Trade propositions to kickstart the struggling Miami Heat
By Simon Smith
Starting the season with a highly unconvincing 7-9 record, here are some potential trade propositions for the Miami Heat.
This certainly hasn’t been the start the Miami Heat had envisioned entering the 2017-18 NBA season.
After rampaging through the league with a 30-11 record to finish the 2016-17 season, the Heat have stumbled out of the blocks with a 7-9 record. Considering the nucleus of the team is much the same as last season, this is clearly concerning moving forward. Whereas their slow start to last season can be partly attributed to such a large turnover of the roster, that is simply not the case again this season.
One area that jumps off the page so far has been their output on the offensive end of the floor. Through 16 games, the Heat rank 26th in offensive rating at 100.1, 25th in points per game at 100.3 and 24th in assists at 20.3 per game.
A particular key aspect that has underwhelmed offensively has been their 3-point shooting. Thus far, the Heat rank 20th in 3-point shooting at 35.2 percent, despite ranking fourth in 3-point attempts at 31.8 per game.
However, it’s the defensive end of the floor where their identity has truly gone missing. Ranking 14th in the league for defensive rating (points allowed per 100 possessions) at 103.9, the Heat have certainly not been representative of what the franchise has prided itself upon. Following their most recent loss in which they allowed the Indiana Pacers to score 120 points on 60 percent shooting from the field, head coach Erik Spoelstra stated:
"“Look, I don’t have an answer to our unreliability right now….one way or another we’re going to get to the bottom of it…..I don’t have answers right now for why we gave up 120 points, and have an uninspiring play….We’ll find a solution, we’ll find a way to play Miami Heat basketball one way or another.”"
Naturally, with the date of Dec. 15 quickly approaching where players signed to new contracts this summer are eligible to be traded, speculation regarding the makeup of the roster moving forward is going to be on the minds of many onlookers.
With this in mind, here’s a look at some potential trade scenarios the Heat could consider in the coming weeks.