Jacari McRae | December 18th, 2019
The Miami Heat have been one of the league’s most surprising teams this season. The emergence of Bam Adebayo and the addition of Jimmy Butler have played a huge part in the team’s early success. As of Wednesday morning, the Heat’s season record is at 19-8, which ranks fourth-best in the Eastern Conference.
However, to reach legitimate contender status, Pat Riley and the Heat know they will have to acquire another star to pair with Butler. There appears to be one available in Jrue Holiday. According to Marc Stein of the New York Times, Holiday is officially on the trade block.
Yet what that also means is Jrue Holiday is indeed available via trade, league sources say. It would surely cost a significant amount to pry him away from the Pels, but this is a notable change in status given how unavailable Holiday was to interested teams last season
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) December 17, 2019
Holiday is the kind of player who can fit in any system. His defense and scoring would fit right in with the Heat’s system. Holiday could also relieve some of the ball-handling pressure from Butler, whose workload has been heavy in recent weeks. While Holiday’s three-point shooting(33.8 percent) is not ideal, the Heat have enough shooters to mask this issue. Miami ranks third in the league in three-point shooting(38.2).
However, the asking price for Holiday might be too steep for Miami. The New Orleans Pelicans are most likely going to ask for young players so Justise Winslow, Tyler Herro, Kendrick Nunn, and others may be included in the conversation. In my opinion, I don’t see the Heat moving Herro unless it’s for a superstar talent, like Giannis Antekokounmpo. Without including Herro, I don’t see how a deal can be done unless the Pelicans lower their asking price. And that’s unlikely.
Due to Miami’s lack of first-round picks in 2021 and 2023, the Heat needs to keep their young talent on the roster. While competing for East supremacy is certainly the goal in the short term, it’s very important that the Heat maintains flexibility for 2021. That’s the summer where many stars are expected to hit free agency and the Heat will be able to make a pitch to Giannis, for example, to play alongside Jimmy Butler and the Heat’s young talent.
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