Should Heat trade Whiteside for Cousins?

Much of Heat basketball talk today surrounds the Hassan Whiteside/Joel Embiid Twitter beef, but ESPN’s Zach Lowe’s prediction post has something else to discuss — and I’m not referencing his Justise Winslow trade prediction.

Lowe said that his “favorite fake trade” is a deal involving the New Orleans Pelicans trading away DeMarcus Cousins and a filler for Whiteside. The Pelicans should get something for Cousins instead of letting him leave in free agency, Lowe argues. And as for the Heat, Lowe says the following:

For Miami, this is a pure talent play. Cousins is better and younger, with an untapped upside. If he ever gets his head on straight, Cousins is a top-10 player. You know who has a good record of coaxing alleged trouble personalities down the right path? The team that rescued Whiteside, and bought early on the Waiters Island waterfront!

The Heat are confident that once a player gets a taste of the way they do things (and of that South Beach life) they can entice him to stay. Miami's cap sheet is clogged through 2020; this might be their only way to land a star talent.

Both teams “swear up and down” that this trade won’t happen, according to Lowe. But who knows what will go through Pat Riley’s head if the Heat don’t start the season off so well? He said in the offseason, “We don’t look at our players like assets, but they are assets. If something comes along somewhere along the way, there are opportunities to do other things.”

What do you think? Should the Heat trade Whiteside for Cousins? Let us know in the comments.