Report: Heat have ‘little regard’ for swapping Kyle Lowry-Russell Westbrook

Feb 5, 2023 - 1:03 AM

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It’s undetermined whether or not the Miami Heat will trade Kyle Lowry ahead of the Feb. 9 trade deadline. But all options might — and should — be on the table regarding their 36-year-old guard and, rightfully, for anyone not named Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo and possibly Tyler Herro.

Another point guard who’s been shopped on the market is Russell Westbrook, who’s carries a cap-hit of $47 million on an expiring deal. According to Yahoo Sports NBA insider and reporter Jake Fischer, the Heat don’t have much interest in a swap — even while it’s been rumored in the past.

“It’s been repeated by league personnel that Miami has little regard for swapping Kyle Lowry for Westbrook,” Fischer reported Saturday. “Even still, the Lakers have remained reluctant to offer both their 2027 and 2029 first-round picks in any deal — a price rival teams have consistently required to take on Westbrook’s contract — let alone sacrifice both selections without protections.”

Hypothetically speaking, a Westbrook-Lowry swap by itself wouldn’t be possible; since Miami’s a taxpaying organization, they can only take back roughly $35.5 million — or 125 percent of Lowry’s $28.3 million salary — if he were the only player involved in the trade. Theoretically, Miami could move Robinson — who’s making $16.9 million (the Lakers need shooting!) — or conjur up a combination of salaries to complete a Westbrook-Lowry “swap.”

Assuming there was mutual interest, the both sides could also configure a three- or four-team trade if either team wanted to move additional salary elsewhere. Though those type of trades are hard to complete because you need a third or fourth team to be willing to complete such a trade.

Miami’s nearly $200K from entering the luxury tax and reportedly would prefer not to dip into the tax unless it’s for a “significant upgrade.” They wouldn’t be in repeater tax territory — they haven’t been in the luxury tax since Jimmy Butler’s first season in 2019-20 — if they did take on a bigger contract. But it’s a threshold they’d (probably; I have no sources) prefer not to cross with Robinson, Herro, Butler and Adebayo on the books for north of $120 million combined over the next three seasons.

Depending on the cost and value, the Heat might have to attach a first-round pick — available outright in 2023, 2027 and 2029 — to either Robinson or Lowry if they’re looking to move off either of them. Though for Westbrook and Lowry’s case, both are point guards at or near the end of their respective deals that might not be a substantial upgrades over one another.