NBA Trade Rumors: The Miami Heat Should Trade Goran Dragic

NBA Trade Rumors: Instead of trying to trade for the quick fix, that may or may not pay off, the Miami Heat should trade Goran Dragic

A little more than a year ago, the Miami Heat made one of their signature splashes. They acquired Goran Dragic for two first-round draft picks and a few bags of unused goods.

Morale was high in Miami and it looked like the Heat finally made the move it needed to potentially compete on the same ground as the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference. Unfortunately, also about a year ago, Chris Bosh went down with a blood clot in his lung. He would miss the remainder of the 2014-15 NBA season. Thus, ending the Heat’s chances at challenging Cleveland, or any other Eastern Conference team altogether, in the postseason.

The Heat missed the playoffs and luckily fell in the top 10 in the NBA Draft Lottery, which led them to Justise Winslow on draft night. A blessing in disguise, if you will.

Moving forward.

The summer came and went – Bosh got healthy and Dwyane Wade, eventually, re-signed. Miami also added veterans Gerald Green, to be the lighting rod of the team’s weak bench and Amar’e Stoudemire during free agency. Even though the team traded away Mario Chalmers, mostly for tax reasons, this Heat roster was/is supposed to be good enough to compete for a Conference Title. At the very least, make a run to the Conference Finals.

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Phrases like “best starting five in the league” and “best backcourt in the East” were being thrown around, along with the normal, and perhaps unreasonable, Heat expectations.

On paper, this team was supposed to be good enough to make some serious noise in the Eastern Conference. It’s only real flaw? The lack of outside shooting.

And, unfortunately, in today’s NBA, that ends up being a fatal flaw. Not just a small one.

While the argument could be made whether or not that could be fixed, it’s just not that simple. Sure, the Heat could trade for a shooter – they’re reportedly eyeing Omri Casspi, a 42 percent career three-point chucker – but would that really make much of a difference?

The Miami Heat has a point guard that made his living off pace and space. Currently, the Heat operates under the second slowest PACE in the NBA. They also sport the NBA’s third-worst three-point shooting.

Fatal Flaw.

Miami has a shooting guard that is the conversation for being the worst three-point shooter in NBA history, considering volume – Wade is a career 29 percent shooter from 3. He’s only taken 32 this season.

On top of that, they don’t even have a small forward who’s comfortable jacking up from outside. Luol Deng, who has been really good for the Heat recently, isn’t comfortable camping out at the three-point line. He’s more of a slasher.

Instead of trying to trade for a shooter that may or may not help the team at all this season, the Heat should right a wrong and find a new home for Dragic

Their only true shooter happens to be the power forward, Chris Bosh. And even then, he’s only shooting 36 percent from 3 this season, but still does most of his damage in the midrange game.

To make matters worse, because of their lack of shooting, the Heat’s paint is often clogged, leaving Dragic, the team’s big splash at last year’s NBA Trade Deadline, absolutely no room to operate. Often rendering him useless in the team’s half-court offense.

Despite all that, the Heat have a 29-24 record at the NBA All-Star break. They’re also only 1.5 games back of the third-seeded Boston Celtics.

Is that good enough? How much better would this Heat team be if it actually had pieces that fit? This team is desperately in need of a roster adjustment. The only problem, they don’t have any trade assets.