Death, taxes and Miami Heat trade rumors for a star player!
While there’s still plenty of speculation surrounding the future of Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell–who the Miami Heat have been linked to the last several seasons–the Cavaliers reportedly have interest in both Tyler Herro and Jaime Jaquez Jr., Ashish Mathur of Hoops Wire reported Monday.
“A source told Hoops Wire that the Cavaliers would ask for Tyler Herro and Jaime Jaquez Jr. from the Heat in Mitchell trade talks if it gets to that point,” he said. “Gilbert and Koby Altman would look for a lucrative package of multiple draft picks and one or two young players with star potential in a Mitchell trade.
“If Mitchell decides not to extend with the Cavaliers and Gilbert and Co. opt to trade the guard out of fear of losing him for nothing in 2025, the Lakers, Miami Heat, Brooklyn Nets, New Orleans Pelicans, Houston Rockets and Memphis Grizzlies are expected to try to trade for Mitchell, sources told Hoops Wire.”
Mitchell, 27, has two more years left on a five-year, $163 million max deal he signed ahead of the 2020-21 season, when he was a part of the Utah Jazz–including a $37.1 million player option in 2025-26. He is eligible to sign a four-year, $208.5 million extension on July 6. If he waits a year, opts out of his player option and then decides to re-sign, he will be eligible for a five-year deal upwards of approximately $270 million.
Jaquez and Nikola Jovic are arguably the Heat’s two most prized assets outside of Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler, so it’s not a surprise that only one of these players would be in the reported asking price for Mitchell.
Jaquez, 23, earned first-team All-Rookie honors Monday and finished fourth in Rookie of the Year voting. He averaged 11.9 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.0 steals in a team-most 75 games, shooting 48.9 percent from the floor, 32.2 percent from 3-point range and 81.1 percent from the free-throw line.
“If he not gotten hurt with the groin earlier in the season, he plays, he would’ve played 82 games,” Heat president Pat Riley said about Jaquez earlier in May. “He ended up playing 75 games and, believe me, he was hurting when he missed those games. He’s a proud young warrior that will play every night for you.”
Herro’s season was mired by multiple injuries to his ankle, foot and knee. He averaged 20.8 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.5 assists, shooting 44.1 percent from the floor, 39.6 percent from 3-point range and 85.6 percent from the free-throw line.
This report nowhere suggests that Herro and Jaquez would be the only two assets included in a possible deal. The Heat currently have $189.0 million in projected payroll for 2024-25–including the projected cost of No. 15 overall ($4.24M) and Herro’s $2.5 million of unlikely bonuses, in addition to assuming all player options are exercised and all contracts become guaranteed–less than $500K below the ultra-punitive second apron. Cleveland currently has $13.5 million in luxury tax space, per Spotrac.
Being over the first apron and below the second, the Heat are still fortunate enough to aggregate salaries in a trade, but cannot take back more salary than they trade away.
Thus, Miami must get up to $35.4 million (Mitchell’s cap hit) in order to complete a trade. A trade only including Jaquez and Herro gets Miami up to $32.7 million, which isn’t nearly enough; adding Jovic gets it to $35.2 million.
The Heat can only currently trade two first-round picks: Their 2024 selection (on draft night) or its 2030 pick, due to the stipulations on the 2025 and 2027 picks, owned by Oklahoma City and Charlotte, respectively. If they could somehow free up both of those picks, they would have more picks to trade. They are in the ballpark, but could be out-bid if Dan Gilbert and Koby Altman find a more feasible offer.
In the end, you ultimately have to give something to get something. What do you think the starting package should be? Let us know in the comments!
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You can rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic any way you want, but the Heat cannot win a championship with Bam at center! Miami needs to trade for or draft a rebounding, scoring, defensive two-way center (who can preferably stretch the floor). At minimum, Miami must acquire a big PF who can take some of the burden off of Bam. If he goes down from all the physical demands of being required to cover the the paint and bang with the big boys as well as covering the entire floor against positions 1-5, the Heat will be shit out of luck!
