Magic to acquire guard Shabazz Napier

By trading him now, the Heat are perhaps getting the most value out the former first round draft pick.

According to Yahoo! Sports, the Heat are close to a deal with the Orlando Magic that would send second-year guard Shabazz Napier a couple hundred miles north.

The Heat had reportedly been aggressive in trying to trade Napier or Mario Chalmers.

The move with Napier comes in advance of Saturday’s deadline for the Heat to make decisions on partial 2015-16 guarantees on the contracts of Johnson, James Ennis, Hassan Whiteside and Henry Walker. James had lauded Napier as the best point guard in college basketball during the 2013-14 NCAA season.

The Miami Heat’s roster shake-up that has been going on during the summer may be about to shake one player loose. He averaged 5.1 points, 2.2 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 51 games for the Heat in his rookie season. Napier will have a much easier time finding minutes in Orlando, but he still won’t be a target in standard leagues while Elfrid Payton and Victor Oladipo are healthy.