The Miami Heat are interested in a Brook Lopez trade with the Brooklyn Nets at the NBA trade deadline this season, and it comes as the Nets are looking at a three team deal with the Hornets and Thunder involving Lance Stephenson coming back to his home town in Brooklyn while the team continues shopping Lopez as well as point guard Deron Williams.
Miami has been struggling this season since losing James, but they are still in the mix in the eastern conference and could look to beef up at the deadline. According to Ohm Youngmisuk at ESPN.com, the Nets are continuing to shop Lopez and they have talked to teams about making a trade, including the Miami Heat. The report says that the team has shown "strong interest" in Lopez and that could be a big move for the franchise to make.
UPDATE: the Heat are interested in Lopez, but the Nets and Thunder are now working on a direct deal with Lopez and Kendrick Perkins. Lance Stephenson talks have slowed, per ESPN.com.
The Nets have been shopping the trio of Lopez, Williams and Joe Johnson since last month and while the Kings showed interest in Williams, a deal never went down. The Nets are on the cusp of a major rebuilding process and making trades with any of the three would continue things down that road. Miami has not been good up front this season and getting Lopez would add a strong option next to Bosh and Deng. The team would have another season after this at $16.7 million for Lopez and while that is a chunk, Miami can afford it.
Pro Basketball Talk writes that giving back Deng and Josh McRoberts could get the deal done, but it remains to be seen what Miami will offer. The trade deadline is in one month and as things get closer the Nets likely will try and shop all three players hard. Williams is likely to move and the Kings could pick back up on that, while the Houston Rockets also could be interested. The Memphis Grizzlies were interested in Deng before the team added Jeff Green and the Heat could look at moving him in the right deal.
Deng signed a two year deal at just under $20 million and while he is a strong player, Miami is just 17-22 this season and could try to shake things up. The team needs more up front and more on offense, as they are ranked 28th in the league in points per game. The team is 20th in rebounds per game and 27th in assists, although they do rank in the top 10 in points allowed. The Nets could be in the process of getting sold and that could press the team to keep some of their stars, but it's likely at least one of the trio will be traded. Johnson has a large contract as well, while both Williams and Lopez have had some injury issues in the past. The Nets are second in the Atlantic division and they are still in the mix in the eastern conference despite getting off to a shaky start with new head coach Lionel Hollins.
