The Heat are plotting something huge

Major moves are incoming for this Miami Heat organization as they are reportedly keeping an eye on Zach Levine of the Sacramento Kings. Heat insider Ethan Scalnik said it today, quote, I think they are looking at him. Honestly, I would watch the Zach Levine situation going forward. Then he gave another reason, quote, he's not Kyrie, but he'd give them another creator in the backcourt. And honestly, this is one of the better ideas circulating surrounding this Heat team this season as they look to improve this roster and bolster this lineup to push them over the edge. Not to mention Miami just got a firsthand look. Zach Levine scored 15 points against the Miami Heat on this past Sunday night in Sacramento. Yes, Miami still won the game 114-108, but the Kings have won one single game out of 11 up to this point in the NBA season. Levine opted into his $49 million player option this past offseason, and that contract runs out this summer. and the price on the table in one mock trade is Andrew Andrew Wiggins, Nikola Jovic, and Simon Fontecchio. So, the question is, is one season of Zach Levine worth all three of them? To answer that, let's start with the one word Scalnik used in that quote we broke down, and that is creator. Miami just finished its West Coast trip with wins in Sacramento and Utah, three and two overall on the trip, and they're still only five and six on the NBA season. Giannis is putting up 27 points and nearly 14 rebounds a game, so star power isn't exactly what they're missing. What is missing is a second guy to run the offense because right now it's on the shoulders of sole point guard Devion Mitchell. Mitchell's averaging eight assists per game and he's already had five games with 10 or more. He's also shooting 50% from the field and 40% from behind the three-point line. So this is not a knock on Devion Mitchell by any means. The problem is what's behind him. Giannis is second on the team in assist at 5.6 a game, then Larson and then Bam Adebayo. Both with just above three per game. Andrew Wiggins is at one and a half and Jovic is at one, even though he plays 90 seconds a game and looks horrible the entire time. The gap shows up in the strangest stat on the entirety of the team. When the ball handler finishes a pick and roll himself, Miami scores 1.2 points per possession, the best mark in the NBA. But those plays are only 6.1% of their possession, which ranks dead last in the league. The play that works best for this Heat team, at least up to this point in the NBA season, is the one play they run the absolute least, and it's because they only have one guard on the team that can really run it. They run in transition on 25% of their possessions, more than any team in the league, which isn't something new. Last year, Miami was number one in fast break points, but again, they're doing again this year, but it's not working as effectively as they only score 0.98 points per possession in transition, which ranks 27th in the NBA. They're running so much in transition, not only because it worked last year and because They brought Giannis in, who has led the league in points per possession. in transition for the last seven to eight seasons, but it's also because once they get into half court sets, the offense hasn't found its rhythm. It hasn't found its groove, and they really only have one dominant point guard they can rely on to be a point guard. Kyrie Irving, without a doubt, was the dream answer to this problem, but back in October on the 29th, it was Shams Charania who said Kyrie was interested in playing in Miami. He also said Miami would let That one play out a little bit, but based off all reports, Dallas is not trying to move Kyrie because of the dynamic between him and Cooper Flagg. And honestly, how valuable Kyrie is, the overall trade package is going to be enormous in order to actually get him, not only with player assets, but also draft compensation, which we all know Miami has none of. Levine is a version of a ball handler and creator while also remaining a threat on the offensive end to score the basketball himself that Miami could actually get their hands on. Now before we get to the rest of this video, this video is brought to you by Kalshi. Kalshi is phenomenal because right now you can trade yes or no contracts on anything on Kalshi. Politics, the weather, sporting events, release dates for movies, TV shows, video games, anything and everything in between. And right now you can trade yes or no on Zach Levine's next team. Go check it out with the link down in the description or in the pinned comment and use code DIGESTNBA when signing up to get $55 added to your account instantly when trading your first 25. Now for Levine, the scoring is still there and he is a legitimate threat on the offensive end, not only to create but to score at will. Levine is averaging 21.7 points per game through the 10 games he's played this NBA season. On top of that, he's making nearly three threes per game. When he gets all the way to the rim, he finishes at nearly an 80% clip. And when the typical player does, it's 65.5%. And 19% of his shots come from the