Key Miami Weaknesses
Blocks #30
Field Goal Attempts: #28
Offensive Rebounds: #26
Points: #26
Field Goal %: #22
Defensive Rebounds: #16
Good gathering of information. Maybe this is one of the most direct ways of judging us against the league, and seeing our weaknesses.
pretty evident watching the games.very few second chance pts .very few fast break pts.
I still think it’s scoring for us. Even the gentleman’s sweep against Boston–there we a couple games we played good d and couldn’t score.
So how does a starting quality big improve our offense? I’m not asking pejoratively, I’m really curious to who that player could be and what they’d bring to the table.
The 3 point shooting is the obvious answer, but can that player play off of where on the floor Bam makes an offensive impact? Or is Bam gonna be handling the ball more often in PnR?
Mia needs star power/talent and scoring more than they need a big man. Saying all they need is a two way center and nothing else is nasty work
*”At minimum, Miami must acquire a big PF who can take some of the burden off of Bam.”
Butler for Randall and Robinson works for me.
mitch never healthy sun julius one on one player ill pass on this one.pf pat should have gotten from ny was ob.
ob toppin would have been nice pickup
2nd chance pts offensive rebounds steals gotta be bottom .flawed team to many one wayers sun
i see off rebounds thought it be lower lol.to many short non athletic folks edey time
Welcome to being a fan of the heat, where we see which way the league is trending and what do we want. A part time 35 year old injury prone player as a number 1 option and just get a big man and they will be fine lmao. Speaking of that 35 yo injury prone part time player, against top 10 defenses this year he didn’t show up and if memory serves think he avg 15 ppg in those games lol. The 4 teams left in the playoffs have current gen stars Mia has? Heat culture I guess, but sure”let’s get a big man so bam can move down a spot” I’m sure that’s the key to the 4 teams left nothing to do with having a current gen star/SS level players on your team has nothing to do with it, our 35 yo old part time injury prone player is better than all those teams star players smh
I agree with you AND SunMan, that the best long term plan for Heat success would be to gather as much return for Butler and Herro as possible. Imo, they can do that and field a competitive, younger team next season and years afterwards. Unfortunately, my suspicion is that Riley will keep Butler, unless Butler demands a trade when Riley doesn’t give him the extension before the season starts.
The difference between Lillard and Mitchell is that at (soon to be) 28 years old, Mitchell is at his peak now and will likely be good for 5 more years at least. However, for those who want Edey or any number of intriguing prospects at #15, you can possibly kiss that goodbye since it may cost us 5 first round picks to get Mitchell – 3 already on the roster (#13, 18, and 27) plus 2 of the 2024, 2029, or 2031 picks.
On top of all this, as some have mentioned previously, if you keep Butler and get Mitchell, you’ll have 3 extension eligible players on the roster. Good luck with that.
I will support the team whichever direction they go. We will see who complains loudest if they keep Butler, the season goes south, young assets and picks are traded, and they are hamstrung by the first or second aprons.
The one thing I know for sure is that none of us will know anything until the June 26-July 1 period.
It is a risk to bet on Jimmy from now on, no doubt.
So apparently Cavs refused Lakers offer for Mitchell? And prefer Heat’s? Rumor?
dan gilbert aint helping us out
Ain’t helping the lakers either since lebum left his crybaby ass.
Irrelevant. They’re not trading him, they’re trading Garland and maybe Levert or Allen. Honestly we have a much better chance of getting Max back than Don this summer.
Do they want to trade him ? No, do they get to make that decision? No, because Mitchell is on a player option. So he decides whether he wants to stay or go. Also I wouldn’t count out getting Mitchell, I was reading the lakers blog, and apparently there is a rumor going around from Sam Amico of hoops wire. That Dan Gilbert doesn’t want to trade Mitchell to the lakers. Which probably means he is still butt hurt about LeBron leaving. If that’s true, then that gives us a better chance to get him.
