Miami have been COOKING these playoffs without one of their stars Tyler Herro, which has made some NBA analysts suggest him as the perfect trade centerpiece.
Miami point guard Herro broke his middle and ring fingers on his shooting hand in the first round during Game 1 against Milwaukee and was expected to miss 4-6 weeks. If the Heat make the Finals, he is a chance at making a return.
One trade proposal would send Chicago’s Zach LaVine to Miami for Herro, Nikola Jovic, Duncan Robinson and two first-round picks.
“The Bulls need top-shelf assets, and a LaVine trade is their best bet to find them,” B/R’s Zach Buckley wrote. “This is as good as any package Chicago could hope to land. Tyler Herro has serious centerpiece potential. He has averaged at least 20 points, five rebounds and four assists in each of the past two seasons, and he just turned 23 in January. Tack on Nikola Jović (last summer’s No. 27 pick) and two first-round picks (one this summer, one in 2027 or beyond), and that’s a big enough return to justify taking on the remainder of Duncan Robinson’s deal.
“This is plenty for the Heat to part with, but it might make sense to pay a massive price given this club’s offensive issues (the ones that existed before the playoffs tipped) and Jimmy Butler’s ticking clock,” Buckley added. “Zach LaVine could step in and serve as the go-to scoring option this team needs to carry the load until it’s time for Playoff Jimmy to take over.”
If Miami were to unload those players, they would have enough for LaVine’s $40 million plus salary he is due for next year.
The Bulls guard was averaging 24.8 points, 4.5 rebounds and 4.2 assists on 48.5 percent shooting from the field and 37.5 percent shooting from three during the regular season.
What makes this trade proposal even more interesting is that there are reports the Bulls intend to attend Scoot Henderson’s pro day ahead of the NBA Draft, even though the franchise don’t have a first-round pick.
If the team has Scoot earmarked, that means they will have to pull of a blockbuster trade to land him and trade away one of their big chess pieces in LaVine, DeMar DeRozan or Nikola Vucevic over the summer.
Watch this space.