Just like a lot of teams that have playoff aspirations but have sputtered a bit out of the gate in the 2022-23 NBA season, the Miami Heat might be looking to make some moves to improve the roster.
While many of the rumors up to this point regarding the kinds of players the Heat are possibly interested in have had to do with power forwards, the most recent report related to Miami involves guards.
According to the report, the Heat are potentially interested in acquiring Josh Richardson and Terry Rozier.
“If they can get back a player who can help them, like Josh Richardson in San Antonio or Terry Rozier from the [Charlotte] Hornets, they would have to be willing to put up that draft capital,” an Eastern Conference executive told Heavy.com. “They can make both of those deals pretty much straight up or include [Omer] Yurtseven if they need to.”
Richardson and Rozier are very different players, but both would bring valuable skills to the Heat’s roster.
Richardson, who played his first four NBA seasons with the Heat, is known as a valuable defensive asset. He’s a solid all-around player and is currently averaging 11.6 points, 3.2 assists and 2.2 rebounds per game with the San Antonio Spurs.
As for Rozier, the Heat acquiring him would mark a much bigger splash. He’s having a career year at the moment and currently putting up 23.5 points, 8.5 assists and 7.0 rebounds per game.
As the Hornets are seen as potential sellers leading up to the trade deadline later in the season, Rozier would absolutely garner a lot of attention from teams trying to add a fantastic scoring option.
During the 2022 NBA offseason, the Heat certainly tried to make a splash. They were rumored to be heavily involved in both the Kevin Durant and Donovan Mitchell sweepstakes.
Now, the results of not being able to make a move have revealed themselves. The Heat have looked solid in certain games, but they are just 2-3 on the season and currently sit at the No. 10 seed in the Eastern Conference.
Just like in every season, the Heat have a goal of winning the NBA championship. Right now, it does not look like they have the kind of roster that will be able to accomplish such a feat.
Though it is unclear if adding a player like Richardson or Rozier would be enough to get them to that level, either move would certainly be one in the right direction.
The Heat’s road to getting over .500 on the season isn’t going to get much easier in the coming days. They’ll face the defending champion Golden State Warriors twice in the next five days.
