Miami Heat Would Be Best Served By Standing Pat At Trade Deadline

Making a move just for the sake of making a move has never been Pat Riley’s thing. Every trade or transaction has been shrouded in the guise of getting to the “win now” state that he talked about during TNT’s Tuesday night broadcast. So the rumblings that the Miami Herald’s Ethan Skolnick heard about the Miami Heat having interest in Omri Casspi would sound like a shot at slightly improving the team’s immediate future.

The 6-foot-9 small forward would make up for Miami’s deficiencies with his 42 percent three-point shooting replacing that of Tyler Johnson’s 38 percent. But once you hear that the Sacramento Kings would like the injured Johnson in return, all talks should be off.

Similar to the thoughts on Justise Winslow, the Heat should not mortgage away any parts of their young future unless it is in exchange for players who can make a huge difference like they did with first-round picks for Chris Bosh, LeBron James and Goran Dragic.

A move for Casspi may do a little to help this year, but when you step back and consider the fact that he has another season on his contract, you realize that bringing him in will not be a big enough blip on the radar to risk any piece of next year’s plans — or money. That’s especially the case when Johnson will be healthy and able to contribute more on the floor than Casspi.

In the end, Riley needs to stand Pat. Because if theses are the only types of deals available, Miami is better off waiting until March’s buyout season to attack their second-worst scoring offense in the NBA.