Heat gets to break searching for answers, reinforcement. A look at the Kevin Love possibility
.JPG "Miami Heat forwards Jimmy Butler and Caleb Martin watch play during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Brooklyn Nets, Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2023, in New York.")
As Miami Heat players and coaches emptied out of the visitors locker room at Barclays Center to begin their All-Star break, they were aware of the challenge that would await them on the other side of their week-long vacation.
That’s because after Wednesday night’s 116-105 loss to the Nets in Brooklyn, the Heat stands in seventh place in the Eastern Conference standings with a 32-27 record. To avoid having to quality for the playoffs through the play-in tournament, Miami needs to finish the regular season as a top-six team in the East.
“We’ll be all right. No. 7, No. 6, No. 8, we’re going to win some games when we come out of this break,” Jimmy Butler said, with the Heat off until reconvening for practice in Miami on Feb. 23 before opening its post-All-Star break schedule against the Bucks in Milwaukee on Feb. 24. “All the teams that are ahead of us, we play them if not multiple times. So we’re going to really have to show who we’re made of and who we are as a group. We’re not backing down from any challenge.”
The problem is the numbers say the Heat — after making it all the way to the East finals last season — is just an average team that features a quality defense but one of the NBA’s worst offenses, and that’s concerning considering the large 59-game sample size. Miami holds the 20th-best net rating (outscored by 0.1 points per 100 possessions) this season.
“We got 23 [games] to go to get to where we want to get to,” Butler continued. “It’s all about being healthy, which this break will do for us. Come out swinging for the fences in the right way. Staying together knowing that reinforcements are on the way and getting our guys back, then it gets real.”
Those reinforcements represent hope for the Heat during a season that has felt hopeless at times, with The Athletic reporting early Wednesday morning that big man Kevin Love is “finalizing a contract buyout” and the Heat is “expected to emerge as a suitor” for the five-time All-Star.
But most of the reinforcement is expected to come from within, as the Heat remained without Tyler Herro (left knee contusion) Nikola Jovic (lower back stress reaction), Kyle Lowry (left knee soreness), Victor Oladipo (right ankle sprain) and Omer Yurtseven (left ankle surgery) on Wednesday against the Nets. The expectation is Miami will get at least a few of those players back shortly after the All-Star break.
▪ Herro is day-to-day and is on track to take part in Saturday’s Three-Point contest.
▪ Jovic continues to move closer to his comeback after missing the last 24 games with his back injury.
▪ Lowry is expected to miss the remaining games in February and likely some time beyond that as he continues to receive treatment on his left knee.
▪ Oladipo’s return was believed to be close in recent days, but the Heat continued to take a cautious approach and held him out for the final six games before the break.
▪ Yurtseven, who has yet to play this season, is expected to make his season debut soon after the All-Star break.
The Heat enters the break with the second-most missed games in the NBA (235 missed games) this season due to injury, according to Spotrac.
“The biggest thing for us is we’re glad everybody will get fresh legs,” Heat forward Caleb Martin said when asked about the benefits of the break. “We’ve been down a lot of guys most of the season, so it will be good to get everybody fresh from the jump.”
Duncan Robinson was able to make his return just before the All-Star break to play in Wednesday’s loss after missing the previous 20 games following January finger surgery. He recorded six points on 2-of-7 shooting from deep in 23 minutes in his first game back.
Robinson noted that he still feels some pain in the finger but “it’s repaired, and that’s what’s most important.”
“That’s not going to go anywhere any time soon,” he said of the discomfort he continues to experience. “That was one of the things that I knew when I elected to do the procedure is that there was going to be pain. But it’s significantly less than it was before and it functions better than it did before.”
Robinson admitted that the original plan was for him to return after the break, but he pushed to return sooner to help provide depth for the short-handed Heat.
Even with Robinson back in the mix, though, the Heat continued to struggle from three-point range to finish Wednesday’s loss just 8 of 28 (28.6 percent) from beyond the arc. Brooklyn outscored Miami 51-24 from behind the three-point line.
The Heat entered Thursday ranked 28th in team three-point percentage this season at 33.4 percent after closing last regular season as the NBA’s top three-point shooting team at 37.9 percent. The hope is Robinson’s return will help lift Miami’s outside shooting efficiency.
“I believe in my ability to make shots. I’ve been doing it for a little while, so it’s whatever this team needs, honestly,” said Robinson, who became new franchise leader for the most career three-pointers made by a Heat player earlier this season but is shooting just 32.9 percent from three-point range this season. “… I feel like I’m capable for sure of making shots at a high level, so it’s just a matter of time.”
But outside reinforcement is likely on the way, too.
With guard Jamaree Bouyea’s 10-day contract set to expire during the All-Star break, the Heat will soon have two open roster spots that it could use to convert center Orlando Robinson from a two-way contract to a standard deal and/or shop the buyout market.
Love (6-8, 251 pounds) would help address a Heat need in the frontcourt as shooting big who can play in place of starting center Bam Adebayo as part of smaller lineups or alongside Adebayo as a power forward.
Love, 34, is averaging 8.5 points while shooting 35.4 percent on 4.8 three-point attempts per game, 6.8 rebounds and 1.9 assist in 41 games with the Cavaliers in his 15th NBA season. He has played through a fractured right thumb that he sustained in November, but recently fell out of the rotation and has not appeared in a game since Jan. 24.
Love has been with the Cavaliers since joining the organization prior to 2014-15, winning one championship in 2016 and making consecutive All-Star Games in 2017 and 2018 during his time in Cleveland.
Guard Russell Westbrook is another buyout candidate who is being considered by the Heat, but Westbrook is still deciding whether he will seek a buyout from the Utah Jazz.
The Heat hopes to soon gain clarity on how it will fill its two open roster spots, with just 23 games remaining in its regular season when play resumes after the break.
“I like having the sprint right after All-Star break,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said Wednesday. “I like everything they’ve kind of changed in terms of getting the trade deadline over with [before the break], basically the free agent signings will be done shortly after the break. I want to know who my team is going into that last stretch.”
This story was originally published February 16, 2023 at 10:32 AM.
