Kevin O’Connor believes that the Miami Heat should bench one of their guards, Tyler Herro or Terry Rozier, and he even brought up the idea of possibly trading Herro.
“I think Miami right now, one of two things need to happen. The Herro-Rozier backcourt either needs to be split up with one of them going to the bench being a super sixth man. Or another move needs to be made, possibly moving Tyler Herro.” – @KevinOConnorNBA pic.twitter.com/PcVWqrLpiT
— Dru (@dru_star) January 30, 2024
Rozier has gotten off to a slow start with the Heat. While a minuscule sample size, he is averaging just 11.8 points per game on 38.3 percent shooting from the field and 35.3 percent from deep across four games and three starts with Miami so far this season. His scoring average has been essentially cut in half compared to what it was when he was with the Hornets earlier in the 2023-24 regular season, as Rozier averaged 23.2 points per game in 30 games with Charlotte before he was dealt to Miami.
But on the bright side, he is fresh off arguably his best game as a member of the Heat franchise to this point. In 27 minutes of playing time against the Phoenix Suns on Monday, he dropped 21 points on 8-of-14 shooting from the field and 4-of-6 from deep. Rozier also chipped in two rebounds, three assists and one block.
As for Herro, he totaled 17 points, six rebounds and four assists while shooting 5-of-12 from 3-point range across 34 minutes against Phoenix.
Rozier’s performance against the Suns wasn’t enough to prevent the Heat from picking up another loss, however. The Heat lost by a final score of 118-105.
Miami is now riding a seven-game losing streak, which is the team’s longest losing streak since the 2007-08 season, when the Heat ended the regular season with a poor 15-67 record.
Unfortunately for the Heat, they will take on another formidable opponent in the Sacramento Kings in their next game on Wednesday night. The Kings currently sit as the No. 5 seed in the Western Conference at 27-18 and are riding a four-game winning streak, with their most recent loss coming against the Indiana Pacers on Jan. 18.
It will be interesting to see if the Heat heed O’Connor’s advice and opt to either bench one of Herro or Rozier or deal Herro prior to the trade deadline.
