Indiana Pacers: A workable Myles Turner trade with the Miami Heat

Why the Miami Heat do this trade with the Indiana Pacers

I detailed this a bit deeper in my article earlier this week on trading with the Heat, but my main points are as follows:

• The Heat allow one of the worst opponent field goal percentages at the rim this season and could use an elite rim protector
• Myles Turner is only just starting his volume 3-point journey. Miami is an incredible developmental location, somewhere that should feel confident about getting Turner to where he needs to be to space the floor for Bam Adebayo
• They could lose Meyers Leonard to free agency this summer, leaving a hole at the big man slot

As far as this trade specifically, Miami might buy in because they already risk losing Derrick Jones Jr. and Myles Turner to the open market for nothing. Offering them the opportunity to get a rim protector with All-Star potential in return might get Riley to bite beyond the immediate upgrade on the defensive end Turner would be.

It’s a lot to bank on. The Heat don’t need to worry quite as much as your average team about losing players to free agency, especially players already in their system and familiar with the winning culture.

Riley might be looking for bargain-bin deals with these two players, though, and that’s not right for their personal timelines. Jones Jr.’s next contract could be his biggest. Leonard could be signing the last big contract of his career.

The downsides for Miami: Turner’s contract is $18 million per year through 2023. The fit with Adebayo is one that is idealistic. If he doesn’t reach the supposed ceiling behind the arc on the offensive end, he could cause similar issues for Miami and Bam Adebayo that Indy sees with Domantas Sabonis, something Kenneth Wilson suggested. That’s a long time to pay a lot of money to a poor fit.

Additionally, that figure is high enough that it starts to push into the Giannis budget. Miami will be in the running when he hits the open market in 2021.