Miami held the better side in the 2016-07-10 transaction with New Orleans Pelicans, receiving Luke Babbitt for 2018 second-round pick (#51-Tony Carr); cash.
Miami acquired Luke Babbitt from New Orleans on July 10, 2016, sending back the Pelicans' own 2018 second-round pick plus cash. The Heat had acquired that pick only months earlier in the Jarnell Stokes salary trade. Babbitt filled a clear roster need as a floor-spacing forward: he entered the deal as a career 40.3 percent three-point shooter and had hit 40.3 percent from deep for New Orleans in 2015-16.
Babbitt became a regular starter for Miami. He played 68 games, started 55 and averaged 4.8 points in 15.7 minutes while making 41.4 percent of his three-point attempts. That was useful low-cost spacing for a team that recovered from an 11-30 start to finish 41-41, although the Heat still missed the playoffs. Babbitt left for Atlanta in free agency after the season, so Miami's direct return was one year of rotation shooting rather than a lasting asset.
The Pelicans received cash and regained the 2018 second-round pick they had sent to Miami in the Stokes trade. That pick later became No. 51 in the 2018 draft, where New Orleans selected Penn State guard Tony Carr. Carr never produced NBA regular-season value for the Pelicans, which caps the upside of the return, but the transaction restored draft optionality and cash for a player who was entering the final year of his contract.
Miami got the better immediate basketball production because Babbitt played a real role and shot efficiently from three. New Orleans, however, turned an expiring reserve into cash plus a future pick that eventually conveyed, preserving value after Babbitt was no longer central to its plans. The canonical B for the Pelicans and B- for Miami therefore describes a narrow hindsight edge rather than a decisive win: one side recovered an asset, while the other received a useful but temporary contributor.
Slight Pelicans Edge — New Orleans B, Miami B-. Babbitt gave the Heat 68 games, 55 starts and 41.4 percent three-point shooting during the 2016-17 season, but he left after one year and Miami missed the playoffs. New Orleans received cash and recovered its own 2018 second-round pick, which eventually became No. 51 and Tony Carr. Carr did not become an NBA contributor, keeping this close, but the Pelicans preserved a draft asset while moving an expiring player. The completed value supports only a slight edge.