The Miami Heat are trying to rebuild on the fly.
It was going to be a process without LeBron James, but then the blood clot issue that has sidelined Chris Bosh proved to be another significant setback that changed the franchise’s course. Now they have Hassan Whiteside as the franchise anchor with players such as Justise Winslow developing around him.
But what about Goran Dragic? He may be on the move, reports Chris Mannix of The Vertical at Yahoo Sports.Dragic is a dilemma. When Dragic forced a trade to Miami two years ago, he thought he was joining a team one piece away — him — from being a conference contender. Today he’s leading a roster that’s a couple of losses from falling below Philadelphia in the East basement. Dragic is open to a trade, league sources told The Vertical, and Miami has pursued that option. An early season swap with Sacramento for Rudy Gay fell apart when the Heat sought Darren Collison, sources said, and teams that have probed Miami about Dragic have found the Heat open to offers.
And why not? Dragic is 30, and if Miami is going to maximize its return on an All-Star-level point guard having another strong season, now is the time. He’s a depreciating asset, a bona fide star, to be sure, but one who doesn’t draw fans (the announced “sellout” of 16,700 on Tuesday was laughable; there were maybe 5,000 in the seats) and who will likely be in decline when Riley is able to remold the Heat into a contender. The value of the assets Dragic could fetch in a trade could exceed the immediate value he has to the organization.
There are certainly teams that could use a quality point guard, and Dragic is that. He is averaging 19.1 points and 6.7 assists a game, shooting 41.6 percent from three, and has a PER of 18.2 this season. He’s strong on the pick-and-roll and in transition, put in the right system he will put up points and lead a team.
The challenge is Dragic is owed $54,3 million over the three seasons after this one (the last year is a player option) — not a lot of teams are looking to take that on for a point guard who is cresting age 30. But you can be sure, Pat Riley is going to look around.