The Thunder and Heat on Wednesday completed a deal that will send Trevor Ariza to Miami in exchange for Meyers Leonard and a second round of 2027, Miami announced. Ariza has not played in a game since the 2019-20 season, when he was still on the Portland Trail Blazers. It is therefore unclear when he will be ready to tackle Miami.
Even though Ariza was over at the age of 35, he is still a decent 3-and-D player for the right price. Miami is giving up nothing here, as Leonard has played in just three games this season due to left-shoulder surgery, and the use of an anti-Semitic sling has caused him to be suspended from all team activities for a week and a week. is. $ 50,000 fine.
Leonard has a no-trade clause in his contract, but he is expected to waive it to facilitate trade, according to Wojnarowski. The Nor is Thunder expected to keep Leonard after the trade was done, which would make him a free agent.
For OKC, it was more about obtaining draft compensation and rebuilding it instead of getting something worthwhile immediately. The choice in 2027 is just another draft selection that the Thunder can add to its treasury after acquiring several star players over the past three years.
As for the Heat, Ariza’s value will determine which version of him he gets. In his 21 games with the Trail Blazers last season, he averaged 11 points and four boards at 40 percent from deep. But earlier in the season, when he was at the Kings, he netted just six points per game and shot 38 percent from the field in 22 games. He jumped from team-to-team after leaving Houston in 2018, achieving different levels of success in different environments.
If Ariza can perform in Portland, Miami will add another defensive wing to its arsenal as the Heat will continue to climb the rankings in the East after a slow start at the start of the season. In their last ten games, Miami has led 9-1 and it is a winning series that the Heat have fourth in the East. After a COVID-19 outbreak and a few injuries on the roster, Miami has finally started to look like the team we saw in the Orlando bubble last year.