The Heat‘s 2023 offseason was centered around their pursuit of Damian Lillard and with the Cavaliers eliminated from the 2024 playoffs after falling to Boston in the second round, it could be a second straight offseason of star hunting. While Donovan Mitchell may ultimately agree to sign an extension with the Cavs, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Miami pursue him if he hits the trade market this offseason.
Recent reporting from The Athletic suggested the Cavs feel optimistic about securing a long-term commitment from Mitchell, but as we relayed this morning, Brian Windhorst of ESPN says he hasn’t made up his mind either way. If he were to ask out of Cleveland, any team acquiring him would need assurances he would commit long term before sacrificing significant capital. Along with the Heat, the Lakers and Nets are teams frequently mentioned among those with potential interest in Mitchell.
As for the Heat, they’d likely need Mitchell to use leverage with his contract situation to force a trade to Miami if he wanted, Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald writes. Other teams with potential interest could outbid Miami, who has only one first rounder available to trade if the situation doesn’t play out before this year’s draft. The Lakers will have three potential firsts and the Nets will have up to seven available to pursue Mitchell in this scenario, with Cleveland still set to owe Utah its first rounders in 2025, 2027, 2029 and two pick swaps in 2026 and 2028.
Ultimately, there are more questions than answers when it comes to Mitchell’s future. If he does ask for a trade, the Heat would have to get creative in order to acquire him, Chiang writes.
We have more from the Heat:
- The Heat moved a first-rounder to acquire Terry Rozier before the 2024 deadline, only the third time Miami has done so in the past decade, after Goran Dragic and Jimmy Butler. While they clearly think highly of Rozier to trade a first for him, he missed the entire postseason with neck spasms. According to Chiang, the Heat have no complaints with Rozier and are pleased with what he brought to the team. “I had a great conversation with him about some things,” Heat president Pat Riley said. “He’s open, he wanted to know from me what I thought about what he can do even at his age, which is still young. I gave him my opinion and I’m sure he’ll work on it, But he was a great addition for us, absolutely.“
- Thomas Bryant signed with the Heat last season on a minimum contract with a player option for 2024/25. He wound up only appearing in 38 games with averages of 5.7 points and 3.7 rebounds. While the vision was for Bryant to be the primary backup for Bam Adebayo and perhaps play alongside him at times, that didn’t come to fruition, Ira Winderman of South Florida’s Sun Sentinel writes. Bryant’s $2.8MM player option faces a June 29 deadline. “The opportunities were not there all the time, but I believed it was things that coach [Erik Spoelstra] had to do,” Bryant said. “He was dealing with everything, as well. We had injuries and there were opportunities there for me, as well. I tried to capitalize as much as I could in those as many I had. But overall, I thought it was a great time.“
- Bryant’s decision may very well be the deciding factor for what the Heat do with another depth big in Orlando Robinson, Winderman writes in the same piece. Robinson was promoted from a two-way contract but hasn’t broke into the rotation yet, appearing in just 36 games with averages of 2.8 points and 2.3 rebounds. The Heat have a July 15 deadline to guarantee his $2.1MM contract, or else he’ll become a free agent. Since neither Bryant nor Robinson made it into the rotation, it’s possible Miami looks to move on from one or both.