5-on-5: Five Deadline Deals For Miami That Make The Most Sense

Commentary7 years ago11 min readMiami Heat Beat Staff

It is trade deadline season. Our expert staff at Miami Heat Beat is here to tell you how to think! Exciting right?

We’re borrowing on ESPN’s 5-on-5 idea where we take five of our staff writers (against their will)—sometimes a special guest columnist—asking them all the same questions to hear their differentiating opinions (hot takes) on what’s going on with the HEAT.

For this edition, each of our participating staffers will be proposing a trade and explaining it while the others give their takes on it. So without further ado, let’s get started.


Trade 1: Dion Waiters to WSH for Tomáš Satoranský + 2017 WSH First-Round Pick to MIA

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Alex Toledo’s Deadline Deal: With this trade, the HEAT get a similar haul to what the Lakers got from the Rockets for Lou Williams (Corey Brewer and a first-round pick). Although the circumstances aren’t the same (HEAT don’t take on bad contract and Waiters isn’t locked down for multiple years like Williams is), Waiters gives the Wizards the shot-chucking bench scorer they’ve been craving for.

If Dion can keep playing at a high level, this is a great trade for them, especially since he can be insurance for Bradley Beal. The HEAT add another young guy to look into, but most importantly, another first round pick in this year’s draft. If you’re not going to re-sign Dion for $14 million-plus, then this is a great return rather than losing him for nothing in free agency. It was fun, Dion. The Triple-A will always be your house.

Alf: I don’t know who this Satoranský person is. Does he even play in the states? The most important part of this trade is getting a first-round pick for Dion Waiters. That’s a win in my book. While Waiters has had some transcendent moments in a HEAT uniform, we all know what he really is. Erik Spoelstra put three coats of lipstick on that pig but he’s not fooling me.

Harrison Cytryn: Dion has been a revelation for the HEAT, but I don’t want to be the team to reward Waiters with a big contract based on a few months of good play. I’m just waiting for him to revert back to the dude who takes dumb shots, fudges layups at the rim, yells “And-1” when he isn’t fouled and dribbles the ball into oblivion. The Wizards were going after Lou Williams, so they need a scoring guard off the bench. Cash in on Dion while you still can.

Nekias Duncan: I like this one, but I’m not sure if Washington would be willing to part with a first-rounder considering Waiters would certainly decline his player option, and they’d be hard-pressed to keep him considering their cap situation and Otto Porter’s impending free agency. It’d also be weird for Washington to give up on Satoranský considering how much they like him.

Santiago Archieri: Easily a yes. If Waiters is able to salvage you a first-round pick, you go for it. Dion is fun and all but he will be looking for a payday in the offseason, maybe one that will be out of Miami’s price range. The HEAT has young guys who would fill the void Waiters’ leaves behind. Plus, imagine Mike Baiamonte saying “Tomáš Satoranský.”


Trade 2: Wayne Ellington & Josh McRoberts to NOP for Alex Ajinca, Quincy Pondexter, Terrence Jones + 2019 NOP second-round pick to MIA

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Nekias’ Deadline Deal: This one was mine. It isn’t sexy by any means, but it works for both sides. The Pelicans desperately need help on the perimeter, but currently, don’t have the roster spot to add anyone. This trade would—wait for it—knock out two Pelicans with one stone.

Ellington would give them a volume three-point threat while sending out three players would open up the roster spot needed to add a third point guard. Marc Stein has already reported that they plan on working out Quinn Cook and Mario Chalmers this week. McRoberts would mostly be salary filler, but his contract ends a year before Ajinca’s. For the HEAT, they’d add an intriguing backup four in Jones, and Willie Reed insurance in Ajinca. Pondexter would likely be waived.

Alf: Any trade where the corpse of McBob is no longer part of the Miami HEAT is a good one. Two years ago, Riley traded a pupu platter of nonsense to Phoenix for Goran Dragic. Shipping McBob off to Siberia will be his greatest accomplishment of all. No idea why New Orleans would do this, though … They need shooters, but Ellington is not the guy that’s gonna put them over the top.

Harrison: I’m down to take a flyer on Terrence Jones and adding a little extra money over the next few years to make this deal happen. If the HEAT can get rid of McRoberts, add some young, serviceable talent and acquire a future pick, you’d have to consider the trade deadline a success. I honestly have no idea why New Orleans would make this trade, but they do need to surround Demarcus Cousins and Anthony Davis with some shooters to space the floor. Maybe Wayne Ellington on a cheap deal entices them into this move.

Alex: Big fan of this trade. The HEAT gets a cheap serviceable 4 who can handle (you know Spo’s a fan), an okay insurance plan at the backup 5 with Ajinca and a second-round pick without trading back too much. Pelicans are gonna need to get rid of bigs on multi-year contracts, and this is the first step towards achieving that.

Santiago: Jones rookie contract is up this season, making him an unrestricted free agent. I’m not a fan of trading for players in their contract year. Also, Willie Reed is doing better than Ajinca this season so I would stick with him for the backup center position.


Trade 3: Hassan Whiteside & Justise Winslow to IND. Wayne Ellington, Josh McRoberts & Willie Reed to LAC. Blake Griffin, Paul George and Rodney Stuckey to MIA.