Damn this doesn’t feel good. I get it. I think Mitchell would unlock a lot of easy opportunities for Bam. He’s on the same timeline as Bam too.
So it’s be Terry, Donovan, James, Niko and Bam as a starting 5?
I wonder if they’d consider trading Terry for more solid two way wing production? That way Dunc can stay on the floor with someone covering for him. (I’d love an update on his injury too. That left facet syndrome sounds career threatening.)
I think they would have to consider trading Terry as I can’t see him and Mitchell together. Seems like a small backcourt. You trade Terry to fill in a little better around Bam, Jimmy and Mitchell.
Hypothetically:
Does Terry get included in the trade for Mitchell, sent to the super-special third team for super-attractive assets (and Sweet Baby J stays!?!)?!?!
Oh a person can dream.
Tyler is our only trade asset assuming Jimmy will stay. With that, id still want to use Tyler to get a big, preferably John collins. The age of small ball is over. We put Niko at sf. Thus, we go with Rozier, Jimmy, niko (he will be our Michael Porter Jr), Collins (our Aaron gordon), Bam (our Jokic, but not really)
bam our jokic thats funny.mpjr to niko similar,collins gordon ok.same gm built denv and minn.are we next.pats been great no doubt but what have u done for me lately
I m against this trade because one reason. Its the Michells performance in play offs. He made playoff 7 times, and never made past second round.
There is a good record of bad games and not being available when matters. And on the international stage, US team with him as a main player fails too.
Great player, true, but no a winner in my opinion.
We have Rosier at the same position, which is not that far from Mitchell.
In a Bazooka Joe bubble gum comic, Joe’s friend was on his hands and knees under the corner street light. Joe asked him what he was looking for. His friend said he lost a quarter. Joe asked where do you think you dropped it? His friend said “in the alley.” When Joe asked him why he was looking on the corner. His friend said ” Because there’s more light here.” Why is Miami looking for a championship with a guard when they need a big physical center or
PF?
I think the recent history of the league says you need a guy that gives you 30 points per night if you’re going to compete for a championship, and Miami doesn’t have a guy like that. By contrast, Miami has won the East 6 times in the past 13 years without devoting a significant portion of their cap to a big physical center. So i trust they’re looking in the right place
If you put Valuncianas, Claxton, Portis or some other big defender with Rozier, Herro, Butler and Bam do you think that team can compete for a title? I do.
If you bring in Mitchell, you may have to give up three rotation players (Herro, Jaquez and Jovic) plus your 2024 pick and maybe another pick. You won’t have any money to add a big starter to help Bam and no pick until 2026.
If you won’t have enough money to give max contracts to Bam, Butler and Mitchell, you are begging for major problems. All three are coming up on extensions.
If you are looking for a 30 point guy you will need to give up a couple of 20 pointers…Butler and Herro. Maybe Riley can swing a starting PF or C out of it too.
ty scores 20 hes giving up 25.cant have him sunman sorry.2 wayers only wanted
If its just that simple. Sorry but its not.
u add mitchell unload dead weight pick up russian giant (val) portis or claxton 2 of 3 those bigs its simple math parade time baby biscayne blvd style
Just a small technical note – Valanciunas is Lithuanian. Historically and knowadays even more so the two countries are NOT on good terms. I would not risk calling him Russian if I were standing close to him.
ty dunc jovic for donovan i would do but cleve prob wouldnt.if im cleve no jaime no trade.
In theory, if the Heat trade Tyler plus spare parts for Mitchell, Jovic is a better fit for this team than Jaquez
Jovic over JJJ? Ohhhh!! Big take lots will disagree with that I think
Don’t get me wrong. I think Jamie is a better player. But if you’re going to build a team around Bam, Butler, and Mitchell, I think a stretch-4 is a more valuable role player than a two-way wing
Yep…very good point. Just basing it on recent performances and viewpoints of our comrades here.
If Jovic continues to strengthen his team defense it’s not a question.
