Memphis Grizzlies: Trading Ja Morant to rebuild
The Memphis Grizzlies have some big questions to answer heading into the offseason. This team was once considered to be "up next" in the Western Conference. Now, they're somewhat of an afterthought despite their talented roster. Will a new head coach be enough to change all of that? I find that unlikely. The biggest question the Grizzlies must answer this offseason is whether Morant is a player worthy of building around.
I don't anticipate the Grizzlies being ready to move on from Morant this offseason; that would be a bit premature. But if there's one way the Grizzlies wanted to shake up the NBA's offseason, creating an all-out bidding war for Morant and then pivoting toward a full-blown rebuild would be one way to do so. Considering it may be time to clean house, this could be the offseason where we begin to see signs of that in the future.
Miami Heat: Trading Tyler Herro for a star
Burning the bridge with Jimmy Butler did this team no favors moving forward. Now that they've officially moved on from him, the Miami Heat is in a desperate spot where they desperately need a new superstar player to build around. If there's anything that we've learned from the Heat this season, it's that Tyler Herro can't be your best player. Miami made the playoffs but finished with its worst record in 10 years.
As the Heat go back to the drawing board this summer, it's clear that big changes are going to be needed if they're going to reemerge next season as a potential contender in the Eastern Conference. Part of those changes could be trading Herro. It'd be quite the pivot for the team and would certainly be quite surprising. Nevertheless, if the Heat does want to take a step forward, trading Herro may be the easiest path toward upgrading the roster. If it were to happen, there's a team out there that would be getting a very good offensive player.