Miami Heat: B-
Similarly, the Heat stood still on Thursday, with Duncan Robinson ultimately remaining on the roster. Miami would have been happy to get off his salary, which runs through 2025-26, but it would have been a hard deal to complete. Besides that, Miami doesn’t really have any matching salaries to send out, with Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, and Kyle Lowry taking up the majority of the cap.
If the Heat doesn’t make a deep playoff run this year, they’ll have offseason decisions to make, specifically on how much their aging core can continue to compete. On the positive note, their main deadline acquisition will be Victor Oladipo, who’s set to come back from an injury in the imminent future. It’s unknown how impactful he’ll actually be on the floor, but there’s certainly upside in adding the former all-star to the rotation.
Milwaukee Bucks: B
The Milwaukee Bucks ended up swapping Donte DiVincenzo for Serge Ibaka and two second-round picks. The addition of Ibaka for the defending champs will be impactful right away, acting as a replacement in the frontcourt for the injured Brook Lopez. DiVincenzo was a popular name in trade talks over the past week, as he’s set to go into restricted free agency in the offseason.
Sacramento is in a position to pay him a respectable rookie extension, while Milwaukee would rather not. With their wing depth, the Bucks should be fine, but the injury to Pat Connaughton (the same day as the trade!) makes things considerably more difficult. Look for them to add a wing on the buyout market to limit the minutes of Wesley Matthews.