Heat predicted to unite Tyler Herro with 17.6 PPG rising star, Pistons’ top-5 draft pick via trade

The Miami Heat were handed a demoralizing first-round defeat at the hands of the Cleveland Cavaliers in a clean sweep to begin the 2025 NBA Playoffs, with the Eastern Conference's No. 1 seeded Cavs notching their final two wins of the series by a combined 92-point margin of victory.

Things surely could have gone better for the NBA's first-ever No. 10 seed to reach the postseason since the introduction of the Play-In Tournament, but their general manager Andy Elisburg can now fully focus on his plan of attack for the coming offseason.

While Elisburg and his front office staff decide on the direction of the group heading into 2025-26, recent reports have indicated that Miami could be aggressive in their pursuit of continued postseason contention, leading to the franchise possibly negotiating a massive trade with the Detroit Pistons to acquire their talented sophomore shooting guard Jaden Ivey.

"A star point guard would be the dream acquisition, but those are hard to find—and, no, we wouldn't recommend chasing Trae Young due to defensive concerns with slotting him alongside Herro—so the Heat might have to aim at an ascending player and hope their developmental staff can help maximize their potential," Bleacher Report's Zach Buckley wrote Monday.

"Could Jaden Ivey be that player?"

"Ivey's blink-and-you'll-miss-him burst would enhance the Heat's transition attack, and he has enough tools to be more than a traffic cone on defense."

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As a prospective trade acquisition for Miami, Buckley suggests that Ivey could mesh well with first-time All-Star Tyler Herro in the backcourt due to Ivey's experience playing with another ball-dominant guard in Detroit's Cade Cunningham.

For the Heat, it's possible that the team could offer Detroit a package consisting of Jaime Jaquez Jr. and a solid two-way role player in Haywood Highsmith to get a deal across the table.

In just 30 appearances for Detroit before sustaining a broken left fibula on Jan. 1, the 6-foot-4 athlete contributed 17.6 points, 4.1 rebounds and 4.0 assists while knocking down 40.9% of his 5.1 attempts from three-point range.

Ivey also displayed real two-way potential, as he drastically improved his 121 defensive rating per 100 possessions in 2023-24 to a figure of 115 this past regular season.

If paired with the sensational scorer Herro and given the opportunity to improve the team's overall defensive output alongside their 5-time All-Defensive Team selection Bam Adebayo, there's a chance that Ivey could help Miami remain in the Eastern Conference playoff picture for the foreseeable future.

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