mid-range, more than double the typical players, which ranks at 8%. It's a shot he can get to at will, at any given moment, whether it's late shot clock, whether it's late game clock. And Miami really doesn't have a lot of those players on this team. Yes, Mitchell can do it, but not to the level of Zach Levine. Bam and Giannis both can get to their spots, but it requires them to... force their way into the paint and dominate in that fashion but late in games when both of these players or either of these players dominate through four quarters teams are going to take that away. Adding Zach Levine would add another layer of shooting and ball handling on the perimeter and just inside of that that could really make this team terrifying to guard. Here is what worries me about Zach Levine. He's only averaging two and a half assists, but something that has to be taken into account is the fact that he's playing for a Sacramento Kings game that is led by Darius Acuff, a rookie who's averaging nearly 27 points per game, but plays a lot of his game in isolation. Yes, he can facilitate and handle the basketball extremely well, but he is looking to score and score at will. So when Levine gets the ball, he's probably looking to score much more than he's looking to pass because of the lack of reps he's getting. Primarily, he's a scorer. Can he still facilitate? Yes, but it's not his primary game, and that has to be acknowledged when attempting to look at this trade possibility for Miami. The winning hasn't followed the points either, because the Kings, again, are 1-9 in the games that Levine has played. The one win came against Dallas, where Levine did score 23. With Levine and Sabonis on the floor together, Sacramento is 19.2 points per possession. Worse, Then when the pair sits and like mentioned earlier, now the Kings are leaning on someone else. And really they've just given this keys, the keys to this young man in Darius Acuff. And for good reason, he should be the face of their franchise for years to come. Acuff is leading the NBA in minutes per game at nearly 37 plus. And after last night's loss to Orlando, Levine said this quote, I'm trying to be the best supporter role I can for him because he's going to be special. Levine understands what he is sitting in and the situation he's sitting in in Sacramento with Acuff getting the keys and basically being told for everyone else to get out of the way. And that makes it abundantly clear. Zach Levine is fully understanding. He is not the face of the franchise anymore. It's Acuff. He also turned his ankle in that game and said, I rolled the hell out of my ankle, but I'll be okay. After the Miami game, James Ham, who covers the Kings, asked on the show whether Doug Christie going away from Levine in the fourth quarter was a one-off or a new trend. Here's the part that actually helps Miami. He shoots 38.5% from three with Acuff on the floor. Without Acuff, It drops to 22.2%. Next to a real guard, a real facilitating guard, he has the ability to knock down the open shots he gets. Not only could Mitchell be that guy in Miami, but also Levine playing off of juggernauts like Bam and Giannis, he's going to get a bunch, a surplus of open threes because of the defenses collapsing on those two big name stars. If he were to get to Miami, he does not have to be Kyrie Irving. He just has to be that complementary scorer that when need be can take over the games on the offensive end, when Bam gets taken out, when Giannis gets taken away in the sense of the defense that the opposing team is playing against Miami. Now, how does Miami actually get Levine? There's two ways to get him, a cheap way and an expensive one. The cheap way is a buyout. The Sacramento Kings could let him go and he could choose to sign with the Miami Heat on a minimum contract because Sacramento would end up buying out his $49 million year left in Sacramento. It happens year after year. And this time it could be Zach Levine landing with this Miami Heat organization. And honestly, in a perfect world, that's the way Things take place. Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald, someone we cite on this channel all the time, went through it back to September and his answer was, quote, the odds are against it. If he got bought out in February that the Heat could only offer him a prorated share of the veteran minimum, Jackson figured Levine would be giving up well over 10 million to make that happen. He'd also give up his bird rights, the rule that allows his team to go over the cap to resign him in the summer. For a guy that is going into free agency in a few months, if this does happen, because it would come closer to the NBA trade deadline, if not just after it, because it wouldn't require a trade in this scenario, but it would be a buyout and then him signing to a new team, Miami specifically, and hopefully it takes away the ability or the right for the Heat to go out there and pay him again. Levine has said he hopes to play on a championship team but back in August James Ham reported the Kings hadn't had any talks about buying him out. This summer Sacramento was even willing to work out a sign and trade