News of Anthony Davis' desire to be traded by the New Orleans Pelicans has most NBA teams jumping at the chance to acquire him, with only 11 days left before the Feb. 7 trade deadline.
While the Miami Heat has no immediate route to make a trade happen, they would be forced to wait until the 2020 offseason or have a wholesale to make the deal similar to the one for Shaquille O'Neal.
Per Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel:
“A Heat play for Davis likely would have to be as grand in scale as the team's July 14, 2004 deal with the Lakers for Shaquille O'Neal, when Riley parted with Lamar Odom, Brian Grant, Caron Butler and a first-round draft pick.
Like Davis, O'Neal had the leverage of impending free agency, with the Heat eventually signing O'Neal to a five-year, $100 million contract.
The Heat likely will lack enough salary-cap space to sign a free agent until the 2020 offseason, when the contracts of Goran Dragic, Hassan Whiteside and Tyler Johnson expire.”
The Heat have locked themselves into cap salary purgatory for the next couple of seasons, given the bevy of four-year contracts they signed their players to in recent years.
Dion Waiters, James Johnson, Tyler Johnson and Rodney McGruder were some of the players signed to long-term agreements, giving this team a roster full of role players — and now not enough playing time to satisfy them all.
Making a play for Davis would change the trajectory of this franchise, but given the recent line of contractual mistakes, it would take a monster effort (as big as Shaq) to deal for the five-time All-Star.
