The trade deadline is looming, the shots still aren’t falling and the Miami Heat is once again reeling.
After four straight losses, does the Heat have to make a move another move before the deadline Thursday?
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Miami’s latest loss was evidence of how large a gap there is right now between the Heat and the NBA’s true championship hopes. The Heat trailed by 15 at halftime, never led after the first quarter and dropped its fourth straight game to the Phoenix Suns, 110-100, on Tuesday in Miami.
Less than six months after taking the Los Angeles Lakers to six games in the 2021 NBA Finals, the Heat (22-22) faces a pivot point after an noncompetitive loss to one of the league’s surprise title contenders: Will Miami part with some combination of Goran Dragic, Tyler Herro, Duncan Robinson, Andre Iguodala and Kelly Olynyk — key components to the 2021 Finals run — to try and get back to contention?
If Tuesday was a final audition for them to stay in South Florida, they left plenty of room for doubt. The Heat’s offensive woes continued and Miami lost by double digits for the second time in five days at AmericanAirlines Arena.
Here are five takeaways from the Heat’s loss to the Suns:
Miami’s offense is stagnant and the Heat can’t hit a jumper.
Even before it transformed into a juggernaut in the 2020 NBA Bubble by turning into a top-notch defensive team, Miami established itself as one of the best teams in the league because of its free-flowing, three-bombing offense. Star forwards Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo were the pivot points — a pair of gifted playmakers, who collapsed defenses with their penetration — and cutters and shooters buzzed around them to make open shots off their distributing.
Robinson had a historic season, shooting 44.6 percent from three-point range. Herro flashed limitless potential as a rookie by shooting 38.9 percent from deep. Olynyk shot 40.6 percent on three-pointers and Dragic shot 36.7 percent.
Now the Heat’s offense is neither free-flowing, nor three-bombing. Miami dished out 23 assists against Phoenix and committed 14 turnovers, and its shooting woes continued at 41.9 percent from the field and 36.1 percent on threes.
Those four shooters — who ranked among the Heat’s top five in threes last season — combined to go just 3 of 15 from beyond the arc Tuesday.
Entering Tuesday, Robinson’s three-point percentage was down to 38.2, Herro’s was down to 31.7, Olynyk’s was down to 32.2 and Dragic’s was down to 34.9. Guard Kendrick Nunn is the only one of Miami’s top five three-point shooters from last season shooting better this year.
Butler struggles and the Heat had no shot.
The Heat is nowhere near a good offensive team right now. Miami entered Tuesday averaging the fourth fewest points per game with the 11th worst field-goal percentage, the third worst three-point percentage and the seventh most turnovers per game.
All those trends kept up against the Suns.
By halftime, Miami was well on its way to another loss. The Heat shot 13 of 39 — 33.3 percent — in the first half, committed 10 turnovers and only handed out nine assists, while the Suns went 24 of 49 and 7 of 16 from three-point range.
Miami found a recipe to win this month in spite of all its obvious issues, though. It started with defense — the Heat entered Tuesday allowing the fourth fewest points per game — and finished with Butler.
Before its four-game losing streak, Miami won 10 of 12 with Butler leading the charge. The star forward averaged 25.3 points per game, 7.3 rebounds and 8.6 assists on 52.8-percent shooting in the 12-game stretch, and even averaged 20.7, 10.0 and 4.3 in the first three games of this new skid.
On Tuesday, Butler scored just 14 points with 11 rebounds and only one assist on 7-of-13 shooting, and he didn’t get to the free throw line. Most of his production came too late, too. The Suns (29-13) led 58-43 at halftime and by 20 for most of the third quarter. Butler had just four points on 2-of-7 shooting with one assist in the first half, although he did grab eight rebounds.
Jae Crowder looked like a missing piece.
Crowder’s debut season in Phoenix hasn’t been as smooth as his lone stint was in Miami. The forward has been in and out of the Suns’ starting lineup and he entered Tuesday shooting worse than 40 percent from the field.
Tuesday, though, was a throwback to his performance in the second half of last season. Crowder scored 13 points and went 3 of 6 from three.
Trevor Ariza, the newest versatile wing the Heat is trying to have fill the void left by Crowder, was OK and scored seven points in 24 minutes in his third game with Miami, but Crowder’s performance was a reminder of how much has changed in the last six months.
This team is already vastly different than it was in Lake Buena Vista and it was fitting for Crowder to be in the building for a reunion in perhaps the final game before the Heat changes again.
Miami stays shorthanded and COVID-19 might be a factor.
Dragic missed his second straight game because of lower back spasms and wing Avery Bradley missed his 23rd because of a right calf strain, but the Heat also now have two players out because of the NBA’s health and safety protocols.
Power forward Udonis Haslem missed his third game because of the league’s COVID-19 protocols and small forward KZ Okpala joined him by sitting out because of the protocols. The fact Okpala was ruled out doesn’t necessarily mean he tested positive for the coronavirus, just that he is out for some reason related to the virus, like close contact with someone who tested positive.
Spoelstra didn’t express any concern about Okpala’s COVID-related absence, instead addressing the basketball ramifications when discussing the forward.
“We have enough depth,” he said.
With three rotation players out, Ariza was the first player off the bench, followed by Herro, then Iguodala and point guard Gabe Vincent, and finally forward Precious Achiuwa in the second quarter.
Next up: the trade deadline.
The next time the Heat plays, the roster could again look vastly different than it did Tuesday.
The trade deadline is at 3 p.m. on Thursday and Miami remains active with less than 48 hours until it passes. Miami is interested in Kyle Lowry and the the Toronto Raptors point guard is interested in the Heat. Piecing together a deal for the 34-year-old is probably Miami’s best path to landing a former All-Star to complement Adebayo and Butler.
One game shouldn’t change the Heat’s level of urgency. A 44-game sample size presents plenty of information, though, and the Heat remains just outside the upper echelon of top teams in the Eastern Conference. Lowry, who made six straight NBA All-Star Games from 2015-2020 and helped guide the Raptors to the 2019 championship, is the sort of player who could help push Miami back into the ranks of title contenders.
A deal for Lowry would require the Heat to part with multiple rotation players to land a new starting point guard. Miami would likely have to part with at least one of its three highest-paid players other than Adebayo and Butler — Dragic, wing Iguodala or Olynyk — to make the salaries match. Toronto also wants one of Herro or Robinson in exchange for Lowry, The Ringer reported Sunday.
Lowry is making $30.5 million this season, meaning Miami has to send at least about $24 million worth of contracts to the Raptors to make the trade work in accordance with NBA rules. Herro is making $3.8 million this year and Robinson just $1.7 million. Dragic is making $18 million, Iguodala is making $15 million and Olynyk is making $12.6 million.
The Heat is also a contender to land LaMarcus Aldridge if the San Antonio Spurs buy out the post player and Miami has expressed interest in Houston Rockets wing Victor Oladipo, The Athletic reported. Like Lowry, the two forwards are former All-Stars, although neither are playing near an All-Star level this season.
