Ranking the 5 best players on the Heat if Damian Lillard trade happens

Damian Lillard. (Jaime Valdez-USA TODAY Sports)
Damian Lillard. (Jaime Valdez-USA TODAY Sports) /
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Kyle Lowry
Sam Sharpe-USA TODAY Sports /

Damian Lillard has requested a trade from the Trail Blazers and the Miami Heat are one of his top destinations.  

The Miami Heat has been on the cusp of winning the NBA Championship over the last 4 seasons. They have made the Eastern Conference Finals three times and the NBA Finals twice.

In both of their Finals losses, it was clear that the Heat were the far inferior team because as great as Jimmy Butler was, he simply couldn’t do it alone. Since superstar Damian Lillard has struggled with the grind in Portland and is looking for a change, the Heat are a perfect suitor for Damian Lillard.

In order for the Heat to pull off a trade with Portland, they would have to give up a minimum of Tyler Herro and Duncan Robinson just for the salaries to match.  Here are the top 5 players on the Heat if Damian Lillard gets traded there, assuming they aren’t included in the deal.

Best players on Miami Heat after Damian Lillard trade, No. 5: Kyle Lowry

Kyle Lowry is now entering his 18th season at age 37. Last season he averaged 11 points, 4 rebounds, and 5 assists but his splits weren’t that great as he shot 40.4 percent from the field and 34.5 percent from 3. In the postseason he did play a little bit better when he came off the bench as he averaged 9 points, 3.5 rebounds and 4.5 assists on 42.5 percent from the field and 37.5 percent from 3.

If the Heat were to get Damian Lillard in a trade to keep Kyle Lowry, Lowry would become the 6th man for this team. At this point in his career, that would be the perfect role for him. Lowry will be asked to primarily be a playmaker for this team as he should have plenty of other scorers around him. Having those extra scorers should make his offensive job easier he will get a chance to shoot high-percentage shots.

He is the fifth-best player on the Heat with Damian Lillard because the Heat will give up a huge amount of depth on their team to get Lillard. The Heat also lost a bunch of key role players like Max Strus to the Cavs and Gabe Vincent to the Lakers. Other players who could be at this 5th spot are Kevin Love and Josh Richardson but Lowry will be asked to play a bigger role than both of those players off the bench.