The Miami Heat reportedly want to be active before the NBA trade deadline, but they lack the assets to make any major deals. Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reports Norris Cole, whom the Detroit Pistons tried to trade for, Josh McRoberts and Chris Andersen are the best assets Miami has to offer.
The loss of LeBron James over the summer has made Miami more active in trade talks than any time in recent memory. Earlier this season they were linked to Josh Smith and Brook Lopez, but neither set of talks yielded any actual deal. Jackson believes it'll be hard for the Heat to pull off any significant trade this season, due to their lack of valuable assets, including being unable to trade a future first-round draft pick until 2017.
"An Eastern Conference general manager said Tuesday the Heat likely lacks the assets to make a meaningful move before the Feb. 19 trade deadline," Jackson wrote Wednesday. "He said Norris Cole has been mentioned in trade talks 'but what are you going to get for him? He's a backup. They don't have much to give up. Josh McRoberts would have value for a team out of the playoffs. Birdman [Chris Andersen] would have value for a playoff team but a playoff team is not trading you a quality [wing] for him.'"
Jackson also touched on the Cole-to-Detroit trade that ultimately fell through.
"A source in contact with Detroit confirmed the Pistons offered impending free agent power forward Jonas Jerebko to the Heat for Cole. But as MLLive.com reported, Detroit rejected Miami's demand that the Pistons also take Danny Granger, who's due $2.2 million next season." Jackson wrote.
Miami (22-29) is currently seventh in the Eastern Conference, but with it looking improbable that they'll make a deep postseason run, Heat president Pat Riley is unlikely to mortgage their future to add a player for this season.
