The Miami Heat are looking like one of the best teams in the NBA again and at the trade deadline, some rumors have come out connecting the team to Thaddeus Young, Pierre Jackson, Arron Afflalo and Glen Davis and those could be options for LeBron James and Dwyane Wade at the deadline as they try to make a third straight championship run.
The Miami Heat are closing on the Pacers in the east and at 37-14 there is still a chance that they will be able to get the number one seed in the conference, but even if they don't, it will still be a tough challenge if the two meet up in the conference finals again. The Heat were mentioned as a team that could get active at the deadline with Dwyane Wade being injured a bit, but that was earlier in the season and now things have come back around heading into the All-Star break.
Some players the team could look at includes Thaddeus Young, Arron Afflalo and Pierre Jackson, as he has been wasting away in the D-League killing it for the Pelicans while Jrue Holiday, Tyreke Evans, and Austin Rivers get playing time and that could lead to a deal. The best trade chip for Miami is Norris Cole and they may want to try and replace Mike Miller with something and this comes as Wade has already missed more games this season than he did all of last year. The Heat could look at someone like Young to help counter the moves that Indiana has made, including adding Luis Scola in the offseason and they also brought in Andrew Bynum after he was released by the Chicago Bulls.
The heat don't really "need" anything, but with the Pacers so deep and the Greg Oden move still a potential question mark, the team may want to add some type of insurance to the mix heading into the playoffs. LeBron James has started to come on really hard in the past two weeks and after going to three straight finals he has been having his minutes monitored closely and now that it's the second half, Erik Spoelstra has had the reigns taken off.
Ray Allen is a valuable player for the Heat, but he is getting older and may not be able to be relied on as much as last season and making a deal for someone like Jackson or Afflalo could transform Miami. The Heat could use a legit point guard like Jackson or a shooter like Afflalo and that would give the team a deep bench heading into the playoffs.
Jackson would be an interesting option for Miami and he has been in the d-League for the Pelicans and has been lighting things up, as he had 58 points in a game this season and has been averaging 30 points during the season. Jackson looks like a player the team could be willing to give up, while Young has been mentioned in trade rumors with the Sixers numerous times. The Suns have been interested in him and so have the Houston Rockets, but the Miami Heat could be an interesting option for the deadline. Miami likely will sit tight, but that could change over the next week.
