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The NBA's Miami Heat franchise hasn't been around for very long, at least compared to franchises the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers. The Heat's first season in the NBA was in the 1988-89 season, meaning the franchise is not even 40 years old.
Despite the Heat being a relatively new organization, Miami has already accomplished so much as a franchise. The Heat have won three NBA titles — in 2006, 2012, and 2013 — and have made it all the way to the NBA Finals six times. The Heat's most recent NBA Finals appearance was in 2023 when they lost to Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, and the Denver Nuggets in five games.
Considering all the success that the Heat have enjoyed over their three-plus-decade existence, it should come as no surprise that they have made some great trades over the years. Some of the best players in Heat franchise history were acquired via trade, such as Shaquille O'Neal, Alonzo Mourning, and Tim Hardaway, just to name a few.
With all of that said, let's rank the five best trades in the history of the storied Miami Heat franchise:
5. Heat trade for Jamal Mashburn
In February of 1997, the Miami Heat traded Kurt Thomas, Sasha Danilovic, and Martin Muursepp to the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for wing Jamal Mashburn.
Mashburn spent four seasons as a member of the Heat, from the 1996-97 season to the 1999-00 season. He averaged 15.8 points, 5.2 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 1.0 steals, and 0.2 blocks per game across 180 total regular-season games with the franchise (177 starts).
Mashburn was an invaluable member of the 1996-97 iteration of the Heat that finished with 61 wins during the regular season. He averaged 13.8 points per game during the regular season, the third-highest of any player on the team behind only Tim Hardaway and Alonzo Mourning. The 1996-97 Heat went on to make it all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals, where they were eliminated by Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls in five games.
4. Heat trade for Eddie Jones
In the summer of 2000, the Miami Heat dealt P.J. Brown, Otis Thorpe, Jamal Mashburn, Tim James, and Rodney Buford to the Charlotte Hornets and received Eddie Jones, Anthony Mason, Ricky Davis, and Dale Ellis in return.
Eddie Jones stands out as the best player the Heat received in the deal. He played five seasons in Miami and was a consistently great scorer for the Heat, as he averaged 17-plus points per game in four of his five seasons with the franchise.
Arguably Jones' best season with the Heat came during the 2002-03 season when he was 31 years old, as he averaged 18.5 points per game during the regular season and shot 40.7 percent from behind the three-point arc on 5.1 attempts per game, an impressive combination of usage rate and accuracy.
While Jones carved out the best Heat career of any player in this deal, Anthony Mason was also a great addition. He spent just one season in Miami, but it was arguably the best season of his entire pro career.
Mason played 80 games with the Heat during the 2000-01 regular season and averaged 16.1 points, 9.6 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 1.0 steals, and 0.3 blocks per game. These numbers were good enough to earn Mason the only All-Star nod of his NBA career.
3. Heat trade for Tim Hardaway
Midway through the 1995-96 regular season, the Miami Heat traded Kevin Willis and Bimbo Coles to the Golden State Warriors in exchange for Tim Hardaway and Chris Gatling.
Hardaway is now remembered as one of the best point guards ever to wear a Miami Heat jersey. He made two All-Star teams during his six seasons in Miami and averaged 17.3 points, 7.8 assists, 3.2 rebounds, and 1.5 steals per game across 367 total regular-season games with the franchise (all starts).
Hardaway's best season as a member of the Heat came during the 1996-97 season when he averaged 20.3 points and 8.6 assists per game during the regular season on a team that won 61 games during the regular season. His 20.3 points per game ranked first on the 1996-97 iteration of the Heat and ahead of stars Alonzo Mourning and Jamal Mashburn.
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Chris Gatling's stint with the Heat was short-lived, as he played just 24 regular-season games and one season with the Heat before joining the Dallas Mavericks in the 1996-97 season. But Gatling did put up quite impressive numbers during his cup of tea with the Heat, as he averaged 15.2 points and 7.3 rebounds per game off of the Miami bench.
2. Heat trade for Alonzo Mourning
In 1995, the Miami Heat traded Glen Rice, Khalid Reeves, Matt Geiger, and a first-round pick to the Charlotte Hornets for Alonzo Mourning, LeRon Ellis, and Pete Myers.
Alonzo Mourning was not just one of the best centers but one of the best players in Miami Heat history. He earned five All-Star appearances and won two Defensive Player of the Year awards in his 11 seasons with the Heat. Mourning averaged 16.0 points, 8.1 rebounds, 0.5 steals, and 2.7 blocks per game across 593 total regular-season games with the franchise (458 starts).
Mourning's best season as a member of the Heat came during the 1999-00 season when he averaged 21.7 points, 9.5 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 0.5 steals, and a whopping 3.7 blocks per game across 79 games during the regular season (78 starts).
The 1999-00 iteration of the Heat, led by Mourning, were a very successful team. They won 52 games during the regular season, the second-most in the Eastern Conference, behind only the Indiana Pacers, who won 56 games. The Heat made quick work of their first-round opponent, the Detroit Pistons, as they swept the Pistons 3-0. But Miami's season came to an end in the Eastern Conference Semifinals at the hands of the New York Knicks. The Knicks eliminated the Heat in seven games, but Mourning had himself a fantastic series on both ends of the floor. He averaged 23.1 points, 10.6 rebounds, and 2.7 blocks per game during the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
1. Heat trade for Shaquille O'Neal
In July of 2004, the Miami Heat made the best trade in the history of their franchise. They traded Caron Butler, Lamar Odom, Brian Grant, and a 2006 first-round pick to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for star big man Shaquille O'Neal.
O'Neal accomplished a whole lot in his four seasons with the Heat, both from an individual and collective standpoint. He was named to three All-Star teams and led the entire league in field-goal percentage twice as a member of the franchise.
But, most importantly, O'Neal was an invaluable member of the 2006 Heat team that went on to win the NBA title. O'Neal averaged 20.0 points, 9.2 rebounds, 1.9 assists, and 1.8 blocks during the 2005-06 regular season and was named to the All-Star team.
And in the 2006 NBA Finals against Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks, O'Neal put up similarly great numbers. He averaged 13.7 points and 10.2 rebounds per game in the championship series, which Miami went on to win in six games. The Heat lost the first two games of the NBA Finals but went on to win the next four.
For as great as O'Neal was for the 2006 Heat, he wasn't even the team's best player. That title belonged to guard Dwyane Wade. At the time, Wade was only 24 years old and in just his third NBA season, but he had already established himself as one of the best players in the league. And Wade was nothing short of dominant against the Mavericks in the 2006 NBA Finals. He averaged a whopping 34.7 points per game in the NBA Finals on 46.8% from the field and 77.3% from the free-throw line.
O'Neal may not have been the same caliber player he was as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers, but he was still a star at this stage of his career, and the Heat probably wouldn't have won the 2006 title without his contributions.
