Getty A Miami Heat trade for Dejounte Murray would bolster the team's title chances.
OK, OK, we know that there does not need to be a Miami Heat trade to get this team as currently constructed back to the NBA Finals. Heat president Pat Riley has said it back in October, Udonis Haslem said it last week, we have been saying it, too, when the chance arises. But still, there are opportunities to get better and the Heat have some in front of them.
One could be the biggest name left on the market: Dejounte Murray of the Hawks. According to The Athletic, Murray is a “best fit” for the Miami Heat at the trade deadline.
He has been pursued by several teams, most notably the Lakers, Nets and Knicks. The Heat, though, could pretty easily bring him in, if they’re willing to pay the Hawks’ price of two first-round draft picks.
That is steep. The only reason that Murray has not been dealt away already is that no other team wants to pay that price, not when Murray is also owed a four-year contract extension worth $114 million, which kicks in next year. Most teams, including the Heat, are scared off by expensive long-term deals because new NBA salary rules come onboard next season, which make it difficult to operate if a team is too far over the luxury tax threshold.
Miami Heat Trade Needed to Improve Backcourt
Still, the Heat have to balance that reality against the franchise’s desire to compete for a championship. Miami won the Eastern Conference last year, but lost the NBA Finals, and if they’re serious about winning a title, changes might be needed. An upgrade in the backcourt, where 37-year-old Kyle Lowry has taken most of the point-guard minutes and shooting guards Tyler Herro and Josh Richardson have filled in, is the most obvious area of need.
Murray can most effectively help there. He is averaging 21.0 points, with 4.8 rebounds and 4.8 assists, mostly playing off the ball because the Hawks have Trae Young. He did have a season in which he averaged 9.2 assists as the primary point guard, in 2021-22, his last year with the Spurs.
The Heat could get Murray by flipping shooting guard Duncan Robinson to Atlanta, along with two first-round picks. Miami, like other teams, might be unwilling to give up two picks, especially when Robinson has been playing well, but the Heat could structure the deal so that at least one of the picks is heavily protected.
‘I’d Love Dejounte Murray in Miami’
Of all the players the Heat are associated with ahead of the NBA deadline, Murray might be the one whom Riley must consider most. He has slipped defensively in Atlanta, but he has the ability to be a good defensive player, an effective 3-point shooter and a reliable playmaker.
As an Eastern Conference executive told Heavy Sports this week: “The thing with Dejounte Murray is that he is a very good defensive player and a very good offensive player and at the same time, he is not great at either. He’s good. If you drop him into a defensive-minded team, you are going to see his defense shine a little more and maybe his offense be secondary.
“If you drop him into an offensive-minded team like the Hawks, then that’s what you’re going to see. He is not good enough defensively to change an entire team’s culture and he did not do that with Atlanta.”
That would not be the case in Miami.
“He is the kind of player who is going to thrive when he is an important part of a good team. There are guys like that who rise up to the level of the players around them but who put up hollow numbers when they’re on bad teams. I’d love Dejounte Murray in Miami. You’d get the best of him there, no question,” the exec said.