With so many injuries the Miami Heat are in need of another perimeter player, and have made calls to a pair of intriguing prospects.
Without Goran Dragic and Dwyane Wade, the Miami Heat lost Wednesday to the Washington Wizards in a game that was never competitive. The Heat are just banged up. In addition to missing its starting backcourt, Beno Udrih is out and Tyler Johnson is playing injured. The injuries are piling up in Miami, and they may need to make a move fast before they fall below .500.
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According to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald, the team has reached out to a pair of perimeter players who can be of some assistance.
"The Heat made a due-diligence check-in recently on free agent 6-6 combo guard Tony Wroten, who was cut by Philadelphia Dec. 24, but hadn’t made an offer as of Thursday morning. He has averaged 11.1 points in four seasons, including 16.9 last season. He’s probably the best unsigned perimeter player available at the moment.Miami also made a similar call on ex-Heat forward Dorell Wright, who is playing in China but will become available to NBA teams in mid-February. But several other teams have shown more interest. Wright, a skilled three-point shooter, was interested in the Heat last summer but Miami never made an offer."
Wroten, a combo guard ,is particularly interesting. Wright is probably the better fit (we’ll get to that) but Wroten, 22, is young and he’s raw. His best season came in 2014-15 with the Philadelphia 76ers, when he averaged 16.9 points and 5.2 assists in about 30 minutes per game.
But here’s the thing with Wroten, he’s a low percentage shooter, struggles from deep range and can really only score near the rim or from the free throw line. While he can exist as a ball handler on a Heat roster, he won’t do any favors to the team’s spacing and could have a hard time creating space for himself and teammates.
Then there is Wright, who spent his first six seasons with the Heat. Wright, 30, should be able to find a spot on an NBA roster sooner or later. He’s a solid 3-point shooter (36.5 percent for his career) and a veteran who can keep the ball moving while on the floor. However, he’s a below average defender and won’t contribute much on offense if its not beyond the 3-point line.
To recap: Wroten is the better ball handler, while Wright can help the team’s lack of spacing. Wroten will hurt that spacing but Wright may at this point be nothing more than James Jones 2.0. Forward Jarnell Stokes is hanging out in Miami’s 15th roster spot and hasn’t gotten much of an opportunity, so that seems like most likely area to make a change.
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There is no easy fix to the Heat’s offense, but it is clear they need to add a perimeter body in some fashion.