The Miami Heat added an elite scorer in Norman Powell, although they passed up on trading for one of the best defenders in the league because the price was too steep.
With the Eastern Conference as weak and wide-open as ever, the Miami Heat joined the Orlando Magic and Atlanta Hawks in putting their foot down and adding win-now talent.
The Heat flipped Kyle Anderson and Kevin Love for 21.8 PPG scorer Norman Powell, building out a versatile lineup with him, Tyler Herro, Andrew Wiggins, Bam Adebayo, Kel’el Ware, and rookie Kasparas Jakučionis.
With the chance to run the East very much in their grasp, Miami showed interest in trading for Marcus Smart before the Wizards waived him and he signed with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Before their splashy addition of Powell, the Heat’s two best guards were Herro and Terry Rozier. Neither of them is a great facilitator and defender, although they can both score with volume.
However, in order to build a more well-rounded rotation, the Heat explored swapping Rozier with Smart.
“Sources say Miami has explored the feasibility of trading away veteran guard Terry Rozier this offseason,” wrote Marc Stein on Substack. “(League insider Jake Fischer) says Miami weighed a Rozier-for-Smart swap but could not reach an organizational consensus on whether such a trade was a clear upgrade.”
Despite a bad season last year, Rozier is a better shooter and scorer than Smart, although Smart is a better facilitator and defender. However, Washington was not willing to conduct a one-for-one trade, and the Heat quickly got cold feet when the asking price was revealed.
Both Smart and Rozier were in the last year of their contracts before Washington waived Smart, although the Wizards did not want to help a divisional rival for free.
While Smart is no longer worth first-round draft capital, the Wizards were asking for picks as well as Rozier to balance his salary.
The Heat only have one second-round pick to trade, and were unwilling to part with future assets for the aging point guard.
“The Heat’s hesitation stemmed from needing to include draft capital to facilitate such a trade, according to a league source,” added The Miami Herald’s Anthony Chiang.
At the end of the day, Miami still has a playoff-worthy rotation, movable salaries, and an open roster spot to round out their lineups.
While the Heat will struggle to land home-court advantage next season, any team led by Erik Spoelstra can’t be counted out if they make the playoffs, and they likely will, even without trading for Smart.
