The Miami Heat have moves to make during the NBA All-Star break, as they look to make a strong push during the second half of the season into the NBA postseason. Now, while there are a few names out there, the reports indicate that the Miami Heat prefer to address their big man rotation rather than address anything else at this particular time.
And a name like Kevin Love could certainly come in and help the Heat immediately.
If he isn’t to be had by Miami, then Serge Ibaka, another name that has been linked to Miami, is certainly worth a look as well.
However, another name has been linked to the Heat and a name that is also associated with both of those big men in some fashion, having spent professional time with the Ibaka in Oklahoma City and collegiate time at UCLA with Love—Russell Westbrook, is still out there as well.
And for all of the dull moments across his past couple of seasons, along with the interest by some other teams, the Miami Heat should absolutely still have interest in Westbrook, and here is why.
Why Miami Heat Should Absolutely Attempt To Bring Russell Westbrook In
Westbrook, simply, offers something that the Miami Heat don’t have. That is a guy that can be a one-man defensive collapser.
Take a guy like Bam Adebayo, for example, who does offer that capability, however, he often times has to do so much offensively to help the rest of his teammates get going that he can’t focus on being a straight-line bruiser off the dribble.
It’s also a reason why you push for him, specifically, to do more coast-to-coast work, where he is the rebounder, then the full court ball handler, and the finisher with a head of steam because he doesn’t have to worry about getting the rest of his team into an offensive position to succeed.
When you look at a guy like Jimmy Butler, he can undoubtedly collapse a defense but not in the same up-tempo and straightforward manner as a guy like Westbrook, often more of a tactician inside of a battering ram than a stick of dynamite with legs. And though Jimmy does offer a bit of that punishing driving ability, he, again, does it more with brute strength and force to absorb and draw impact.
And again he collapses a defense, but only after he gets to his spot and goes into his set of moves. Tyler Herro is, sort of, similar but being more fluid at all three levels, he can be a guy that gets into the paint but doesn’t drive the paint to explosively finish in a manner that totally collapses a defense.
Russell Westbrook Is Still ‘Elite’ At Something The Miami Heat Don’t Have
And you could go through the entire Miami Heat roster this way, however, none of them offer what Russell Westbrook still does from an explosive ability to be able to attack opposing teams’ paint and force their whole defense to collapse.
The thing about Westbrook, still to this day, is this. When he drives the lane, it’s to do something immediately before the defense has a chance to react, collapse, or put him in a position where he has to attempt a wonky pass.
Again and simply put, the Miami Heat just don’t have that. And yes, while they are other areas to address on the team, what Westbrook still does at a high level can only serve to improve the existing parts of your team that you might look to strengthen outside of adding, say, a Westbrook.
His ability to collapse defenses would strengthen your shooters, your bigs, and anyone that can benefit from having a defender being totally occupied by a threat at the rim. Basically—that’s everybody else on the team.
And on top of it all, they do have two spots and the ability to bring in as many guys. So, why shouldn’t Russ be one of those?