Lakers Showing Interest in Heat Star Ahead of Trade Deadline

Getty Kyle Lowry #7 and Jimmy Butler #22 of the Miami Heat.

Rumors surrounding Miami Heat guard Kyle Lowry have been plentiful this season. There is a ton of speculation that the team will work to get off of his lucrative contract before the February 9 NBA Trade Deadline.

Miami hasn’t lived up to expectations so far this season and neither has Lowry. He has appeared in 36 of the team’s 43 games and is playing 35 minutes. He’s averaging 13.1 points, 5.6 assists, and 4.4 rebounds on 39.8% shooting from the floor and 33.6% shooting from beyond the three-point arc.

Luckily for the Heat, the Los Angeles Lakers are in the market for help at the point guard position. In a recent article for USA Today, Jeff Zillgitt listed the Lakers as a team that may have interest in the 36-year-old.

“The Heat are notoriously tight-lipped about their plans,” Zillgitt wrote. “But around the league, it’s believed the Heat are willing to shed Kyle Lowry’s contract, which pays him $29.6 million in 2023-24… Lowry is another player who has been linked to a potential deal with the Lakers.”

Lowry isn’t a player that would be considered essential to Miami’s success. The team has fared just fine when he’s been sidelined this year, winning six of the seven games he’s missed.

Heat Proposal Sends Kyle Lowry to the Lakers in 3-Team Blockbuster

Sure the Lakers might be interested in Lowry, but how would he get there? Well, Heavy.com‘s Jack Simone outlined a three-team deal that would help Miami unload the six-time All-Star and his expensive contract.

The proposed deal involving the Heat, Lakers, and Washington Wizards would look like this:

Lakers receive: Lowry, Will Barton, Duncan Robinson, Taj Gibson

Heat receive: Kyle Kuzma, Monte Morris, Kendrick Nunn

Wizards receive: Russell Westbrook, Nikola Jovic, 2027 1st-Round Pick (Top-5 Protected via LAL), 2029 1st-Round Pick (Top-10 Protected via MIA)

Simone went into detail to explain the benefits of the transaction for the Heat.

“Miami would improve its short-term and long-term outlook. Pairing Kuzma next to Bam Adebayo in the frontcourt would make for a great duo, and the Heat could re-sign him after this year,” Simone wrote. “Morris isn’t quite as good as Lowry, but he’s much cheaper, and this trade would improve Miami’s depth. They would also get to have a nice reunion with Nunn, who played his best basketball with the Heat.”

Kuzma has proven to be a quality player for the Wizards this season. He has appeared in 41 of the team’s 42 games and is playing 35 minutes. He’s averaging 21.3 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 3.8 assists on 39.8% shooting from the floor and 33.6% shooting from beyond the three-point arc.

Heat ‘Registered Interest’ in D’Angelo Russell

One player that has continued to pop up as a potential Miami Heat trade target is D’Angelo Russell of the Minnesota Timberwolves.

On January 13, Yahoo Sports’ Jake Fischer reported that those rumors were true.

“The Heat have in fact registered interest in Russell,” Fischer wrote in response to the popular idea that Miami and Minnesota would swap guards ahead of the deadline.

He then went on to explain that it would likely take more than just Lowry to land the former All-Star.

“A direct deal for Lowry would appear unlikely,” Fischer said. “Lowry is just a few months away from entering the final season of his own contract worth roughly $30 million in average annual salary, and it’s hard to imagine Wolves officials being eager to extend the aging guard another exorbitant payday when he becomes extension eligible this summer — putting Minnesota in the exact situation it faced with Russell last July.”