[Official] Heat Trade KZ Okpala & Amendments to 2023 MIA 1st to Thunder for 2026 2nd

[jayjaysee]

Should be incomplete for Miami. But getting the flexibility to make a big move this cheaply is a win IMO.

OKC gets a higher upside first for a distant probably not good 2nd.

Seems a win for both teams.

Hopefully Dallas can get their pick back this cheaply if they need to.

[MadNESS]

This has GMAT all over it

[cjmcallist]

Should we presume that MIA has one more move up their sleeve?

OKC had been holding that roster spot specifically so they could take on a player in a trade. They typically wait until the very last moment to make this type of deal. So, I assume that MIA wanted to do it today instead of tomorrow for a reason.

[BBallFreak]

Should be incomplete for Miami. But getting the flexibility to make a big move this cheaply is a win IMO.

It's not just about getting the flexibility to trade, it's getting the flexibility to sign - specifically Caleb Martin. He's currently signed to a two-way deal and we're hard-capped. We can now afford to sign him.

So, this is the potential for a big move while also keeping our stud 3&D wing. To me, the grade shouldn't be incomplete, it should be an A+

[Devilanche]

Should we presume that MIA has one more move up their sleeve?

OKC had been holding that roster spot specifically so they could take on a player in a trade. They typically wait until the very last moment to make this type of deal. So, I assume that MIA wanted to do it today instead of tomorrow for a reason.

I don’t think we are keeping him tbh . High chance he’s waived.

[MoneyTalks41890]

Should we presume that MIA has one more move up their sleeve?

OKC had been holding that roster spot specifically so they could take on a player in a trade. They typically wait until the very last moment to make this type of deal. So, I assume that MIA wanted to do it today instead of tomorrow for a reason.

I don’t think we are keeping him tbh . High chance he’s waived.

I think OKC waives him if something else comes along, and I really hope something else comes along. 30 million in cap space, let's use it. There are teams still in the tax that shouldn't be (looking at you, Boston).

[Devilanche]

Should we presume that MIA has one more move up their sleeve?

OKC had been holding that roster spot specifically so they could take on a player in a trade. They typically wait until the very last moment to make this type of deal. So, I assume that MIA wanted to do it today instead of tomorrow for a reason.

I don’t think we are keeping him tbh . High chance he’s waived.

I think OKC waives him if something else comes along, and I really hope something else comes along. 30 million in cap space, let's use it. There are teams still in the tax that shouldn't be (looking at you, Boston).

Yes I don’t think we are able to use all 30 but I want use up most of them on a 1-2 years deal .

I’m looking at any team wanting a roster spot , barely in the tax and team wanting to reduce their tax payment . Plenty of opportunity out there.

We need to make back the second we just lost.

[MoneyTalks41890]

I don’t think we are keeping him tbh . High chance he’s waived.

I think OKC waives him if something else comes along, and I really hope something else comes along. 30 million in cap space, let's use it. There are teams still in the tax that shouldn't be (looking at you, Boston).

Yes I don’t think we are able to use all 30 but I want use up most of them on a 1-2 years deal .

I’m looking at any team wanting a roster spot , barely in the tax and team wanting to reduce their tax payment . Plenty of opportunity out there.

We need to make back the second we just lost.

Lol, no, we do not, unless Presti is truly Scrooge McDuck. But we should take advantage of the opportunities here.

[Devilanche]

I think OKC waives him if something else comes along, and I really hope something else comes along. 30 million in cap space, let's use it. There are teams still in the tax that shouldn't be (looking at you, Boston).

Yes I don’t think we are able to use all 30 but I want use up most of them on a 1-2 years deal .

I’m looking at any team wanting a roster spot , barely in the tax and team wanting to reduce their tax payment . Plenty of opportunity out there.

We need to make back the second we just lost.

Lol, no, we do not, unless Presti is truly Scrooge McDuck. But we should take advantage of the opportunities here.

Eh that was said in jest . It’s more likely that 30m is for a few small deal over a big one . And it’s mostly because I don’t want to somehow end up with Harris.

[jayjaysee]

Should be incomplete for Miami. But getting the flexibility to make a big move this cheaply is a win IMO.

It's not just about getting the flexibility to trade, it's getting the flexibility to sign - specifically Caleb Martin. He's currently signed to a two-way deal and we're hard-capped. We can now afford to sign him.

So, this is the potential for a big move while also keeping our stud 3&D wing. To me, the grade shouldn't be incomplete, it should be an A+

I understand it is a benefit but how hard do you think it would have been to dump KZ?

That’s why I’m not valuing that much in my opinion of the trade.

It’s cool it’s a 2 birds one stone type trade.. but that bird would’ve been easy to catch.

[BBallFreak]

Should be incomplete for Miami. But getting the flexibility to make a big move this cheaply is a win IMO.

It's not just about getting the flexibility to trade, it's getting the flexibility to sign - specifically Caleb Martin. He's currently signed to a two-way deal and we're hard-capped. We can now afford to sign him.

So, this is the potential for a big move while also keeping our stud 3&D wing. To me, the grade shouldn't be incomplete, it should be an A+

I understand it is a benefit but how hard do you think it would have been to dump KZ?

That’s why I’m not valuing that much in my opinion of the trade.

It’s cool it’s a 2 birds one stone type trade.. but that bird would’ve been easy to catch.

