
