Unfortunately, the head coach of Miami officially decided to terminate his contract due to…
This season, the Miami Heat’s most well-known individual narratives are all positive. Despite going number eighteen in the draft, Jaime Jaquez Jr. is a lock for the All-Rookie first team in 2019. Not only is Duncan Robinson making 3-pointers these days, but he’s thriving again.
Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, and Tyler Herro are the only three players in the NBA who are averaging 20 points or more per game (a minimum of 24 games played).
But the forest is darker because of those individual trees.
The Heat are just 24-19, tied for sixth place in the East, and have an offensive rating of 20th, just one spot better than the Los Angeles Lakers, who have a well-documented history of offensive struggles.
This problem isn’t just a hangover from past trauma, either. Even with their best players on the court, the Heat’s offense is mediocre; in games where Butler has appeared, they are just 15-13.
Miami, which last had a top-10 offense in 2019-20 and made it to the Finals as a bubble team, is not facing a brand-new issue. (Before igniting in the postseason, the team’s offensive performance in the regular season was an even worse 25th.) Undrafted discoveries and internal development can only go so far.
In order to acquire an outside upgrade, the Heat consented to trade for Terry Rozier, a guard for the Hornets. Charlotte will receive a lottery-protected first-round pick in 2027 along with Kyle Lowry in exchange.
Since he has been working hard in Charlotte for the past five years, Rozier has never been an All-Star, and most casual NBA viewers have probably never given him much thought. But considering the Heat’s ongoing needs, he should be a great complementary creator and scorer.
Unlike his time with the Hornets, Rozier will not use the Heat at a 27 percent usage rate. With the ball in his Heat teammates’ hands more frequently, his career-high 6.6 assists per game will probably decline, as will his scoring output, which is currently a career-high 23.2 points per game.
However, those counting statistics show how much Rozier has improved—the once-unreliable spark plug has developed into a dependable, versatile starting guard.
The 29-year-old Rozier isn’t just putting up numbers because he plays for a bad team; despite his career-high usage, he has been more effective than Herro, who has never finished a season with a true shooting percentage above average despite having an excellent offensive game.
