The perfect James Harden trade Miami must offer Sixers

James Harden shocked the NBA world when it came out that he was opting into the final year of his Philadelphia 76ers contract and demanding a trade. The Miami Heat are one of the leading contenders to make a James Harden trade if they want him, so here is the perfect Heat-Sixers trade for Harden.

Before we jump into the specifics of this deal, though, let’s talk about the Heat. The team overachieved this year and had an incredible run to the NBA Finals. However, it’s obvious the team needs to make some improvements if it hopes to stay on top of the Eastern Conference and win a title.

Miami could use a scoring guard to run the offense, facilitate, take pressure off of Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo, and create more space for the Heat’s shooters. Make no mistake, though, a James Harden trade is Plan B at best. The Heat should (and seemingly will) go all in on a Damian Lillard trade offer with the Portland Trail Blazers. That deal is a bit more of a long shot.

If the Lillard trade falls through, Harden could be a solid backup plan, and the team would have to give up far less to get him. So, with that in mind, here is the perfect Harden trade that the Heat must offer the Sixers.

The perfect Heat-Sixers James Harden trade is for Kyle Lowry and Tyler Herro

The Heat made an interesting decision just ahead of the James Harden news. The team planned to exercise the wave-and-stretch provision on Kyle Lowry, releasing the veteran point guard and breaking up his $29.6 million salary into $9.9 million cap hits over the next three seasons. Instead, they decided to keep him.

Now close your eyes and picture Brian Windhorst with his fingers raised, saying, “Why would the Miami Heat do that?”

The reason to do that is to use Lowry’s salary in a trade for a big-money star.

Harden will make $35.6 million next season, so Lowry’s contract makes the trade work straight-up from a salary cap perspective.

After that, the Heat just have to offer something else to make the deal make sense for the Sixers. That player is Tyler Herro.

Herro is still just 23, and he’s averaged over 20 points per game in the last two seasons. He is a career 38.4% 3-point shooter and would fit in well with Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey. He’s also an acceptable level of player for the Sixers to get back for Harden.

Harden is a one-year rental whose best days are behind him. Sixers general manager Daryl Morey always drives a hard bargain, but he’s not getting back a No. 1 or even No. 2 guy for his big-name player this time. A high-end No. 3 like Herro is a good return in this scenario.

For the Heat, this trade is good because it doesn’t gut the roster or players and cost several picks like a Damian Lillard trade would. The team gets its veteran scorer and creator on offense and gets a one or two-year window to win an NBA title.

Giving up Herro isn’t the best move for the long-term health of the team, but Miami can deal with that later. As mentioned above, Herro isn’t the centerpiece of a championship team, anyway. Plus, as good as Herro is, he got hurt 19 minutes into the Heat’s 2023 NBA Playoffs run, and the team still made the NBA Finals. He is a player Miami can live without.

This Heat-Sixers trade also sends out over $59 million and brings $35.6 million back, saving the Heat almost $25 million. That’s not enough to put Miami in the race for any huge free agents, but it does make re-signing Gabe Vincent and Max Strus, which should be a priority for the Heat this NBA offseason.

There are some inherent chemistry problems that Harden seems to bring to teams, but he’s never played with a leader like Jimmy Butler or for an organization with as strong a power structure as Spoelstra and Pat Riley. That combination will hopefully get the best out of Harden.

If Lillard isn’t in the cards, this James Harden trade is a nice consolation prize. It makes the team much better offensively, and giving up Lowry and Herro for Harden doesn’t kill the team defensively, which Erik Spoelstra would never allow anyway.

A deal like this is a win-win for both teams and if everything goes well, it wouldn’t be a shock to see these two teams meet in the Eastern Conference Finals next season.