Orlando to acquire Shabazz Napier from Miami in trade

The trade is not yet official, but will not cost the Magic anything: as Josh Robbins notes, the future second-round pick Orlando will send to Miami for Napier is top-55 protected.

In 51 games with the Heat, he averaged 5.1 points and 2.5 assists in 19.8 minutes per game. James insisted Miami use its late first round pick on the 6-foot-1 point guard, who ended up being taken No. 24 overall in 2014. The Magic are finalizing a trade to get Nappier, reports Adrian Wojnarowski at Yahoo Sports.

The Heat had a logjam at point guard after trading for Goran Dragic in the middle of the season, with Napier being the odd man out.

According to Windhorst, the Heat did not put much importance into the thought of James influencing their decision to draft Napier last year, per ESPN. In addition, Richardson remains unsigned, with the Napier move making it more likely the Heat will extend Richardson a multi-year deal.

While with Miami’s Summer League team, it appears that Napier caught Orlando’s eye.

The trade between the two Florida clubs will see the Heat reduce their luxury tax bill in the 2015-16 season.

Just when you thought the National Basteball Association off season was winding down, the Orlando Magic go out and make a trade to bolster their squad.

However, Napier isn’t actually heading to greener pastures, because the Magic will in all probability proceed to depend on fellow second-year participant Elfrid Payton for start line guard, together with his strong performances bringing him…