If the Miami Heat strikeout on Damian Lillard, here are three potential consolation prizes to pursue via trade.
The Miami Heat finished last season with 44 wins and the No. 8 seed after months of locker room turmoil and on-court struggles. The result? Another Finals run, the second of Jimmy Butler's tenure with the franchise.
No team can overcome adversity quite like the Heat. That team battles and then battles some more. Erik Spoelstra is widely considered the best coach in the NBA and Pat Riley is well-known for his voodoo abilities in the front office.
Miami isn't going to rest on its laurels after getting gentlemen swept out of the Finals by the Denver Nuggets. There's plenty of room to improve the roster around Butler and All-Star center Bam Adebayo.
One name heavily linked to Miami in recent weeks is Damian Lillard. The Blazers have struggled to build a contender around Lillard and a trade request feels plausible, maybe even imminent. If Portland ultimately holds on to the 32-year-old from Weber State, however, there are other options Miami can consider.
No. 3 player the Miami Heat can trade for besides Damian Lillard: Dejounte Murray
The Hawks are basically making everyone not named Trae Young available. Dejounte Murray struggled to adapt to his new surroundings last season, but he's only one year removed from an All-Star appearance with San Antonio. He's also on the final year of his contract, which could spur Atlanta to trade him while it's still an option.
Murray is set to make $17.7 million in 2023-24, a price point well below his on-court value. He averaged 20.5 points and 6.1 assists on 54 TS% as Trae Young's backcourt running mate last season. Murray earned All-Defensive team recognition in 2018.
The Heat are potentially short on guard depth with the looming free agency of Gabe Vincent and Max Strus. Kyle Lowry is on the decline, Victor Oladipo's health is a perpetual question mark, and Tyler Herro comes with a significant Achilles heel on the defensive end.
Murray is probably the perfect backcourt running mate for Herro on paper. Long and athletic, he's the dogged on-ball defender and set-up man Miami needs to complement Herro's score-first mentality. The spacing with Murray, Butler, and Adebayo isn't great, but Murray isn't a non-shooter and the Heat are better than most teams at maximizing mismatched talents.
No. 2 player the Miami Heat can trade for besides Damian Lillard: Zach LaVine
The Chicago Bulls are expected to float Zach LaVine's name on the trade market this summer. While the cost of trading for LaVine relative to his enormous contract might scare teams off, it's hard to deny how close the Heat are to title contention. LaVine can absolutely take them to the next level offensively.
LaVine has roughly four years and $178 million left on his contract, including his $48.9 million player option for 2026-27. Given his injury history, it's hard to stomach that much long-term money. But again, the Heat tend to get the most out of players at every stage of their career and LaVine, for the time being, can absolutely deliver star value.
The former dunk champ averaged 24.8 points on 60.7 TS% last season. Still able to tap into his elite first step and floaty athleticism, LaVine is a dangerous scorer who can bomb deep 3s or smoke defenders on straight-line drives. His 7.1 three-point attempts per game would greatly benefit a Heat offense that struggled to produce from long range during the regular season.
LaVine comes with his share of question marks on the defensive end. The Heat would presumably have to include Tyler Herro in any trade, however — if anything, LaVine is a mild upgrade on that front. Miami also has strong defensive personnel and one of the true schematic masters at the helm in Erik Spoelstra, so the concern is mitigated. LaVine would be extremely fun to watch working off of Butler and Adebayo, and vice versa.
No. 1 player the Miami Heat can trade for besides Damian Lillard: Karl-Anthony Towns
The Timberwolves were robbed of a full season of the Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert partnership in the frontcourt. It could be worth another look, but frankly the Wolves would be smart to reallocate some of their financial resources to the perimeter.
Naz Reid's extension only increases the possibility of a Towns trade. Gobert's contract is pretty much unmovable; Towns can net the Wolves real assets to build out the roster around Anthony Edwards. Towns is still a borderline top-30 player who gets too much of a bad rap.
The Heat would immediately benefit from Towns' shooting. While Miami's Finals run was defined by fluky 3-point numbers, the Heat were terrible from 3-point range last season. Towns can credibly proclaim himself the best shooting 7-footer in NBA history. He's a career 39.5 percent shooter from long range on 4.2 attempts per game.
On top of the shooting, Towns is a capable post scorer who can anchor lineups offensively — especially when Butler sits. The passing talent between Adebayo and Towns in the frontcourt would give Miami a ton of fun wrinkles to incorporate on offense. Meanwhile, Butler-Towns pick-and-rolls would decimate the opposition.
The obvious elephant in the room here is Towns' complicated relationship with Butler during their shared tenure in Minnesota. Butler pretty openly questioned Towns' work ethic and commitment to winning, so they'd need to squash that beef for Miami to even consider a trade. But, talent-wise, there's no denying the immense value Towns would bring to a team in need of more size and scoring.