Heat and 3 other teams who should go all-in on Donovan Mitchell trade

1. Heat should trade for Donovan Mitchell

Very few NBA players would look worse in Miami. Erik Spoelstra recently signed a historic eight-year, $120 million contract because he is the best coach working today. His ability to maximize mismatched pieces in unrivaled. Miami has mastered the art of pulling rabits out of hats and making improbable deep postseason runs. Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo are bonafide stars, but the Heat are one piece away from full-blown title contention. Mitchell can absolutely complete the puzzle.

Miami's primary concern (aside from actually winning the Finals) is balancing timelines. Butler is 34 years old. Adebayo is 26. At some point, the Butler decline is going to start, if it hasn't already. He's a wing ball-handler that can't really shoot 3s, so it could be a steep falloff. The Heat could look to Mitchell to bridge the gap between eras, serving as Miami's primary ball-handler and scorer for the next decade.

The fit is strong. Mitchell would up Miami's 3-point volume while giving the Heat another creator to ease the burden on Butler. That would allow Butler to focus more energy on defense in the regular season while reducing the chances of him hitting another wall in the playoffs, like last year. Mitchell and Adebayo can spam two-man actions while Butler operates more without the ball. Any defensive concerns are mitigated by Spo's schematic brilliance and the strong backbone supplied by Mitchell's possible future Miami co-stars.

Perhaps the biggest hurdle for Miami is actually landing Mitchell. On top of Cleveland's reluctance to trade him, other teams can easily outbid the Heat. We saw it happen with Damian Lillard and Bradley Beal. Miami doesn't have a ton of draft assets. Jaime Jaquez Jr.'s rapid ascent helps, but the 22-year-old rookie only moves the needle so much. If Mitchell's availability turns into a bidding war, the Heat are at a disadvantage.