Can the Utah Jazz pull off a trade like the Miami Heat?
By Chad Porto
The Miami Heat just pulled off the upset of upsets in the trade department, sending 37-year-old Kyle Lowry to the Charlotte Hornets for 29-year-old Terry Rozier. The deal makes sense for both squads, the Heat need a bench scorer and Rozier can give them that, while the Lowry contract expires at the end of the season, giving the Hornets much-needed cap flexibility.
The trade itself makes sense, it's the fact that neither Jaime Jaquez nor Nikola Jovic were involved, and the fact that the Heat may have given up a completely protected pick in the process. The pick is set for 2027 and would be a lottery-protected pick if it goes to the Hornets that year. Should the Heat retain their pick in 2027 by ending up in the lottery, then the Hornets get their 2028 pick regardless.
It's a lopsided deal for a player who gives the Heat a +5.6 OBPM improvement upon position. Lowry was a -2.0 OBPM player, and Rozier is a +3.6 OPBM player, making this a lopsided trade of the highest order. Lowry couldn't justify being a starter anymore in Miami and it was absolutely time to move on.
Pat Riley, the Heat's team president, pulled off a robbery in broad daylight and made his team better without having to give up any young pieces in the process and that got us wondering; can Danny Ainge do the same? We thought he did in the offseason by landing John Collins, but that's been proven to be not the trade we had hoped it would be.
But still, Ainge has been known to pull off some surprising trades of his own, so does that mean that we could end up getting our very own shocking trade? Now, to be clear, we mean shocking trade of talent coming in; not talent leaving. We're not interested if Ainge can trade off Lauri Markkanen or Collin Sexton. Only if he can add talent to support them.