before he picked up his player option per James Ham. He obviously opted into that player option and that one decision is why more than likely 98% chance that he will have to be traded in order for any team to go out and acquire him. If you're enjoying these Miami Heat breakdowns and hypothetical ideas of potential trade candidates or additions to this Heat team, please make sure to like the video and subscribe to stay up to date with everything Miami Heat. The good news for Miami is that Jake Fisher reported the Kings GM Scott Perry understands he has to take on a rebuild that may take years to get accomplished. And after a start like this in Sacramento, it makes selling a whole lot easier. The only problem is What is Miami going to look like after they sell in order to acquire someone like Zach Levine? In this mock trade Miami sends out three players in exchange for one and the big reason why is due to the fact that they have to match the 49 million dollars coming in from Zach Levine despite already being extremely handicapped when it comes to the actual cap room they have available. Wiggins makes $30.2 million, Jovic makes $16.2 million, and Fontecchio is on the minimum at $2.4 million. That's $48.8 million going out against Levine's $48.9 million coming in. So Miami takes back $148,315 more than it's sending out. Normally that's nothing, but this season Miami's hard capped at the first apron. Miami cannot go over that threshold by a single dollar for any reason All season long. Which makes this extremely difficult, or any signing for that matter, extremely difficult. The trade machine has them $2.83 million under that line, so a gap of $148,000 actually fits. Levine's contract lists a 15% trade bonus, so how that bonus gets handled is part of any deal with Miami or someone else. And there's a date on it, because Fontecchio signed for the minimum and can't be traded Until December 15th. That's 34 days from today, as of November 11th, so that exact trade can't happen before then. The pitch for Sacramento is very easy. Levine is going to walk in free agency at the end of this year. Why not turn that into three controllable players, at least for the remainder of this season? Jovic and Wiggins you'd have for years going forward. Fontecchio would end up walking, so you'd have one player for half the season, but you'd have two additional players for years down the line. Wiggins has signed past the season two at $16.5 million next year, which is much easier of a number to move once again if they decided to move off of Wiggins later down the line. But now let's look at what Miami would actually be giving up on the court if they did make this trade. Andrew Wiggins has arguably been the most underwhelming player for this Heat team up to this point in the Averaging eight and a half points per Per game in 10 games, Jovic has played in 7 of 11 games for 12 minutes a night and has been, again, abysmal. He looks lost. He looks bad. It's not fun. And in the five games Fontecchio has played, he's averaging four minutes. Put that together, those three give Miami about 12.1 points per game against Levine's 21.7. Even with Wiggins out there, the lineup of Bam, Giannis, Mitchell, Clay, and Wiggins has a net rating of minus 11.4 in 67 minutes. That is why we are seeing Larson start over Wiggins at this stage. But with that being said, the points aren't the cost for Miami. The cost is the future because Jovic signed a four-year $62.4 million extension that runs through 2029-2030. Miami also has Pelo Larson on a four-year $60 million extension and he's getting far more minutes than Jovic and for good reason. The one thing this mock trade doesn't include is a first round or any form of draft compensation going to Sacramento, which is huge because all of the conversations we have had, whether it involves Kyrie Irving or anyone else that Miami could potentially go after this season to bolster this roster involves one, if not multiple pieces of draft compensation, which Miami doesn't have to spend. That matters because the Heat already owe their 2027 first round pick to Charlotte, which is protected through the first 14 picks, plus their 2031 and 2033 picks, which are in the first round to Milwaukee. So it comes down to one button or the other. Is Zach LaVine going to maintain this massive value on the trade market? Are there going to be multiple teams in on Zach LaVine if Sacramento makes him available? Is Sacramento going to be willing to take on Wiggins, Jovic, and Fontecchio? Do they think that is going to really get the job done for someone like Zach LaVine? Not only to open up cap room in Sacramento, but also to bolster their odds to look better, not only for this year, but more importantly, the years down the line. This trade obviously can't take place until December 15th because of the clause in Fontecchio's contract, because of when he was signed this past offseason So, thank you. Think about it and let me know. Do you think Miami should make this trade? And do you think there's any world where the Kings would be willing to do so? I'll see you guys on the next episode of Heat Digest. Thank you guys so much for watching.