• The Miami Heat have missed out on Damian Lillard
• The star point guard was moved to rivals Bucks after being linked with the Heat for the entirety of the summer
• This is the fourth marquee trade target the Heat have missed out in two seasons
The Miami Heat have spent another summer trying to land a superstar in a trade to return them to championship glory. Unfortunately for Heat fans, it’s another summer spent in vain as they saw Damian Lillard finally get traded. Everyone thought Lillard to the Heat was a question of when not if, but it turns out the Bucks had more than enough to convince Lillard to play for them and give the Blazers what they wanted.
This is a familiar story for Heat fans, who have seen multiple superstar players want to come join their franchise but the front office can never get a deal done. The Heat are either permanently being used for leverage or refusing to match asking prices. They got cocky in the Lillard pursuit and fans have started to blame Pat Riley for these mistakes.
But what players in recent years could have been on the Heat and the team completely failed at acquiring them?
Kevin Durant – 2022 Offseason
The 2022 offseason was an explosive one, seeing league-changing trades for Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert. But the initial drama was started by Kevin Durant, who requested a trade from the Nets alongside Kyrie Irving. Durant had told the Nets his preferred destinations were the Heat and Suns, but the Heat never aggressively pursued Durant.
Even when KD became available in the winter, it was the Suns that easily went all-in to acquire a player of Durant’s caliber while the Heat were okay with being a team that had to go through the play-in tournament to get into the playoffs.
Even though the price for Durant may have been untenable for Miami, they ceased being a factor in a possible Durant trade very quickly last summer.
Donovan Mitchell – 2022 Offseason
Another player that was looking at the Heat as a possible destination was Donovan Mitchell. The Jazz traded Rudy Gobert earlier in the offseason, which meant that everyone knew Mitchell would be on a new team before training camp. While the Heat weren’t the No. 1 favorites to land him as even Mitchell thought he was going to the Knicks, they didn’t take the possibility of a Mitchell trade seriously.
The Heat had Kevin Durant in their sights when Mitchell became available, holding off on their assets until they knew what the Nets would do with Durant. But even after the Durant trail went dead a month into the offseason, the Heat didn’t pursue a Mitchell deal nearly as aggressively as the other teams did, despite insiders claiming they were looking for a deal.
Ultimately, the Cavaliers could easily blow everyone out of the water with their offer. This led to another All-NBA talent not joining the Heat because the franchise waited too long to make its best offer.
Bradley Beal – 2022/23 NBA Season
Trading for Bradley Beal might have been the easiest out of any of the players mentioned here, but the Heat again didn’t show the urgency they needed to. The Beal trade links started soon after he signed his supermax extension last summer, with people expecting the Heat to swing for him by the trade deadline. They did try but a weak offer was rejected by the Wizards.
Beal was interested in coming to the Heat and had full control over which team he joined next. Phoenix swooped in from out of nowhere to take another Heat trade target, as they offered enough for the Wizards to be comfortable with a trade. The price of the deal wasn’t even that high, meaning the Heat could have executed a deal sooner if they were aggressive.
Miami wasn’t thrilled with the luxury tax implications adding Beal to their roster would bring and started prioritizing Damian Lillard early in the offseason.
Damian Lillard – 2023 Offseason
It seemed like it was only a matter of time before Lillard ended up on the Heat. He and his agent did everything in their power to force their way to Miami, but the Blazers held off for as long as they could. In that time, the Heat reportedly made unserious offers to Portland which led to the team ceasing talks with Miami as the Raptors and Bucks made their bids.
There is ambiguity over what the Heat offered, but it does seem like they were holding back assets because they thought the market wouldn’t be active. But when it’s an All-NBA caliber player, teams find a way. That’s what the Bucks did, bringing in Phoenix to add pieces that Portland wanted and convincing Dame that Milwaukee is his best chance to contend for a title.
The same Pat Riley that once brought LeBron James and Chris Bosh to team up with Dwyane Wade has now gone 0/4 trying to navigate the modern NBA superstar trade market.
Miami Heat Lost Two NBA Finals In Last Four Seasons
The Heat have good reason to be protective of their assets given the success they’ve had against people’s expectations. The Heat’s roster has not jumped out as ‘stacked’ in the Jimmy Butler era, yet they have two Finals appearances to show for it. What they don’t have to show is their championship ring, with the team still looking for their first title since 2013.
Butler is a playoff superstar but the team’s ceiling doesn’t seem to be a championship in their current form. They’ve clearly hit their ceiling and now need a player who can shatter the glass barrier on top. If they can get that one major piece for a disgruntled Tyler Herro, they may be among the favorites in the East.
They shocked the world both times they made their Finals run, so they could realistically continue doing that. But as the team ages and now enters a fifth season with the same core, stagnation, and regression are bound to hit even the strongest of ‘cultures’.
Should We Blame Pat Riley Right Now?
Pat Riley has brought the Heat every bit of success they’ve gotten in the last two decades. He excelled as a coach and brought the franchise’s first title in 2006 while also working as a GM and convincing the likes of Shaquille O’Neal to join. In addition, he pulled off the greatest free agency move in league history when he landed LeBron James and Chris Bosh in 2010.
But it’s not 2010 anymore and no marquee free agent has come to Miami in years. The move for Jimmy Butler in 2019 is one example pointing the other way, but nobody in the league wanted to pay him due to his perceived locker room issues. Riley deserves credit for seeing through the smoke, but they didn’t have to beat out other teams like they’ve had to recently.
The trade market is entirely different than recruiting a free agent. These players came pre-recruited and wanted to don a Heat jersey. But Riley was too cautious with what he would give up, not realizing that in the modern NBA, a team would give up the house and the farm to ensure their team got the best.
By missing out on all these players, Riley has inadvertently made some of his rivals better. These trade pursuits also hurt the Heat’s ability to sign free agents in the early days of the market, which leads to the best player being signed and the Heat needing to unearth more diamonds out of the rough.
What Is The Alternative For The Heat?
We’re going into the fifth season of a Heat core that has started stagnating, if not regressing. Without a Lillard trade, the Heat have lost crucial rotation players in Max Strus and Gabe Vincent. Kyle Lowry is a year older and Tyler Herro is furious with the franchise for how they’ve treated him in their pursuit of Lillard.
Simply put, they need to make a trade to acquire a genuine point guard on this roster. There are players available, like Jrue Holiday who would be a perfect fit for Heat Culture. But with the Blazers likely not wanting to deal with the Heat, it’s unlikely they can land him.
There are also pie-in-the-sky targets like Zach LaVine, but the Bulls don’t have a clear direction right now and will likely hold off on trading LaVine until they know what they’re doing next.
Maybe James Harden is a realistic target given his low stock and the Heat’s ability to offer more than what others are offering. Either way, it’s going to be a long season in South Beach unless Pat Riley can be the ‘Godfather’ once again and land a big score before the season starts.
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