The Miami Heat are chugging along in their season so far and believe it or not, not in the absolute worst place they could be as a team.
Though sitting in NBA play-in territory, to be fair about it all, they are just one game behind the sixth-placed New York Knicks and 4.5 games behind the second-placed Brooklyn Nets, a team that will be without Kevin Durant for some time after a knee injury suffered in their recent game against the Heat, ironically enough.
But that’s neither here nor there at the moment, still yet to be sorted out as the Miami Heat and the rest of the league’s “hopeful contenders” set themselves up to make a final push for and into the postseason. What is here and there though is ways that the Miami Heat might specifically go about continuing to try tinkering to set themselves up for their own run.
In a recent report from Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports, he would indicate that the Miami Heat had “registered interest” in D’Angelo Russell.
The Miami Heat may look to shake things up a bit with the NBA Trade Deadline approaching. However, it won’t be via a Kyle Lowry and D’Angelo Russell swap.
However, with others, including Marc Stein, noting that it would probably take Kyle Lowry to get the deal done, Stein went a bit further in his analysis of any potential hypothetical deal.
Essentially, Stein dissolved any thought (Subscription Required) that a deal of this nature could occur, inferring that Minnesota wouldn’t entertain such a swap. For what it’s worth, the Miami Heat shouldn’t either.
Some will point to Russell’s expiring contract, allowing the Miami Heat to rid themselves of Lowry’s final year on his deal and then use that money elsewhere. However, they would still have to actually go out to find the talent that meshes to spend the extra money on, a risk, while Russell might not allow them to continue to compete this year.
Kyle Lowry may not be as high-impact in the boxscore every single night anymore, but he certainly impacts winning for this Miami Heat team. And he would truly have a greater impact on their potential postseason success than Russell could, even with greater production stat-wise.
And that side of the equation isn’t that awful different either, as Russell is as up and down as Kyle Lowry has been for the Heat, relatively. So, while those in the know indicate that it won’t happen anyway, that’s probably the best for the Miami Heat.