Miami Heat
The Miami Heat may not admit it, but this is certainly a team that is struggling. The Heat lacks an identity, and a consistent superstar, and may be completely fumbling the role of their best player on the roster to begin the year. It's clear that if Miami is going to emerge as a player in the Eastern Conference this season, there needs to be some change that takes place. Again, the front office may never openly admit it, but this is the honest truth.
It's interesting because the Heat has a talented roster. On paper, the Heat should be better than they've been so far this season. The biggest problem with the Heat is that they beat the lowly teams in the league but consistently lose to teams with winning records. A big part of that is because they don't have the proven talent to come up in big games. It's caught up with the Heat as Jimmy Butler continues to age and as they continue to misuse a player like Bam Adebayo in favor of role players playing out of position like Tyler Herro and Terry Rozier.
Heading into the NBA trade season, Zach LaVine is a player who should be on the Heat's radar. If the Heat could swap Herro and Rozier for LaVine right now, the argument could be made that it would go a long way in fixing some of the Heat's issues. LaVine is a better pure scorer of the basketball than both players and brings something off the dribble and around the rim in the paint that both of them lack.
For one reason or another, the Heat has been reluctant to make such a swap. The team continuously overvalues players they develop and that's exactly what we could be seeing playing out with Herro. In the end, I do imagine the Heat will have to trade him if they are going to build a championship contender in the next few years. At this point, with the way this franchise has whiffed in recent offseasons, they should be willing to take a shot on LaVine.
If they believe in their culture, the Heat has to feel confident in their ability to help LaVine bounce back after arguably the worst statistical season of his career. There could be some pushback on the idea of LaVine next to Jimmy but at this point in their careers, this could be a mesh that ends up working in the Heat's favor. Miami almost has to take a risk at some point. Maybe LaVine is the one that makes the most sense.