In the Eastern Conference, the Milwaukee Bucks and Boston Celtics are leading the charge. As two of the best and deepest teams in the league, the competition will have to make some more moves if they want to catch up.
In Miami, the Heat are still considering their options after whiffing on both Donovan Mitchell and Kevin Durant. According to one NBA executive, they should consider trading Duncan Robinson for star big man Nikola Vucevic out of Chicago.
“There are not a lot of teams actively looking for big guys now, especially frontline big guys,” the executive told Sean Deveney of Heavy. “I think once the season gets going, if there is an injury, maybe that gets revisited. But probably the only team — and we’d have to see how things shake out there — is Miami. They wanted to make a big move, and they did not, not yet.”
“The Bulls had some interest in Duncan Robinson before and if the Heat really wanted Vuc, that could be the basis of a deal, Vuc for Robinson,” the exec said. “The Heat would have to add [Omer] Yurtseven, give Chicago a big guy to work with. And the Bulls would probably want them to take back Tony Bradley just to have a little more money under the tax in case they want to add a guy.”
NBA executive floats a possible Duncan Robinson-Nikola Vucevic swap: https://t.co/sBthMEVJ1v
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) August 18, 2022
While Vuc is not on the same tier as other stars in his position, he’s a top 10 center in the game today with a well-rounded offensive game and some solid defensive capabilities as well.
Alongside Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo, he could thrive as he helps Miami challenge their rivals for supremacy in the East. As great as Duncan Robinson has been, swapping him for a proven veteran like Vucevic is really a no-brainer if you’re the Heat.
