ESPN: Los Angeles Lakers Could Land Miami Heat Star in Bold Trade As LeBron James Backup

The Miami Heat are regularly linked with some of the biggest names in basketball but rarely have they been able to pull such moves off in recent years. Just earlier this summer, there were rumors of Kevin Durant or Donovan Mitchell heading to South Beach. But the speculation quickly faded away.

Instead, the Heat remained still. Except for the departure of Caleb Martin, no significant changes to the roster have taken place.

The Heat seem ready to run it back and might believe that getting healthy is the answer to their problems, not adding and trading away players.

Yet, one can never rule out the possibility of the Heat trying to make something happen, if the right opportunity presents itself. Could that mean having to take a peek at some of their old homework?

The Heat were considered favorites to land Damian Lillard before he ended up joining the Milwaukee Bucks.

Lillard’s first season with the Bucks proved to be a disappointing one though, as they were eliminated from the first round of the playoffs. And if they make a bad start to the 24-25 season, would the Heat check on the availability of the point guard again?

Zach Lowe seems to view that as a possibility. He said while speaking on the Bill Simmons Podcast: “The move would be Dame. I’ve said before, I’ll bet you Miami would revisit that, the failed Dame talks. But what am I getting back that makes Giannis happy? If that is my concern. If he comes to me and says, ‘Hey man, if I am here for the long haul, you need to recoup some draft picks’, you get Tyler Herro, whatever fake Dame trade return you want to speculate about.”

Going for Lillard again would be a win-now move on the part of Miami. He is 34 years old, and is set to make north of $170 million over the next three seasons, including his 26-27 player option.

Jimmy Butler just turned 35 and might opt out of his player option to become a free agent next summer.

Would it make more sense for the Heat to concentrate on Bam Adebayo’s timeline instead? They do have a number of young talents who could start peaking a few years down the line.

Or, they choose to go all in and try to win a Championship with a Big Three of Butler, Lillard and Adebayo.