But if JJJ can improve that corner 3 shot, two way wings are the second most valuable player skill set–whatever Wemby is being the first.
Who is your center of the future? Don’t say Bam.
u think right.what position is jovic.jovic not a banger not overly athletic,dont see to many tony kukoches around anymore u see these guys with playground athleticism and then u see jovic ty and dunc,no thank u give me the josh hart dawgs.minnesota 2 giants 1 superstar 1sixth man of the year,vet pg whos still decent.and other dawgs mcdaniels alexander how to build a team.dallas 1 ss 1 aging ss .4 guys who lock your ass down dont let u get near the rim.livley gafford pj airplane.and a bad hardaway .how to improve a team in a weeks span(pj gafford)good job gm.pat failed jimmy no other way to put it.all he had to get was a real center and move bam to pf might be meeting 30 rc big not manila and sunman on bisc blvd in july.pat if edey is there u better get him.otherwise find a valucunas vucevic type big
Every time I think back that Gafford was available, I get kinda wistful. He would have been a nice complement to our team. With a healthy team and Gafford, maybe we get back to the finals.
Jovic probably fits better for cavs, they need size, and shooting because they probably not gonna keep Mobley and Allen together much longer.
well, according to this article, the Cavs are more interested in Jamie. I would love to keep them both on the Heat. But you don’t get something for nothing
BTW,,couldn’t help but notice they wanted Jaime and Ty before Nico. Maybe other teams not as impressed with Jovic. I know if I was a GM, that is the path I would take. But, I would also want a pick. Still, that seems doable, and if for once it came down to that deal, I would do it for sure. Jimmy may have one more year, but that is it, and it would likely have to come with a lot of load management, much to Pat’s chagrin. Still, I would do it, even if it took us beyond the apron, because if you do it, you also have to get something more than ORob or Bryant, or don’t do it at all.
I think if you can get Bam and Mitchell on the same team, you do it and worry about everything else later
i am not impressed with jovic cant beat anybody to rim so hes gonna have to be a jump shooter.hes 6 10 doesnt bang and doesnt have great athleticism.maybe become a bench player my projection.look at the teams playing now anybody play like jovic
Well, his strengths are:
-very good playmaking.
-solid outside shot.
-fast on open court.
-solid defender, able to defend multiple positions.
He is not a good driver, thats for sure.
He doesn’t excel in any of the areas, except playmaking, but he also doesn’t have big holes in his game. He is only 20, and he is already a starter in a playoff team.
I don’t see him decline, unless there is an injury. Otherwise, I see Bams like path forward with 10-20 % improvements every year.
In worst case, he will be a good role player and borderline starter. At best, he could be a borderline all star player in 5 years from now.
Here we go again. A trio of Bam, Butler, Mitchell is what a lot of us here is wishing for. But as always at what cost? A bit of the future I guess. Is it enough to compete? In the east, yes. For a ring? Maybe. Coz we have to look at the giants of the west also and Jimmy as ive said, imo his window has closed in Miami but that is yet to be seen (if he’s retained) for next season. Hope im wrong and a miracle happens starting from Riles and co, their decision/s for Jimmy and the rest of them for the off-season..and I’d be sad to see JJJ go.
where there’s smoke…
There’s someone smoking 😁
I’m gonna light up soon.
puff puff pass
Riley would be a “FOOL” to give up the team’s future for one or two shots at the ring.
If it was possible to keep either jaquez or jovic, which one would you trade away?
Neither. They are the future. The team needs to get younger, not older. I haven’t seen a legit trade offer yet where either needs to go. Trading Butler and Herro should be enough to get everything Miami needs to compete.
Well we shall see what riles plan of action is…
I love Jamie Jaquez. I would be sad to see him go. But if that’s the difference between Donovan Mitchell and Tyler Herro, I think you’ve got to do it.
This would suck, but Riley is probably very close to retiring. I could see him making that trade.
Riley will retire when Bron retires I guess