Former NBA star Tracy McGrady called for the Miami Heat to “revamp” their roster following the team’s loss to the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday night.
The Heat couldn’t hang with Toronto with Jimmy Butler out of the lineup, and McGrady believes it was because the team lacks players that can create for others in the offense.
McGrady is entitled to his opinion, but it’s easy to criticize the Heat when they didn’t have their best player in the lineup.
Butler is the main reason why the Heat have made the Eastern Conference Finals in two of the last three seasons, so the team certainly lacks offense when he’s unable to play.
The issue for the Heat is that Kyle Lowry and Victor Oladipo haven’t been able to step up and fill the void on offense when Butler has been sidelined.
In Miami’s 106-92 loss to Toronto, Oladipo scored just seven points on 2-of-7 shooting from the field. Lowry wasn’t much better against his former team, finishing with six points, five rebounds and two assists.
Outside of Tyler Herro, the team lacked shot creation on Tuesday night, which is likely what prompted McGrady’s criticism.
It’s a fair assessment of the Heat if Lowry and Oladipo continue to struggle, but it’s hard to consider blowing up this team after it made the Eastern Conference Finals last season and finished the regular season with the No. 1 seed in the conference.
This season has been much different, as Miami is currently in the play-in tournament field in the East.
The loss to Toronto pushed Miami to three games back of the New York Knicks for the No. 5 seed in the Eastern Conference and half a game back of the Brooklyn Nets for the No. 6 seed.
The Heat could look to improve the roster in the offseason if the team falls flat in the postseason in the 2022-23 campaign.
Lowry will be entering the final season of his contract next season, and Oladipo has a player option for the 2023-24 campaign.
For now, the Heat are basically locked into their roster for the remainder of the season, and they’ll look to make the most of it. When Butler is healthy, Miami is still a force to be reckoned with, so it’s possible it could prove McGrady wrong in the playoffs.