The Heat are about to begin a six-game home stand that could be the last chance for the current group to remain together, writes Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel. The Heat are 7-17 after Saturday’s loss in Chicago, with Justise Winslow, Dion Waiters, James Johnson and Luke Babbitt all left behind in Miami because of injuries. Miami could be in for a shakeup as soon as Thursday, when free agents who signed during the offseason become eligible for trades. “I think once we get our whole team back, once we get healthy, I think that things might start turning around,” said Josh Richardson, who returned to the lineup Saturday after a sprained right ankle. “But we haven’t played in one game this year with our whole roster, so it’s tough.”
There’s more out of Miami:
- Richardson played 26 minutes last night, many of them at point guard as a backup to Goran Dragic, Winderman writes in the same story. The second-year player welcomes the chance to initiate the offense. “I like to think I’m one of the vocal leaders of the team. So when I’m coming down, I like to call plays early and get guys in their spots,” he said. “I’m perfectly comfortable playing it.”
- The Heat are concerned that Josh McRoberts‘ poor play of late makes it less likely that he will opt out of his deal worth more than $6MM for next season, according to Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. McRoberts has been used in just 15 games and is averaging 4.3 points and 3.8 rebounds per night. His shooting percentage of 32.5 is second worst in the league among power forwards. The Heat would have more than $45MM in cap room next summer if McRoberts opts out.
- Waiters may be used as a reserve when his groin injury heals, Jackson writes in the same piece. The Heat have been outscored by 33 points with Waiters and Dragic in the game together, which is the worst plus/minus number for any combination of two starters. They are plus 5 with Dragic and Richardson together.
The Heat need to slow down. They should just tank to get a good pick. They need to find a way to unload Mcroberts’ salary and take it slow and not rack up a lot of wins. With players like Whiteside, Winslow, Richardson, etc. they have a good future ahead but they need more pieces.
The problem is that I’m not sure this team is bad enough when healthy to get a pick in the top of the lottery. Even with all the injuries, they’ve played a lot of really close games. If they were just better at shooting FTs, they’d have probably won like half of them. The rest of the losses you’d attribute to a young team struggling in key spots down the stretch, which probably has a lot to do with the fact that there is no Dwyane Wade to save them in those moments
McRoberts has actually been playing a lot better lately, now that he has finally figured out that you at least need to look like you want to shoot. When he rises up in rhythm, he is making those jump shots, like he did before coming to Miami. His situation has been so weird. Obviously, the injury problems, but when he has been healthy, its like he has a version of the yips. He refused to shoot the ball, and only would after several pump fakes, and holding the ball for a while, even at the end of shot clocks, which obviously gets you out of rhythm. Teams obviously figured out that they didnt need to guard him if he was only looking to pass. Hopefully, he can continue what he has done lately
I’ve been talking about Richardson for Waiters, when everyone gets healthy since before the season. One thing that happens with no Waiters is the ball moves more fluidly, and Dragic attacks more. There are times where Waiters dominates the ball, and Dragic isn’t as aggressive. He needs to be the best player on this team, and when he attacks, he has put up some good numbers this year. Makes a lot more sense for Waiters to come off the bench. When healthy, the rotation should probably be Dragic, Richardson, McGruder, Winslow, Whiteside
Tyler Johnson, Dion Waiters, James Johnson, Willie Reed, Wayne Ellignton, Josh McRoberts/Udonis Haslem, and the 3 inactives would be Babbit, Beasley 2.0 (Derrick Williams), and then obviously Bosh. It is possible that Ellington and McGruder switch though, with Richardson moving to the 3 and Ellington at the 2 in that scenario, depending on how they consider Ellington’s shooting vs McGruder’s defense/energy
Originally, I thought the Heat either needed to move a couple of pieces (James johnson, Wayne ellington, derrick williams) for an expiring 4. Then, I thought they should possibly move Dragic….Now, I think they HAVE to get rid of Whiteside. I thought I could live with it, but I cant, and if I cant, I know Pat Riley cant. Hassan Whiteside is a selfish, quitter. He is not a Miami Heat player. Lack of effort is unacceptable, and it’s happening on a nightly basis. He is a Stat chaser. Constantly chasing blocks allows for easy dump off passes to free baskets, or free offensive rebounding opportunities for other teams. Doesn’t help on defense, and is terrible defending pick and roll. He also slows the pace b/c he refuses to let his team mates get a rebound. On offense, he is a black hole. He stops the ball, obviously, and then he refuses to pass under any circumstances. Meanwhile, he is one of the least efficient post players in basketball, and is prone to turnovers. And for some reason, he decided it made sense to stop doing the free throw routine he did last year, in which he shot like 75-80% from the line for a significant amount of time. Now, he is back into that 50-58% range. And then he has the audacity to question why he gets benched? Please get rid of this dude. I can’t stand the fact Dwyane Wade isn’t on this team, while we have to watch this guy disrespect the game of basketball on a nightly basis
The young guys are very intriguing. They even found another cheap 3 and D wing, in Rodney McGruder, who is the opposite of Whiteside, and plays so hard. Definitely a team that has a good nucleus. Even with the injuries, the heat haven’t been fully healthy for even 1 game yet, they’re in every game, with the exception of last night. They’re so close. Defense has been good, but they can’t make free throws. If everyone is healthy, I think they’re much better than their record. Should be interesting to see how the next few weeks play out. I’m just done with Whiteside. I dont question the work ethic, or the abilities, of Spo, or the rest of the roster, with the exception of Hassan Whiteside. When Dion Waiters is more mature than you, there is a problem.
Honestly, I like the outlook of this roster if they can stay healthy. They’ve had a massive hole at the 4, but James Johnson has been really good there, and when Winslow comes back, he could see time there as well, as McGruder has been good seeing minutes at the 3. The problem is that it gets late early in a league where there is so much competition, and almost winning games doesnt mean anything. Nobody is going to feel sorry for you, with injuries. Still, it could end up benefiting the Heat. I honestly dont think this team is bad enough to get a draft pick in the top half of the lottery, but if they cant get healthy, it might allow them to do that, and if they can trade Whiteside, and add 1 young player and another draft pick next year in a really deep draft, the core all of the sudden looks really good, and then they’d have cap room to sign a free agent or 2 like Heyward and/or Milsap
Core would be Dragic, Tyler Johnson, Josh Richardson, Justise Winslow, Rodney McGruder, young player from Whiteside trade, Heat 1st round draft pick, 1st round pick from Whiteside trade, which is a really good start, especially when they’d have a lot of cap room