"Is he more valuable under long-term contract here or elsewhere?" - Miami Heat insider speculates on former 6th MOY winner's trade value in Kyrie Irving sweepstakes

The dark horse in the Kevin Durant sweepstakes remains Pat Riley's cohort, the Miami Heat.

The bad news is that the Heat's lack of draft capital could be a major roadblock in their bid for Kevin Durant or any major player.

The good news, however, is that the Miami Heat have a trade-worthy, award-laden, young prospect in their wings, Tyler Herro, ripe for trades. Herro is coming off his best season, winning the Sixth Man of the Year.

Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel threw some light on what Tyler Herro could like in a package for Kyrie Irving, Myles Turner and Jae Crowder:

"With Tyler eligible for a max-scale extension up to the start of the season, it basically comes down to dual assessments by the Heat: Is Tyler more valuable as a trade asset than a roster asset? And is he more valuable under long-term contract here or elsewhere?"

"..Since Myles Turner, Jae Crowder and Harrison Barnes all are heading into the final year of their contracts, ...the Heat also would have to make such a long-term salary assessment on such an acquisition." (via) Sun Sentinel

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Miami Heat's offseason woes

Victor Oladipo, left, and Jayson Tatum.

The Miami Heat were dealt a huge blow when PJ Tucker decided to leave for Philadelphia. The 76ers put a lumpsum of $33 million on the table, which will allow Tucker to make the most he has made in the span of three seasons.

Tucker served as a 3&D guy for the Heat, and will likely fill a similar role in Philly.

So, with Tucker gone, what does the Heat have to offer?

For starters, there's Duncan Robinson. His $90 million contract has looked decreasingly prudent with time, as he went into a slump in the first year of his extension.

Robinson's extension kicked in during the 2021-22 season, and his stats dropped across the board. FG%, 3P%, eFG%, PPG, APG and RPG all took hits.

	PPG	APG	RPG	FG%	3P%	eFG%
2020-21	13.1	1.8	3.5	43.9	40.8	61.4
2021-22	10.9	1.6	2.6	39.9	37.2	55.9

Besides Robinson, there's Kyle Lowry, who's another player on a hefty contract who underperformed last season. Lowry's case is identical to that of Robinson's, where he severely underperformed in the first year of his contract.

But the key thing to note here is this: the Heat managed to reach the conference finals with two players on $90 million contracts performing well below expectations.

So, the Miami Heat might fare well even without filling Tucker's spot.