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The San Antonio Spurs will likely get sick of analysts discussing what went wrong for them in the NBA Finals, but it’s a topic worth delving into.
San Antonio was in a prime position to outduel the New York Knicks, as they can legitimately say they were in full control of each contest at some point. However, when it was time to close out the deal, the organization played its worst basketball, foolishly falling in love with perimeter jump shots and committing outlandish crunch-time blunders (resulting in a 4-1 series loss).
De’Aaron Fox undoubtedly earned the disappointing label in the Finals, as he was an inefficient offensive threat who failed to use his natural instincts in one of the biggest moments of the series (a left-handed layup attempt with 12 seconds left while possessing a one-point advantage in Game 4 wasn’t exactly the smartest move).
In a massive hypothetical offseason trade idea, the Spurs would trade Fox to the Miami Heat for a 26-year-old All-Star guard.
“Miami is built around Fox's college teammate, Bam Adebayo,” CBS Sports’ Sam Quinn wrote last Sunday. “The Heat are focused on bigger names for now, but if those fall through and they view Fox as a legitimate upgrade, a Fox-for-Tyler Herro trade makes plenty of sense for both sides.”
“The Heat take a star swing and add someone who fits better next to Norman Powell than Herro did. The Spurs turn Fox's huge contract into a smaller one and get a high-level shooter out of their third guard. If any team is equipped to protect Herro on defense, it's one with (Victor) Wembanyama.
It feels like Herro has been involved in trade rumors for most, if not all, of his NBA career thus far. The Kentucky product’s value will always be relatively high, as he's a silky smooth 6-foot-5 offensive-minded stud with an elite one to two dribble pull-up jumper, an underrated ability to freeze defenders with convincing hesitations, and valuable NBA Finals experience.
Herro recorded his fifth consecutive 20+ points per game campaign with the Heat this year, scoring 20.5 points nightly while shooting 48.0% from the field and 37.8% from three-point land.
The Spurs are overloaded with wings, but if the Heat express their willingness to take on Fox’s monstrous four-year, $229 million contract, they shouldn’t hesitate to execute Quinn’s blockbuster trade idea.
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