NBA Trade Rumors: Miami Heat To Deal Goran Dragic, Waive Chris Bosh To Make Big Trade?
While all sorts of unbelievable NBA trade rumors fly around the internet on a daily basis, there are occasionally those that seem to prove a bit more credible than the others. One team that is popping up quite a bit recently due to their struggles is the Miami Heat. They currently are carrying Chris Bosh’s mega salary cap deal while he remains sidelined unless independent doctors clear him to play. In addition, the team has plenty of talent, but that talent hasn’t exactly come together to look like a playoff contender. That could mean moving someone out of Miami and the name that has come up is guard Goran Dragic. Will Pat Riley make some big moves involving Dragic and Bosh ahead of the NBA trade deadline in February?
On Wednesday, Matt Moore of CBS Sports commented on the Heat’s situation involving Chris Bosh and their best case or worst case with his salary cap. As a refresher, the medical issues have been related to Bosh suffering from blood clots. He suffered them in his lungs one season, and then another instance occurred as a result of a calf strain, both of which forced him out of action with the team. It was also reported that Bosh was taking blood thinner medication. However, doctors tend to advise athletes not to participate in their sport when taking such meds.
Basically, Miami’s best-case scenario now is hoping that Bosh won’t be cleared to play by an independent doctor that the NBPA and the league agree on. That would mean the Heat can waive Bosh and clear his deal from their salary cap. There’s a good possibility that this relief to the Heat’s salary cap status could happen ahead of February’s trade deadline, which gives Miami some extra wiggle room to put together a big deal.
In their worst-case scenario, Bosh would get waived, find a doctor who clears him to play again, and sign with a new team. That would make Miami responsible for the rest of his contract without the use of his services on the roster. So they’re certainly rooting against Bosh for all intents and purposes. There’s another point of contention, though, and that is the idea that having cap space isn’t that big a deal nowadays in the league. It’s important to also have something else of value to include in the mix.
This is where guard Goran Dragic enters into the picture. There have been NBA trade rumors involving Dragic for quite some time now. The Miami Heat picked him up to try to help out Dwyane Wade and company once LeBron James decided to return to Cleveland. Dragic is still a very valuable player, but right now he’s on what looks like a sinking ship. With extra cap space and a valuable player like Dragic to go with it, it could help Riley swing some sort of huge deal such as the one suggested by the All U Can Heat website involving John Wall coming to Miami.
To further drive the speculation that a big deal could be on the way, Sportsrageous reported about recent comments made by Riley regarding the future of the team. Riley brought up Justise Winslow, Tyler Johnson, Josh Richardson, and Hassan Whiteside as parts of the nucleus of the team going forward. Sportsrageous contends that Riley didn’t bother mentioning Dragic which could mean he doesn’t see him there as part of that plan.
In addition, Riley seems to want to acquire some more young talent for the future, based on his comments.
“We have a pick this year. I have intentions, if it’s possible, to try and get another pick. And then we will have room. And so from that standpoint, you start making a plan and formulating what it looks like down the road, but you’re going to have to get some breakthroughs — from Hassan, from Justise, from Tyler, from Josh. And then you’ll see where you go from there.”
Based on these comments, it seems like maybe Pat Riley is looking towards rebuilding, rather than trying to pull off some sort of blockbuster trade to get another major star or two playing in the South Beach area. However, Riley and the league are full of surprises, so it’s always possible something else is brewing. A lot is going to really depend on how things shake out with the Chris Bosh situation because the Heat certainly have a delicate, but possibly lucrative, situation on their hands there.
NBA fans, do you think the Miami Heat will be able to make some sort of big trade for another star player? Will Goran Dragic remain in Miami much longer, and will Bosh end up waived? What do you think is the best direction for this Miami team to go in moving forward?
[Featured Image by Rob Foldy/Getty Images]
