The Miami Heat have an interesting situation on their roster right now where they seem to have a glut of sharpshooters but are lacking talent in other areas.
One NBA executive recently mentioned Chicago Bulls big man Nikola Vucevic as a possible trade option for the Heat. The executive talked about the idea of the Heat trading Duncan Robinson in exchange for the big man in the potential deal.
“There are not a lot of teams actively looking for big guys now, especially frontline big guys,” the executive told Sean Deveney of Heavy.com. “I think once the season gets going, if there is an injury, maybe that gets revisited. But probably the only team — and we’d have to see how things shake out there — is Miami. They wanted to make a big move, and they did not, not yet.”
The executive went on to further detail what a potential deal could look like for both sides.
“The Bulls had some interest in Duncan Robinson before and if the Heat really wanted Vuc, that could be the basis of a deal, Vuc for Robinson,” the exec said. “The Heat would have to add [Omer] Yurtseven, give Chicago a big guy to work with. And the Bulls would probably want them to take back Tony Bradley just to have a little more money under the tax in case they want to add a guy.”
There’s no doubt that Vucevic would be a nice addition for the Heat. Last season, he played in 73 regular season games and averaged 17.6 points, 11.0 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.0 steal and 1.0 block per game. He shot 47.3 percent from the field and 31.4 percent from beyond the arc.
He would serve as a really solid offensive weapon for Miami.
Aside from that, losing Robinson would not be that big of a hurdle for the team to overcome. Robinson didn’t get a ton of action during the Heat’s 2022 playoff run, and the team came just one win away from advancing to the NBA Finals.
With that in mind, Robinson is still a really talented player and elite shooter when he’s feeling it.
Of course, this hypothetical deal seems to be nothing more than speculation. However, it appears that Vucevic is someone that Heat fans may want to keep an eye on as the year progresses.
