The Miami Heat have had more than their fair share of injuries to start the season, which has contributed to a 7-11 start. However, they don’t appear to be taking a wait-and-see approach to their roster, and the Heat have been scouring the trade market for help. As far as who they’d be willing to trade to get that help, Duncan Robinson’s name has come up, according to Michael Scotto of Hoops Hype.
Robinson is known as one of the best shooters in the NBA but he has seen his role decrease this season. He’s also struggled to shoot the ball thus far, hitting just 30.6% of his 3-point attempts. That’s in contrast to his elite 40.2% career 3-point percentage on a staggering 7.6 3-point attempts per game.
Unfortunately, he’s not that player right now. Factor in that he’s a shaky defender, and coach Erik Spoelstra is right to limit his role amid his poor play. Combine that with the more than $74 million remaining on his contract, and Robinson isn’t exactly a trade asset at the moment.
The Miami Heat can try to trade him but may not find any takers.
With Robinson now playing a small role, the Heat can’t afford to keep him given how much they invested in him. Robinson has at least three years left on his contract, with a player option for a fourth year that he seems likely to pick up.
I’m not exactly breaking news here on Hoops Habit, but a good team probably won’t want Robinson with four years and $74 remaining on his deal, despite his terrific shooting ability. Additionally, a bad team would probably want at least two assets to rent out their future cap space to house him. The Miami Heat do have a number of draft assets, but giving some of them up to offload him seems unlikely at this point.
Actually, Miami has reportedly tried to showcase Robinson in hopes of boosting his trade value, but they haven’t had any luck so far. Perhaps he will come around, or perhaps they could use him in a larger trade, with his contract serving as salary filler.
In that case, the Heat may have to take back a worse contract, and given the length, there don’t appear to be many worse than his right now. All of that makes a Robinson deal unlikely, and the Heat could be forced to rehab his trade value more before being able to trade him.
All in all, despite Robinson being on the trade block, he doesn’t seem likely to be moved without picks or other assets being involved given the length of his contract. That said, the Miami Heat have a track record for being able to upgrade their roster even when it seems that there aren’t obvious moves to be made.