We'd have likely had to include a second to make that happen. We wouldn't have gotten one. And we wouldn't have gotten the ability to trade our first-round pick. Even if we don't trade it, that flexibility is a huge bonus. It gets us to the table. And if we don't trade it, using it could also be very worthwhile...

[MoneyTalks41890]

Should be incomplete for Miami. But getting the flexibility to make a big move this cheaply is a win IMO.

It's not just about getting the flexibility to trade, it's getting the flexibility to sign - specifically Caleb Martin. He's currently signed to a two-way deal and we're hard-capped. We can now afford to sign him.

So, this is the potential for a big move while also keeping our stud 3&D wing. To me, the grade shouldn't be incomplete, it should be an A+

I understand it is a benefit but how hard do you think it would have been to dump KZ?

That’s why I’m not valuing that much in my opinion of the trade.

It’s cool it’s a 2 birds one stone type trade.. but that bird would’ve been easy to catch.

Without the pick situation I think OKC would've taken him for cash. Not sure about other teams.

[cjmcallist]

I don’t think we are keeping him tbh . High chance he’s waived.

I think OKC waives him if something else comes along, and I really hope something else comes along. 30 million in cap space, let's use it. There are teams still in the tax that shouldn't be (looking at you, Boston).

Yes I don’t think we are able to use all 30 but I want use up most of them on a 1-2 years deal .

I’m looking at any team wanting a roster spot , barely in the tax and team wanting to reduce their tax payment . Plenty of opportunity out there.

We need to make back the second we just lost.

I'm feeling like there won't be anything else that really comes our way. <sigh>

[jayjaysee]

It's not just about getting the flexibility to trade, it's getting the flexibility to sign - specifically Caleb Martin. He's currently signed to a two-way deal and we're hard-capped. We can now afford to sign him.

So, this is the potential for a big move while also keeping our stud 3&D wing. To me, the grade shouldn't be incomplete, it should be an A+

I understand it is a benefit but how hard do you think it would have been to dump KZ?

That’s why I’m not valuing that much in my opinion of the trade.

It’s cool it’s a 2 birds one stone type trade.. but that bird would’ve been easy to catch.

We'd have likely had to include a second to make that happen. We wouldn't have gotten one. And we wouldn't have gotten the ability to trade our first-round pick. Even if we don't trade it, that flexibility is a huge bonus. It gets us to the table. And if we don't trade it, using it could also be very worthwhile...

But “without the pick situation” is the reason why you got the 2nd. Presti is banking on Miami dropping off.

That flexibility is why it’s a win for Miami IMO. Incomplete because I agree it could be an A+ once Miami uses that flexibility and makes a big trade. But if they don’t? And they just gave OKC a higher upside pick just for a 2nd and KZ? How can it be an A+

Dumping a 22 year old on a minimum contract I probably isn’t hard is all. I don’t think it would have even cost a 2nd once you found a team with a roster spot

[gom]

Okpala is pretty good, especially playing defense in the zone at the top of a key. He has long arms and gets steals, but he's not as pesky as a guy like VIncent and doesn't take charges, which is a serious negative on Miami. Also his shot is shaky, but a lot of this is rawness. I hope he gets a chance with another team.

I love that we can sign Caleb to part of the mid level exception. Might be able to get bird rights if it is a 3-year deal. Definitely A+ if this is the case.

[slicedbread2]

Okpala is pretty good, especially playing defense in the zone at the top of a key. He has long arms and gets steals, but he's not as pesky as a guy like VIncent and doesn't take charges, which is a serious negative on Miami. Also his shot is shaky, but a lot of this is rawness. I hope he gets a chance with another team.

I love that we can sign Caleb to part of the mid level exception. Might be able to get bird rights if it is a 3-year deal. Definitely A+ if this is the case.

This deal also opens up the following:

1) Getting under the luxury tax. The Heat were over the luxury tax during the finals run in the bubble. They managed to stay under it last season and if they can stay under it this year, all potential repeater tax penalties are gone as teams have to go 2 consecutive years without being in the bubble. Miami is currently under the tax by 2.1M.
2) Converting Martin's deal into a standard contract. With 2-way deals, a player's deal can be converted into a standard 4 year deal. Moses Brown had his deal converted into a 4 year deal by the Thunder last year from a 2-way with his starting salary at $1.25M and he's now in Dallas on a very cheap deal averaging $1.8M for the next 3 years. Martin has been a solid find and has done a very good job in his role in Miami. Think it'll be a 2-3 years but they could retain his early bird rights if he stays next year which he should.
3) Opening up roster spots. Miami once they convert Martin's deal can then get one more player to fill out the roster plus they can sign an additional player to a 2-way deal.

Gotta be good for Miami as they've found a way at taking on reclamation projects and as for OKC it's not a bad deal to push back the 1st to 25 as anything can happen. If they want, they could do 2 separate deals with Boston to help them get under the tax by doing separate deals like this:

Boston: top 55 pro. 2nd(22 OKC)
OKC: PJ Dozier

Boston: Bol bol, 23 2nd(lowest of HOU/MIA/DAL)
OKC: KZ Okpala

KZ is hurt right now but I think he'll get back before the playoffs whereas Dozier and Bol Bol are done for the year and they get back a future 2nd while helping Boston get under the tax and allowing them to open up a roster spot to fill with some other dude. Had to make the deals separate as they can only be traded by themselves.

[gom]

Actually, Miami does not have to convert KZ to a minimum deal. He can sign to a part of the MLE, which is better for the team, allowing him to become a restricted free agent, rather than having to deal with the Arenas exception etc.