The Clippers-Heat trade that changed everything for both teams

The The Los Angeles Clippers have entered the 2025-26 season with considerable momentum. Their squad may be old, but their depth appears to be vastly improved. They brought in Chris Paul and Brook Lopez in free agency, then addressed their longtime need for a more traditional-sized power forward by trading for John Collinssending Norman Powell that the Miami Heat in the process.

They were confident in exchange Powell not because the 32-year-old wasn’t productive, but because they were also bringing in Bradley Beal after he secured a buyout from the Phoenix Suns. Beal endured a rough 2024-25 campaign, but still has a long track record of productive basketball. And he’s only 32 years old, making him a reasonable pick or, some would say, an upgrade over Powell while bringing in Collins.

However, this the trade doesn’t go in the Clippers’ favoras the Heat laugh their way to the bank at how they look like runaway thieves in the Collins-Powell trade.

Trouble in Clippers land?

It may have been early days in the 2025-26 season, but a 3-5 start to the new campaign was definitely not what the Clippers envisioned for themselves. They were healthy to start the season Kawhi Leonard looks like he’s at his healthiest in many years. James Harden also finds a way to beat his team during the regular season, and with their added depth at multiple positions, they’ve had more freedom to rest their veterans whose workload he needs to control.

Alas, there are plenty of reasons to worry about the Clippers. Their attack was not goodwhich is nothing unusual. However, they ranked 15th in offensive rating last season. But somehow they score one point less per 100 possessions this season, and the loss of Powell has been a major factor behind their increased difficulty scoring.

Powell missed a few games here and there, but his ability to score remained the same. He is averaging a blistering 23.2 points per game on the year on over 51 percent shooting from beyond the arc, and this is the type of play the Clippers are missing from their guard corps.

Powell improved so much last year for the Clippers, especially when Leonard was out. He was so consistent beyond the arc, and he was able to create so much off the dribble by being a relentless attacker and effective shooter in the middle. He tapered off toward the end of the 2024-25 campaign due to injuries and a reduced role in LA’s offense with Leonard back, but with the Heat he’s proving last season wasn’t just a one-off.

Meanwhile, the Clippers are struggling on the offensive end, as the man they brought in to replace Powell in the Bills has been completely rotten. It’s not entirely clear whether Beal’s performance during the Clippers’ 115-102 loss to the Phoenix Suns on Thursday was a career low, but it’s getting pretty close.

With Harden and Leonard outsideBeal was supposed to be the main guy for LA that night. Instead, he set up a stench. He shot only 2-14 from the field, and was outplayed by the inexperienced Cam Christie, who scored 17 points in 25 minutes. Beal doesn’t look goodand he looked like he was moving in the mud. What was supposed to be a revenge game for Beal against the team that gave up on him ended up being a nightmare.

And it wasn’t a one-off for Beal, who, on paper, should thrive with the open looks he should get on this supposedly stacked Clippers team. He was limited to about 20 minutes per game, but his production during those minutes was terrible. He’s averaging a paltry 7.4 points per contest on 35.9 percent shooting — numbers that would normally knock someone out of any contending team’s rotation.

It would be one thing if Collins, the man the Clippers got for Beal, jumped out to LA. But head coach Tyronn Lue refused to start Collins, hitting his production ceiling. He came off the bench in all eight of the Clippers’ games, though he was much better than Bill — averaging 12.6 points and 5.0 rebounds on 55/42/71 shooting.

But just to wrap up what has been a disastrous start to the year for the Clippers, their defense was abysmal. They’re allowing 118.1 points per 100 possessions – a huge drop from their third-ranked defense (109.4 points allowed per 100) last year.

Perhaps a change could be on the horizon, with Collins entering the starting lineup and Kris Dunn as the defensive ace the Clippers rely on to start in place of Derrick Jones Jr.

Heat always finds a way

How the Heat were able to convert Kyle Anderson (who is not getting minutes with the Utah Jazz) and Kevin Love (barely playing for the Jazz) to Powell remains so puzzling. Powell was a fringe All-Star last year, drawing raves for the way he and Harden kept the Clippers going last year amid Leonard’s injury. He was one of the league’s most efficient goalscorers, and although injury-prone, he was very valuable.

He was also in the final year of his contract, so maybe the Clippers were just selling high. But how could the Heat buy Powell at such a low value? Pat Riley has to be laughing maniacally at the way his team stole Powell like he was whipping her.

Powell has become very indispensable to the Heat amid Tyler Hero’s injury. He is able to create off the rebound and is probably the team’s most independent scorer.

The Heat’s offense has fallen off a bit after a pretty exciting start, but they’ve found it much easier to score this year than last season despite being without Herro for the entirety of the campaign so far.

They are currently scoring 115.0 points per 100 possessions, which is a significant improvement over last year’s 112.4 points. The Heat flowed and Powell, who got two players from the sidelines, was instrumental in pulling their offense.

Bam Adebayo’s development as a three-point shooter (he made 16 3-pointers in eight games to start the 2025-26 season) helped fuel the Heat’s offense, while Jaime Jaquez Jr., Andrew Wiggins and even Simone Fontecchio were great in the hoop put.

Now, the Heat are currently facing some adversity. they are without Adebayo for their clash against the Charlotte Hornets on Friday night as Hero remains on the mend after spending the offseason on an ankle and foot.

But under head coach Erik Spoelstra, the Heat always find a way to get the job done. Even Pele Larson, the Heat’s second-round pick in 2024, has developed into a legitimate rotation player. Davion Mitchell found his footing as a pro under Heat Culture. Kel’el Ware will have every opportunity in the world to dominate the interior with Adebayo.

The Heat’s ceiling might not be higher than a second-round playoff team, and that’s already the absolute best-case scenario. But with the Eastern Conference wide open, the team could use a little offensive jolt. And they got that in the form of Powell, who, again, was bought for Anderson and Love.