The Heat are creeping toward the trade deadline with more questions than answers, and Tyler Herro’s health may end up driving everything, writes Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel.
If Miami is not confident Herro can get back to form, moving Norman Powell starts to feel less like roster management and more like waving the white flag. That is not how this franchise typically operates. There simply is not another proven scorer on the roster who can absorb that kind of offensive load if Powell is dealt and Herro remains limited.
The bigger issue is momentum, or the lack of it. After a strong start, Miami has cooled off, hovering just above .500 and stumbling through a rough stretch that includes only nine wins in its last 24 games. January has been especially uneven, with no back-to-back wins and constant lineup shuffling due to injuries.
Bam Adebayo summed it up in simple terms.
“Just got to be more consistent,” he said, via Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald. “We can’t front-run. Every game has to be, we hold the line on defense from the start of the game. And then from the start of the game to the start of the third, and we figure it out from there.
“We’re having too many games where we’ll play great defense one night. Another night, we’ll kind of take off. So that’s got to be the difference. We’ve just got to be more consistent on that end, even if we’re missing or making shots.”
Consistency. Health. Direction.
The Heat will need all three if they plan to buy at the deadline instead of selling.
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