The Miami Heat could be forced to explore trading for Russell Westbrook after Dwyane Wade decides to take his talents in Chicago.
The Heat will have a huge hole to fill after Wade decides to join the Chicago Bulls on a two-year deal worth $47.5 million. With Wade gone, the Heat lost a franchise player and another superstar that was supposed to be part of a new trio of Wade, Hassan Whiteside and Chris Bosh in South Beach.
However, there could still be a way to save the Heat franchise by trading for another star. Someone who could be more fitting playing alongside Whiteside and Bosh.
Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post believes the Heat and Pat Riley could go after a superstar in Westbrook, who has seemingly became available after Kevin Durant bolted out of Oklahoma City to join the Golden State Warriors. According to Bontemps, a package consisting of Justise Winslow and Goran Dragic could be enough to entice the Thunder to let go of Westbrook.
"Make no mistake that Riley will be pursuing Westbrook when he hits free agency next summer, and would likely love to get his hands on him sooner. A package of Goran Dragic and Justise Winslow would give Oklahoma City both a young wing and an established starting point guard to keep building around, and Westbrook would likely be happy to go to Miami," Bontemps wrote.
Interestingly, Bontemps' claims were written before Wade opted to spurn the Heat, which makes it more of a need for the three-time NBA champs to acquire the services of Westbrook.
Westbrook would be a perfect fit with the Heat as the star point guard they need to pair with Whiteside. Despite his reputation as a dominant scoring point guard, Westbrook has proven he can get his teammates involve, averaging 10.4 assists per game last season.
There is no doubt Westbrook can score effectively and would surely compensate any scoring outputs lost in a potential deal for the Thunder star PG.
On the other hand, Winslow and Dragic would be essential pieces in the Thunder's rebuild. Both players should fit in nicely to the Thunder's young backcourt, consisting of Victor Oladipo and Cameron Payne.
There is a growing sense the Thunder would highly consider trading Westbrook to get key players in return, something they failed to do when they let Durant walk away in free agency. If Winslow and Dragic are not enough for the Thunder to budge on a Westbrook deal, the Heat would surely pull all the stops to land them a replacement for Wade.