Monday’s loss to Philadelphia was the Heat‘s third straight defeat on their home court, dropping the team’s overall record to 5-8. In the wake of that game, Ethan J. Skolnick of HeatBeatMiami.com spoke to one Heat official who admitted, “We need a trade. Badly.”
However, as Skolnick points out, there’s not really a great trade out there for Miami, especially that Jimmy Butler is now a member of the Sixers. And without a deal that shake things up, it looks like the Heat may be stuck in Eastern Conference purgatory, likely to finish between sixth and ninth in the standings.
As the Heat weigh how to turn things around after a slow start and how to add a difference-making player, let’s round up a few more notes out of Miami…
- Dwyane Wade remains away from the team as he spends time with his wife and their newborn daughter, per Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press. The veteran guard will miss the team’s upcoming games vs. Brooklyn, Indiana, and the Lakers and then will make a decision from there, says Reynolds. “We’re totally fine with it,” head coach Erik Spoelstra said.
- Now that Dion Waiters has missed Miami’s first 13 games, he has officially lost out on the $1.2MM bonus he would’ve earned if he had played in 70 contests this season, tweets cap expert Albert Nahmad. That bonus was considered an unlikely incentive since Waiters didn’t play 70 games last year either, so his cap hit will remain unchanged.
- With Carmelo Anthony‘s future in Houston up in the air, rumors have been swirling about the possibility of Carmelo landing in South Beach. Anthony’s reps discussed a possible deal with the Heat in the summer, and league executives who spoke to Sean Deveney of The Sporting News believes there could still be a fit there. ESPN’s Marc J. Spears also cited the Heat as a potential suitor for Anthony during an appearance on The Jump (hat tip to Anthony Irwin of Silver Screen & Roll). Dave Hyde of The Sun Sentinel isn’t on board with the idea.
That anonymous Heat official who said “We need a trade. Badly”? Fire grandpa Riley, hire him.
Like I’ve been saying for some time, Riley isn’t going to do it despite his claims, and the Butler situation should prove that to a wider audience. To make up for his unwillingness, he then rushed to sign Winslow, which blocks Mcgruder. And there was still a month left or so before Butler got resolved.
JRich will never reach Butler’s level of talent or sacrifice. He’s just a really good player for the money. Meanwhile Butler will likely sign with the team that wanted him.
Now it’s Draymond’s turn at bat-ty. . .
Riley had Richardson and a 1st round pick on the table for a while. Not his fault Minnesota stupidly passed. If anything, that was a good thing for the Heat. No way should they have included Richardson in a Butler trade. It would have been dumb to trade his contract in that deal for 1 year of Butler. Maybe you dont think Richardson can ever be Butler, but that isnt how you decide trade value. The point would have been to pair Richardson with Butler on the wing.
Signing Winslow doesnt preclude them from signing Mcgruder.
With James Johnson still missing, Heat badly need help at the 4. Olynyk cant play that spot, for the most part. Without Wade, they haven’t had anyone that can score in the half court in certain situations, and they’ve turned the ball over a lot in the last 3 4th quarters, leading to losses in games they were leading, and should have won. Melo would help in both areas. If he gets in the kind of shape the Heat would want him to be in as well, it will help both him and the team, and could extend his career by a couple of years. Would have been nice if he joined in the offseason, tp be further in this process, especially with Houston already throwing him under the bus and making him the scapegoat again
I’ve seen Waiters working out before a couple of games recently. I think he looks close to start increasing his work load, but I may be wrong. I thought he looked pretty decent for what I saw him doing. Apparently, James Johnson is still trying to reach a certain body fat before coming back, as that will apparently determine if he is 100%. That is kind of frustrating b/c this team really needs him at the 4. That is the one spot on the roster with no depth behind Winslow.
Meanwhile, this thing with Wade is really confusing. I get it, and I support him, but how many games do you need to miss? I especially dont get why he would have to miss home games. It’s not like he wouldnt be with his family the entire time. I would have thought he would be back for the Lakers game, to give his home fans one last look at him and LeBron on the same floor, especially considering that LeBron has barely played in Miami since he left a few years ago. Maybe I should have sold that ticket when I had the chance…anyway I hope he comes back soon b/c this team needs his leadership right now
There was an element of scapegoating with Melo. Now I am more or less informed the Houston D has improved with the addition of D-coach Bz’k, previous to the subtraction of Melo. This makes his case much stronger.
They also now have Chris Paul and James Ennis after they missed a few games. Chris Paul had a couple of off nights getting back in rhythm.
To be honest I would have traded anyone in Miami for Butler, the only player that I wouldn’t trade in this team is Whiteside… & Wade of course, after that to get a guy like Butler, I would be happy to give whichever player Minny wanted… Agree with x%sure in his views of Riley, he must go.
You always say the same things about this team, but you’ve never watched anyone on this team play in your life. And you keep saying the same things about Whiteside, constantly being given the answers, and constantly asking the same questions. It’s almost trolling. Whiteside is the biggest issue on this team, and would have been traded if anyone would have been willing to take him.
Agreed. Whiteside is great when he’s great, but he’s a MASSIVE liability when he’s missing rotations, demanding touches, failing to box out, etc. In today’s NBA, you’re better off with a center that’s a mediocre athlete and skilled than a jump out of the gym guy who can’t shoot and screws up your spacing.
Whiteside is trade proof at his current salary, unless Miami is willing to take back long term money. He’s not an asset for Miami (not even a little bit).
Have you seen anyone play? So de new definition of a troll is someone honest opinion, you might not like it or agree but it isn’t disrespectful or wrong in any way. You clearly don’t like Whiteside but are very high on mediocre role players like TJ, Dragic, Richardson, McGruder, JJ, KO, Waiters & Adebayo. Which is fine, as your opinion I respect it, doesn’t make you a troll, maybe wrong but that is it, so no need to get all rude just because others have got different opinions, so man take it easy. I like Miami, always have, but is just so disappointing when they could do so much better than they are.