The Miami Heat have traded forward Okaro White to Atlanta for sharpshooter Luke Babbitt, both team announced in separate press releases on Thursday.
Atlanta will waive Okaro White, the team announced. The team’s desire to make this move was to primarily dump the contract of Babbitt, who is set to head back to Miami for the second time in the past two years.
The Heat originally signed Babbitt, a near 7-foot sharpshooter out of Nevada, in a surprising transaction during the summer of 2016. Babbitt shot the ball exceptionally well during his time with the Heat last season, but decided to leave the team and sign with Atlanta in the offseason. Fast forward seven months, and he’s back with Miami.
With the move, Miami also creates a $1.3 million trade exception. Babbitt is set to enter unrestricted free agency on July 1.
The Heat also swung a separate trade on deadline day, sending a heavily protected second-round draft pick to Cleveland in exchange for Dwyane Wade.
“Having Dwyane (Wade) back in the fold, and in Miami, is a great day for the Heat,” Heat president Pat Riley said. “To add Luke Babbitt to the equation gives us a great shot of trying to accomplish what we want to do. Luke Babbitt, we all know and are very familiar with his ability to be able to shoot the basketball.”
Looking forward to welcoming two of my brothers back to Miami! @DwyaneWade #LukeBabbitt @MiamiHEAT
— Goran Dragi? (@Goran_Dragic) February 8, 2018
The Hawks and Heat explored trade scenarios centered around Marco Belinelli before Dwyane Wade became readily available Thursday morning, sources said.
