Miami Heat: Would Buddy Hield be a worthy plan B if Heat misses on Damian Lillard?

There seems to be a growing chance that the Miami Heat will miss on Damian Lillard. Would Buddy Hield be a worthy plan B?

At one point this offseason it seemed like a foregone conclusion that the Miami Heat was going to land Damian Lillard via trade. That is no longer the case. In fact, there’s not even a guarantee that the two teams will talk again when it comes to the Lillard trade saga.

But that may not be the only potential roster update that the Heat is currently working on.

According to Ethan Skolnick of Five Reasons Sports, the Heat have an independent interest in Buddy Hield. Essentially, if the Heat gets Lillard or not, the expectation is that they will at least make a call to the Indiana Pacers for Hield.

It was reported a few days ago that the Pacers and Hield would work towards finding a trade after contract extension discussions broke down. Hield is entering the final season of his contract with the team and is unlikely to re-sign during the summer.

In an ideal world, the Pacers would be able to trade Hield and get an asset to avoid possibly losing him for nothing during the offseason.

Would Buddy Hield be a good plan B for the Miami Heat?

With the Blazers playing hardball with the Heat, it wouldn’t be all that surprising if they ended up either missing or losing out on Lillard. What seemed like a foregone conclusion earlier this offseason is now a far possibility.

It would only be natural for the Heat to start thinking about potential plan B’s in the event they miss on Lillard. The reported interest in Hield would basically fill that line of thinking.

After all, in a vacuum, Hield would certainly help Miami. After losing Gabe Vincent and Max Strus in free agency, it would be smart for the Heat to find a way to replace their shooting. While Lillard would be able to do so single-handedly, if he isn’t coming, it leaves the Heat with a huge vacancy on the perimeter.

That’s where a move for Hield could make sense.

At the same time, it also depends on what the asking price would be and if the Heat is willing to meet it. And at this point, that’s far from a guarantee. If the Heat isn’t willing to go all-in for Lillard, would they be willing to do so (in meeting Indiana’s asking price) for a soon-to-be-free-agent that they’ll have a difficult time re-signing with the way their cap sheet lies at the moment?

With less than a week before the start of training camp, the Heat has a lot of questions about their build that they need to answer. Will Lillard or Hield be part of any of those answers?