NBA Trade Rumors: 6 teams that should be calling the Bulls about Thad Young

5. Miami Heat

The second team mentioned in the Sun-Times report was the Miami Heat, the reigning champs of the East who have started the season a bit slow. Riddled by COVID-related absences, mainly from superstar Jimmy Butler, the Heat stand at just .500; lucky for them, that’s good enough for fifth place in the league’s lesser conference.

Miami ranks 24th in offense so far, which is directly impacted by how much time Butler has missed. Not having your best offensive player for a third of the season is expected to hamper the overall operation.

Butler’s return to action propelled Miami to a 10-5 surge, but the offense hasn’t corrected course. The attack only ranks 19th in offensive rating since his return on Jan. 30 — defense is still this team’s calling card, a unit that ranks third in defensive rating since that date.

This team will always be in buyer’s mode, especially for defense-first players. Andre Iguodala and Jae Crowder were the main additions last trade deadline, and they were huge boosts for their Finals run.

Young would be acquired on a similar line of thinking. His defense would definitely play up in the postseason, and his positional versatility would make him a more appealing partner for Bam Adebayo in the frontcourt.

Miami also has several tradeable contracts to get a deal like this done, particularly with Meyers Leonard (team option for 2021-22) and Kelly Olynyk (free agent after the season). Either one of them, plus a B or C-tier asset, probably gets Chicago to bite.