Miami Heat’s Kyle Lowry, Duncan Robinson on the outs?

Q: I’d imagine I’ll be in the minority of fans that are glad this trade never happened. Obviously the Heat brass took into consideration many factors and came to the decision not to pull the trigger and gut the team and the future. Wondering, though, with the clock ticking on Jimmy Butler, if he’s the one who ultimately might be the one traded to build a roster for the long haul. – Brian, Fort Lauderdale.

A: First, I do not believe the Heat ever got to the point of deciding not to pull the trigger on Damian Lillard. And if given a place at the trade table, they well could have pushed most of their assets to the middle of that table. Portland seemingly only wanted to deal with 28 other teams. So we’ll never know the true distances the Heat were willing to go, because they basically were not allowed to move past the starting line. As for dealing Jimmy Butler to build a future, an argument could be made the Heat already have a future in Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro and perhaps Nikola Jovic and Jaime Jaquez Jr. As for who might be dealt, Kyle Lowry’s expiring contract will remain a chip through the trading deadline, and based on decisions that will have to be made going forward, including with Caleb Martin’s potential free agency next summer, I would think that any opportunity to move off of Duncan Robinson’s money would be seized.