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Alf ‘s Deadline Deal:  The trade machine confuses me so I enlisted the help of Kaela Cochran (@Kaela2k) to work her magic. I basically told her to get me Blake Griffin … and I didn’t care how. She went over the top and threw in Paul George for good measure because she gets me. This really isn’t about the trade deadline, though … I just wanted to talk about how I think Griffin might be a real option for the HEAT this summer.

How many years is Griffin going to bang his head against the Western Conference ceiling before realizing the path is smoother out East? How many years is he going to toil under Doc Rivers’ ineptitude, destined to be this generation’s Charles Barkley? If the second half of the season has taught us anything, it’s that Spo can maximize the hell out of a player. Griffin needs Spoelstra. Spoelstra needs Griffin. We need to see this happen.

Harrison: In full disclosure, Alf had his “trade mistress” come up with this deal. It’s completely one-sided and favors the good guys. The HEAT and Pacers would be down to make this deal happen, however, the Clippers are getting ripped off. But Doc Rivers is a horrible general manager, and maybe Pat Riley could work his voodoo and make this happen. Who knows!

Alex: Just a horrendous trade for the Clippers. Do they even get a pick out of this? HEAT get two 🐋🐋, the Pacers get some potential building blocks and the Clippers still won’t have any type of cap space with this truly terrible trade.

Nekias: What the heck did the Clippers do to deserve this?

Santiago: If the Clippers do enough drugs to say yes to this, I’m all for it. Miami would form their own Big 3 with Dragic-Blake-PG, becoming a premier destination for players yet again. The best part of this trade: “There will be another parade down beautiful Biscayne Boulevard!”


Trade 4: Goran Dragic & Hassan Whiteside to POR for Damian Lillard, Festus Ezeli + MEM 2017 First-Round Pick to MIA

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Harrison’s Deadline Deal: I saw this trade mentioned on the inter-webs and I wasn’t that intrigued at first. But I proposed it anyway because it’s interesting, and Lillard could be considered a whale.

I slept on the trade last night. If you could grab a top-10 point guard on a long-term deal, the potential of Ezeli and another first-round pick, I’m in. Plus, you’re opening up a ton of cap space in 2018 when the HEAT could make a run at Boogie. Lillard and Boogie would be a fun tandem to watch. Not sure how likely it is that this trade would happen, but if it does, my guess is it would occur at the NBA Draft.

Alf: I don’t like this because I’m not the biggest Damian Lillard fan. Maybe it’s because his games are on way too late for me, or maybe it’s because his music is subpar, but I don’t see him as a transcendent talent or game-changer. This feels like a transaction for the sake of a transaction, and I don’t see the point.

Alex: Huge fan of this trade. Dame fits the mold of the type of young, all-star type talent the HEAT are looking for to be a primary building block, and to hopefully pair with another star or two (Hayward in ’17 & Boogie in ’18?) while also landing another first-round pick to pair with theirs.

And you could a lot worse than Festus Ezeli (who the HEAT liked in the 2012 draft) on a cheap deal. Meanwhile, the Blazers make their decision of focusing more on CJ McCollum and land two really good players to help balance out their team.

Nekias: I’m not sure I see the incentive for Portland to do this. Lillard is easily the best player in this deal, but leaving Miami with a huge hole at the five (Ezeli’s knees are shot) with no clear replacement seems iffy. But, hey, it’s a whale.

Santiago: Nope, nope, nope. Both Hassan and Dragic to get Dame and this Fetus dude? Hell no. I’d rather keep Dragic at his price than Dame at well over $25M a year. I’m not even going to get into the fact that Whiteside is part of this deal. Luckily, our team isn’t being run by Vivek Ranadive.


Trade 5: Josh McRoberts & James Johnson to PHI for Jahill Okafor & Nerlens Noel to MIA

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Santiago’s Deadline Deal: Miami’s frontcourt gets stacked with young talent and potential, giving Miami four or five young pieces to start building a core around. Noel could finally get his chance to prove his worth, Okafor can be a big asset off the bench and the asking price is not too much.

Alf: So the HEAT would become the new Sixers with three centers? Nah, I’m good. Thanks, though…

Harrison: I’m not so hot on this trade. I’d prefer Noel over Okafor and maybe ask for Covington (I’m a big RoCo fan) instead. But I know the HEAT have been linked to Okafor because of the Duke connection, and if anyone could get him to start playing on the defensive end, it’s Spo. But I doubt the HEAT give up JJ as he’s been the engine of this team, and I really don’t see why the 76ers would be interested in this package.

Alex: I have trouble seeing why Philly would trade both of them here for exactly one good player (who’s a free agent this summer), a cheap shooter from Philly and McBob’s corpse. For Miami, they get two talented young bigs and can still re-sign JJ in the summer if they want to.

From there, they’ve got their choice of what they want to do with three centers in their rotation. Whether that means they flip Whiteside or someone else would be interesting to watch.

Nekias: This doesn’t seem to make sense for either team. Okafor doesn’t seem like an on-court fit. Noel is intriguing, but he’s hitting the market this year and has plenty of injury questions. Even with that, this seems like a pretty bad return for Philly.


Want more Miami Heat Beat commentary and insight? Follow our writers and guest columnists on Twitter:

Giancarlo Navas (@gnavas103), Harrison Cytryn (@HotTakeHarry), Alex Toledo (@TropicalBlanket), Nekias Duncan (@NekiasNBA) & Santiago (@SantiArch8).