NBA Trade Rumors: Miami Heat not trading Dragic; could shop Winslow, Whiteside?

NBA Trade Rumors: The Miami Heat have no interest in trading Goran Dragic, but could dangle Justise Winslow and Hassan Whiteside at the trade deadline

Despite being hampered by significant injuries, the Miami Heat have managed to stay in the thick of the Eastern Conference playoff picture.

In fact, you could actually take that statement a step further. Not only are the Heat in the thick of the playoff picture, but if the season ended today they’d be hosting a first-round series. Miami, winners of five straight, are currently tied with the Wizards for the 4th seed in the East.

And according to ESPN’s Zach Lowe, the Heat intend to improve the team as the NBA trade deadline draws closer. They are expected to be active, per the report.

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Interestingly, as Lowe notes, their best trade asset at the moment is a package centered around Justise Winslow and Hassan Whiteside. The Heat has performed somewhat better with Whiteside out of the lineup, and Winslow simply hasn’t popped as the team had hoped – it doesn’t help that both have battled injuries throughout the short season.

Lowe doesn’t necessarily say that the Heat are shopping them, but could if they elected to upgrade.

"[via ESPN]Together, Winslow and Whiteside form Miami’s best realistic trade package — their only means of a huge talent upgrade. (The Heat have shown zero interest in moving Dragic, per league sources.) The Heat could dangle them for a star center on an expiring contract — DeAndre Jordan or DeMarcus Cousins. Miami has an appetite for that kind of gamble; they feel they can sell any willing rental on Heat culture — plus tax benefits and weather."

If the Heat could get better in the short term, by cutting salary in the long term, that would be ideal. Miami locked themselves up (cap-wise) for the next four years this past summer. Though, the hope was that those newly signed contracts would be movable.

And we’re about to see if that original premise is right or wrong.

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Expect the Miami Heat to swing for the fences as the trade deadline nears. Though, it’s unlikely that any of the big names that Pat Riley craves will become available – the biggest name that could be moved at the deadline might be Nikola Mirotic, maybe DeAndre Jordan.

Nevertheless, the rumor mill is heating up.