Heat Get Big Upgrades on the Wing With Thursday's Trade
Andre Iguodala’s standoff with the Grizzlies ended on Thursday, with the Heat stepping up to free the veteran from his self-imposed exile.
It probably wasn’t all bad, as Iguodala got a nice long rest after five years of consecutive Finals trips and wear and tear, didn’t even have to show up for camp, hung out and worked on the business side of things. But he wanted to play, and had a specific idea of where he would do so. Miami, rejuvenated by the arrival of Jimmy Butler and a season that’s exceeded expectations, fits that bill.
The trade grew by its completion, incorporating a third team and giving the Heat a pair of other useful players, while also allowing the team to rid itself of two unwanted contracts and an oft-injured player whose progress never lived up to his promise for more than a few weeks at a time.
All told, the Heat were able to vastly upgrade their forward depth without surrendering any players who are currently helping them battle for home court in the playoffs.
When the dust settled, Miami acquired Andre Iguodala, Jae Crowder and Solomon Hill while sending out Justise Winslow, James Johnson and Dion Waiters.
Replacing two fringe rotation and an injured player with two legitimate forward options and a nice depth player is tidy business but the move isn’t without risks for the Heat – it’s just that the worst-case scenario isn’t a backbreaker considering what they moved out.
Iguodala is 36, with 1,253 games (regular season and playoffs) under his belt. Though he has aged gracefully and become an elite role player, he is leaving behind a situation that perfectly suited his strengths in Golden State. The Heat are no slouches but the personnel around him is just different, and he may not work with the same space and cutting lanes that were open to him with the Warriors.
The rest vs. rust debate will come into play as well. Iguodala has played under 70 games in three of the previous four seasons, with maintenance days a frequent occurrence for those juggernaut Warriors. He’s stayed in shape during his seven-month layoff, but it will take him some time to get back up to speed, doubly so if the Heat bake rest days into his personal schedule.
Though losing Winslow hurts, Iguodala’s skills add up to a more effective player. He won’t need to command touches to stay engaged offensively. He’s a slightly more reliable, and willing, shooter. He’s a better finisher. Winslow tantalized with runs where he looked like the real deal, but the Heat have cranked their contending window open and need bankability from their secondary contributors.
Iguodala isn’t going to be the Finals MVP version of himself, but that’s also not really what Miami needs to make this a win. He’ll give the team another hard-nosed, experience defender who can make life hell for opposing guards and wings in the postseason.
Also fitting into that hard-nosed category is Crowder, who seems like a fantastic fit for the tough, business-only approach that the Heat culture emanates. While his reputation as a 3-and-D wing outpaces his actual play at this point, Erik Spoelstra will love having another defensively capable wing at his disposal.
Crowder has firmly established himself as a below-average 3-point shooter, with one clear outlier season in Boston carrying a lot of water in that teams still pay him a little more mind than they should as an offensive threat. This year he’s down to .293 from deep but on 5.9 attempts per game, he shoots enough that you can’t completely ignore him – it’s not like more or less pressure is going to change how eager he is to fire away.
Hill is a worse shooter than Crowder but fills a similar role, though he’s a player whose rotation minutes may vanish in the postseason.
The biggest boost from the additions here is that Spoelstra can selectively unleash a handful of tenacious defenders, with everyone bumped down a peg from their old roles. Crowder started every appearance he made for the Grizzlies this season, but can now occupy a spot where his offensive drawbacks will be less frustrating. Iguodala won’t have to take the marquee matchup on defense, as Jimmy Butler can handle that workload. Getting this sort of versatile player means that the Heat will be able to trot out a number of different lineups depending on the situation, dialing up playmaking, shooting or size around their lineup mainstays.
Iguodala is the crown jewel of this trade, but agreeing to take on Crowder and Hill also opens things up financially for Miami. The two actual Grizzlies are both free agents this summer, and the Heat were able to dump the odious deals of Johnson and Waiters in the process. Essentially, Miami received three rotation-grade wings and sent out $41.7 million in salary for next year, assuming Johnson exercises his player option. The Heat handed Iguodala a two-year, $30 million extension, though a team option on that second year mitigates the risk.
While it was expected that Iguodala would find his way to Texas or sunny California, he’s now locked into a short-term future in South Beach. That the Heat were able to add a player of his caliber, plus a few diet versions in Crowder and Hill, while clearing salary for the summer and losing only one player that would be in the full-strength rotation, is the best of both worlds. The Heat are going for it this year and didn’t have to sacrifice a ton to make it happen.
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