Heat linked to Blake Griffin. And how Miami stacks up heading into All-Star break
The Miami Heat has been linked to former All-NBA power forward Blake Griffin, who agreed to a buyout with the Detroit Pistons on Friday.
ESPN said Griffin will consider the Heat, Brooklyn, Golden State and Portland, among other teams. The New York Times listed the Lakers, Clippers, Nets, Heat and Warriors as teams with interest. But The Athletic reported that the Nets are believed to be the favorite.
The Miami Herald reported last week that the Heat had discussed Griffin internally.
The Heat would need to release a player to add Griffin or anyone else. Miami could dangle a $2.6 million minimum contract or all or part of its $4.7 million disabled player exception, which was recently awarded following Meyers Leonard’s season-ending shoulder injury.
Griffin, 31, isn’t nearly as effective as the player who was named an All-Star six times, most recently in 2019.
But he still put up numbers in Detroit this season: 12.3 points per game, 5.2 rebounds per game and 3.9 assists per game.
A few issues: His three-point percentage (31.5) is subpar; he has made 39 of 124 this season. And he’s shooting just 36.5 percent from the field overall in 20 games, all starts. Also, the player he’s defending has shot 50.5 percent against Griffin, compared with 48.5 percent overall.
The other issue: Would he accept a modest role, in a power forward rotation with Kelly Olynyk and Precious Achiuwa?
Griffin three times has been named to the All NBA second team (most recently in 2014) and twice to the All NBA third team (most recently in 2019).
The Heat also is considering other moves before the March 25 trade deadline, and there could be better options than Griffin.
Miami has available a $7.5 million trade exception, but that cannot be used on a free agent. The trade exception expires March 22; the disabled player exception expires April 9.
WHERE HEAT STANDS
Reaching the .500 mark at the midpoint of the season is hardly reason to celebrate, certainly not for a franchise that has won three championships.
But considering the Heat’s predicament five weeks ago, Miami takes some measure of comfort in reaching the All-Star break at 18-18.
After all, this team was reeling at 7-14 on Feb. 3.
“It’s definitely better to go into the All-Star break at .500,” Goran Dragic said. “It was a shaky first part of the season. There were a lot of moving parts and everything. But in the end the last few weeks, we’ve been playing better.
“We picked up the pace and won some games, and finally now we’re a .500 team. And we’re going to have a lot of work to do after the All-Star break. That’s going to be the second part of the season that we’re going to have to really come close as a group and win those games.”
The Heat, which has completed exactly half of its NBA-abbreviated 72-game schedule, enters the break in sixth in the East but just one game behind No. 4 Boston and a half game behind No. 5 New York. But Miami also is just two games up on No. 11 Atlanta.
“It feels good,” Jimmy Butler said after scoring 29 points and dishing out nine assists in Friday’s 103-93 win at New Orleans. “Fresh start whenever we get back. We get everybody back, get everybody healthy. It’s good to not have a losing record. I still think we can be a lot better, which we will be whenever we get back. But it’s good to have some days off to recover, free your mind for the second half of the season.”
A look at the Heat’s leaders leaguewide in individual categories, with Miami now off until the Orlando Magic visit AmericanAirlines Arena next Thursday:
▪ Scoring: The Heat and Spurs are the only teams with winning records but without one of the NBA’s top 25 scorers.
Butler stands tied with Malik Beasley and Terry Rozier for 33rd in the league at 20.5 points per game. Bam Adebayo is 42nd at 19.2.
▪ Rebounding: Adebayo is 14th at 9.5 and Butler is tied for 28th at at career-high 7.5 per game, trailing only one other small forward (LeBron James).
▪ Assists: Butler is tied with James for ninth at a career-high 7.8 per game. Draymond Green and Nikola Jokic are the only frontcourt players averaging more assists than Butler and James.
Adebayo is second among centers in assists, behind Jokic, and 31st overall at 5.4.
▪ Field-goal percentage: Adebayo stands 13th at 56.3. Precious Achiuwa leads all NBA rookies in field-goal percentage at 57.9.
▪ Three-point field goal percentage: The NBA’s second-best three-point shooting team last season now ranks 22nd in that category and doesn’t have a player in the top 60 in percentage. Duncan Robinson stands 67th at 39.1; he was fourth last year at 44.6.
▪ Defensive field-goal percentage against: Among small forwards who have defended at least 200 shots, only Kevin Durant has a better defensive field-goal percentage against than Andre Iguodala (40.4).
Butler is fourth among small forwards at 40.6, behind Durant, Iguodala and James.
▪ Efficiency: Butler is ninth in ESPN’s player efficiency ratings, narrowly ahead of Steph Curry. Adebayo is 23rd.
▪ Steals: Butler is second in the league at 1.9 per game, behind only T.J. McConnell.
▪ Plus/minus: Butler leads the Heat and ranks 59th in the league at plus-87, meaning the Heat has outscored teams by 87 when he’s on the court.
Olynyk is second on the Heat and 83rd overall at plus 62.
Iguodala and Tyler Herro are worst at minus-77, but in Iguodala’s case, that’s largely a byproduct of playing fewer minutes with Butler than others.
▪ Blocks: Adebayo — sometimes drawn out to the perimeter to defend bigs with range — is 31st at 1.0 per game.
▪ Free throws: Butler is 30th at 86.3 percent.
▪ Clutch: The Heat has nobody in the league in the top 25 in clutch shooting, with clutch minutes defined by the NBA as the final five minutes of games with a margin of five points or fewer.
Among Heat players, Adebayo has shot the best in the clutch at 61.1 percent (11 for 18).
Butler leads Miami in clutch points with 42 (in 54 minutes).
Olynyk leads in clutch plus/minus at plus 14.
Herro’s clutch shooting has fallen off from last season; he’s shooting 7 for 23 (30.4 percent).
This story was originally published March 5, 2021 at 12:48 PM.
