Grade the trade: 3-team proposed deal would swap De'Andre Hunter for NBA champion

Heat land NBA champ in proposed 3-team trade with Hawks, Nuggets

The Heat would shave $600,000 from their books in Rahman’s scenario while also landing a champion in Jamal Murray, a two-way wing in De’Andre Hunter, and a floor-spacer in Garrison Mathews.

Murray (21.2/6.5/4.1) is in the last year of a five-year, $158.2 million contract and will be an unrestricted free agent after the 2024-25 season without an extension in place.

Hunter is in Year 2 of a four-year, $90 million deal. 

He is coming off a 15.6-point, 3.9-rebound, 1.5-assist campaign in 2023-24. It was Hunter’s third 15.0-PPG season in his five-year career. He is a willing defender though miscast as a No. 1 stopper on the Hawks and has dealt with knee injuries.

Mathews was a bargain for the Hawks in 2023-24, averaging a modest 4.9 points and 1.4 rebounds but also shooting 44% from beyond the arc.

His four-year, $8.2 million contract is expiring, potentially adding to his appeal in trade talks.

This incoming group would count $59.9 million against the salary cap in 2024-25 and solve the Heat’s long-standing point guard quandary. However, Murray and Herro possess many of the same qualities from availability to a history of streakiness as a scorer.

Neither Rozier nor Richardson were true difference-makers for the Heat in 2023-24. Trading prospects like Jovic and Pelle Larsson would sting, though adding talent at the top of the roster offsets that.

Getting back the Kings’ conditional 2025 first-round pick dulls the blow of surrendering a pair of first-rounders and a second-rounder to grease the wheels.

Grade – A: Future draft picks and prospects have but so much value to a team built and aiming to win now, making this a no-brainer scenario for the Heat, even at the risk of redundancy going from Herro to Murray.