The Miami Heat's went from winning nightly track meets to now getting routinely stuck in the mud. Their pace has slowed, their production has nearly stalled out, and their winning ways are disappearing daily.
It's the kind of funk that could, if not properly addressed, dash all of their dreams for the 2025-26 NBA season. But with the trade market open for business, Miami should be angling to add the shooting needed to snap out of this skid—and stay out these dry spells for good.
Another shooter or two would do wonders for this offense.
Miami had myriad reasons to push the pace this season, but one of the more obvious motivations was also directly tied to one of the team's chief concerns: a lack of creativity in the half-court. The Heat had to push to punish defenses before they got set, because once those barriers to the basket were put in place, they found it incredibly difficult to navigate around them.
Opponents have arguably caught up to this strategy and moved a step ahead of Miami with that knowledge. Prior to the Heat's recent five-game losing streak, they were slotted first overall in pace and 11th in offensive efficiency, per NBA.com. During this downward spiral, though, those rankings have precipitously dropped to eighth and 29th, respectively.
Miami can't just try to outrun its flaws any longer. It's now up to the front office to actually try fixing those deficiencies.
Adding a volume shooter (or two) during trade season would be a sizable step in the right direction. With Nikola Jovic stuck in a season-long funk, Simone Fontecchio going frigid after such a fiery-hot start, and Tyler Herro struggling both to stay healthy and find his fit, the Heat are struggling to maintain proper spacing.
It's not that they can't make threes (36.7 percent, 10th overall), it's that they don't take nearly enough (34.7 attempts, 21st). And beyond hoping Herro has better luck on the health front or Jovic suddenly finds his touch, there isn't a ton of reason to feel optimistic about an internal fix. Unleashing first-round rookie Kasparas Jakucionis, for instance, might goose the offense, but he's not exactly a plug-and-play net-shredder.
The Heat have to look outside the organization for help. And while there may not be an abundance of obvious sellers at this juncture, this league has enough shooting to think they can snag a spacer or two. Even if they only browse the role-player racks, though, they could still find a designated sharpshooter like Sam Hauser or a three-and-D wing like Keon Ellis.
There are options available, and they aren't the budget-busting kind. Miami could get a deal done and still potentially have enough assets left over to rush into the Giannis Antetokounmpo sweepstakes whenever those open.
Standing idle, then, should not be an option. If the Heat want to get their offense unglued, a trade for shooting should be the first part of that process.