The Miami Heat have enough pieces to grab the NBA title for the third-straight season, but the defending champions will reportedly make more roster moves before the deadline.
The Heat were recently involved in a three-team trade with the Boston Celtics and the Miami Heat. The back-to-back champions acquired Tony Douglas from the Warriors, while losing seldom-used center Joel Anthony and future picks in the process.
Heat beat writer Ethan Skolnick revealed that Heat president Pat Riley is set to meet with his team personnel to talk about potential trades and more roster moves before the February 20 trade deadline.
"Pat Riley did say that he would be meeting with his personnel people about a lot of things, looking for pieces," Skolnick noted.
Riley and the Heat are still reportedly in the hunt for a veteran point guard who can either play as backup to Mario Chalmers or take the starting point guard spot moving forward.
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The Heat allegedly expressed interest in acquiring veteran point guard Kyle Lowry from the Toronto Raptors. The Heat reached out to the Raptors, but Toronto balked at the idea since the Heat have little to offer in exchange for Lowry, who has been on the radar of several NBA teams in the past several weeks.
"The Heat have been scrounging around for another ball handler, and made some initial inquiries on Kyle Lowry and a couple of other bigger names, per sources around the league. But with nothing to offer, they got nowhere," Zach Lowe of Grantland reported.
Aside from Lowry, it is widely believed around the NBA circles that the Heat will make a strong push for free agent center Andrew Bynum, who is looking to sign with a title-contending team this season.
Riley recently denied speculations about their interest on the oft-injured center, but ESPN reported that moving Anthony and his $3.8 million contract could be a preparation for next summer's free agency or a prelude to a deal with Bynum in the next few days.
"Heat knew Anthony would be picking up his $3.8 million option next year and wanted that contract off the books to help with their flexibility," ESPN's Chad Ford noted. "They want to make sure they have the cap flexibility to bring in the players they need to next year. And as far as this year goes, this move is probably a forerunner to them signing Andrew Bynum."
