On Wednesday afternoon, the Miami Heat traded Meyers Leonard and a 2027 second-round pick to the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for Trevor Ariza, a former NBA champion (2009).
Trevor Ariza
At 35 years old, Trevor Ariza is a solid and experienced 3 and D player that will be of service to Erik Spoelstra off the bench. Ariza seems to be tossed around like a hot potato. He has now added on to his already absurd NBA record of most teams traded to by a single player in NBA history. That number is now 11. Ariza has not played since March 10th, 2020, when he put up 22 points as a member of the Trail Blazers. He was traded earlier on in the season to the Thunder after being apart of the Pistons. But, Ariza has not played in a single game this year.
So, he will be making his season debut when this trade goes through. This deal will be finalized Wednesday. This should allow Ariza to get some game action either during or after this weekend. It has already been reported that Ariza is working out in Miami, which will speed up the process of making his Heat debut.
Last year, Ariza averaged 8.0 PPG with the Kings and Trail Blazers, over the span of 53 games. But in his career (1064 games), Ariza has averaged 10.5 PPG, 2.2 APG, and 4.8 RPG. The 16-year veteran is currently on a $12.8 million expiring contract.
Meyers Leonard
Meyers Leonard has not had a great past couple of weeks, to say the least. On Twitch, he made an antisemitic slur on stream while playing the popular shooting game, “Call of Duty Warzone”. Unfortunately for him, it made its way all across the internet. As a result, he was suspended indefinitely by the Heat. Leonard had been in trade rumors before then, but this sequence of events only motivated Pat Riley to ship him out.
Leonard will be heading to the Oklahoma City Thunder. Oklahoma City is rumored to cut him in a couple of days, however. Then, he will become a free agent. The Utah Jazz were in talks with the Heat for a possible deal including Leonard, but talks fell through. They could be a possible suitor. However, Leonard ruined his reputation by saying that slur. But, only time will tell where he goes, or if he goes anywhere.