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The Miami Heat's 2023 playoff run was one of the most memorable Cinderella runs in NBA playoff history. Heading into the postseason, plenty of folks wrote off the Heat and didn't think they had a chance of beating Giannis Antetokounmpo and the one-seeded Milwaukee Bucks in the first round. But the Heat ended up demolishing the Bucks in the first round in five games and then beat the New York Knicks in six and the Boston Celtics in seven in the following two rounds to advance all of the way to the NBA Finals. The Heat became the first eighth seed since 1999 to reach the Finals stage.
Sure, the Heat fell short of their goal of winning the franchise its first title since 2013. The Heat lost to the Denver Nuggets in five games in the NBA Finals and looked flat-out outmatched for the majority of the series. But what Miami was able to accomplish this postseason was incredible. Thus, the Heat's front office would be wise to, for the most part, run it back next season with only changes around the margins. But there's one Heat player who stands out as someone who Miami should trade this summer. With all of that said, let's look at one player the Heat must trade in the 2023 offseason after losing in the NBA Finals:
1 player Heat must trade in 2023 offseason after losing NBA Finals
Kyle Lowry
The Heat orchestrated a sign-and-trade in exchange for Kyle Lowry two summers ago with the hope that they'd be getting the all-star caliber player he was with the Toronto Raptors. But fast forward to the current day, and it's clear that Lowry fell short of those expectations. He hasn't sniffed that level of play in his two years in Miami, and he was far too inconsistent for the Heat during the 2023 NBA postseason.
To his credit, Lowry started off the postseason pretty well. His best round of the playoffs by far was round two against the Knicks. He averaged 12.2 points, 5.7 assists, 1.3 steals, 1.3 blocks, and just 1.0 turnover per game across the six-game series. If it weren't for his excellent production on both ends of the floor in the second round, maybe the Heat's postseason run would have ended early. But during the Eastern Conference Finals, Lowry really struggled on the offensive end of the floor.
In the Conference Finals against Boston, Lowry averaged 6.7 points and shot a putrid 39.6% from the field. He also averaged 2.1 turnovers per game compared to just 3.9 assists. Boston's guards made life difficult for him on the offensive end, particularly during the latter part of the series when the Celtics came back.
Lowry is still an NBA player and a valuable one at that, but he's a role player at this stage of his career and nothing more. He's certainly not worth the $29 million that he's owed next season. The Heat would be wise to use Lowry's salary to orchestrate a sign-and-trade and upgrade the power forward position. Soon-to-be free agent Jerami Grant makes sense as a trade target, though the Heat would almost certainly have to throw in draft picks to get a deal done.
