Miami Heat Trade Rumors: Team Turns From Sellers To Buyers At NBA Trade Deadline

Miami Heat trade rumors have taken a recent 180-degree turn. The NBA season can be fickle at times, but Miami has seen immense success lately, going on a 13-game winning streak to race up the Eastern Conference standings. With a 24-30 record now, the Heat are knocking on the No. 8 playoff spot in the East.

The updated NBA standings have the Miami Heat just one game behind the Detroit Pistons (25-29) with 28 games left on the regular season schedule. Going from 11-30 to 24-30 in the span of a month has also shifted the Heat from being sellers at the NBA trade deadline to becoming buyers again. It could lead to team president Pat Riley bringing in more talent to help the team make it to the NBA Playoffs.

So what is the team looking to acquire before the NBA trade deadline? The answer is pretty obvious to anyone paying attention, as the team has been playing Luke Babbitt as the starting power forward. While he gives the Heat an additional weapon from three-point range, he has been a liability on the defensive end of the floor. Dealing for a power forward and playing Babbitt off the bench could make the team much deeper.

Quite a few NBA trade rumors suggested that center Hassan Whiteside and point guard Goran Dragic would be dealt to help the team go into a full rebuilding effort. Then, suddenly, the team started clicking, with Whiteside and Dragic playing at an All-Star level again. It has quieted the Miami Heat trade rumors about dealing the star players and has evolved into discussions about adding salary.

The trick for Pat Riley and the rest of the front office in Miami will be to acquire talent with very few assets to offer in return. Unlike most teams around the NBA, the Heat cannot part ways with a first-round pick in any of the upcoming drafts. A report by the Sporting News states that the Phoenix Suns own their picks for 2018 and 2021, taking away the ability to deal the picks from 2017, 2019, or 2020. One of the relatively new NBA rules is that teams cannot trade first-round picks from consecutive years.

Josh Richardson or backup point guard Tyler Johnson seem like the most likely candidates to get shopped around the league. Is there a struggling team looking to deal a power forward simply to get out of future salaries? It’s possible, but those teams would likely be offering bad contracts if the Heat cannot offer a significant asset in return. There is also the question about whether the team is actually good enough to put up a fight during a first-round playoff series.

The Miami Heat schedule has two more winnable games over the next three days, with the team traveling to play the Philadelphia 76ers and then coming home to play the Orlando Magic. Miami finishes up against the Houston Rockets (Feb. 15) before heading into the All-Star break. Winning those three games would likely move the Heat up to the No. 8 slot in the East, proving that the team is good enough to make a real run at the postseason. It might also convince the front office to pull the trigger on a move.

While it did take a while for the current roster to finally gel on the court, the trio of Hassan Whiteside, Goran Dragic, and Justise Winslow has been everything fans had hoped for this year. If only Chris Bosh was healthy and starting at power forward, this team might be a real threat in the playoffs. The good news is that the Miami Heat trade rumors of breaking the team up have quieted in exchange for excitement about what the short-term future might hold for the team.

[Featured Image by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images]