Getty Miami Heat president Pat Riley addresses the media during Jimmy Butler's 2019 introductory press conference.
The Miami Heat‘s promising 2021-22 campaign reached its heartbreaking conclusion on Sunday night as Jimmy Butler and Co. fell short in their Game 7 effort against the Celtics, 100-96. Now, the team is suddenly forced to turn its attention to the offseason and the promise of “next year.”
Of course, opinions vary on what exactly went wrong for the Heat during their ill-fated East Finals showdown with Boston. Some would point to injuries to Tyler Herro and Kyle Lowry as the reason for Miami’s downfall. Others seem intent to blame Jimmy Butler for his late-game, three-point misfire.
However, a large percentage of people — including Sixers star Joel Embiid — are of the belief that the Heat just need more star power.
To that end, oddsmakers have officially weighed in on the chances that the Heat could acquire a player who may be this summer’s top free-agent prize in Chicago Bulls star Zach LaVine.
Heat Given Long Odds to Land Lavine
As relayed by Lakers Nation’s Ryan Ward, BetOnline.ag just dropped the odds for LaVine’s next NBA team, should he decide to leave the Bulls this summer. And while the Heat weren’t among the favorites to land the high-scoring guard, they were given better odds than some to come out on top in the race for his services.
The San Antonio Spurs topped the list as a 2-to-1 bet to bring in LaVine this summer, followed by the Portland Trail Blazers at 3-to-1 and the Los Angeles Lakers, who were a 4-to-1 bet to acquire the two-time All-Star.
Meanwhile, the Heat were given the sixth-best odds to pry LaVine from the Windy City as a 7-to-1 bet.
LaVine is fresh off a 2021-22 campaign that saw him average 24.4 points, 4.6 rebounds and 4.5 assists per contest. The 27-year-old also connected on 38.9% of his 7.1 three-point attempts per game. However, his output waned during Chicago’s first-round bout with the Milwaukee Bucks, during which he averaged 19.3 PPG.
The latest Heat news straight to your inbox! Join the Heavy on Heat newsletter here!
Miami Would Have to Execute a Sign-and-Trade to Get LaVine
The Bulls can offer LaVine more money than any other team in free agency at five years and $212-plus million, while other clubs can offer a maximum of four years and just over $157 million. Alas, the Heat are unable to sign him to such a deal.
As it stands, Miami’s payroll stands at $131 million for nine players next season, assuming PJ Tucker exercises his $7.4 million player option for 2022-23. In other words, they’re well over the salary cap with multiple roster spots left to fill.
So, if team president Pat Riley decided he wanted to get LaVine to Beach, he and LaVine would have to get the Bulls to play ball on a sign-and-trade deal.
In order for such a move to work, the Heat would either have to ship out Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo or Kyle Lowry in the deal, package multiple contracts and assets with Tyler Herro and Duncan Robinson or some intersection of the two. At that point, the question Riley would have to ask himself is, “Does this actually make my team better?”
READ NEXT: