Fans of the Miami Heat are down bad following the 112-109 loss to a Los Angeles Lakers team missing LeBron James. Miami now sits in eighth place in the Eastern Conference with a record of 20-19. The supporters in South Beach are becoming frustrated with their team’s inconsistent performances and poor injury luck.
Just before noon on January 6, ESPN’s Tim MacMahon broke the news that the Dallas Mavericks were waiving former-All-Star point guard Kemba Walker. Shortly after the story surfaced, fans were already pontificating what the addition of Walker may do for the Heat. One fan took to Twitter and created a poll on whether fellow Heat fans would rather have the former UConn star or Kyle Lowry.
The replies to the tweet were mainly negative. One user replied, “Small guard who’s a complete negative on both sides on the floor or small guard who has his moments at being good on either side of the floor? C’mon man.”
@SouthBeachMamba Small guard who’s a complete negative on both sides on the floor or small guard who has his moments at being good on either side of the floor? Cmon man
Nekias Duncan of BasketballNews.com quoted the poll and said that it may be time for Heat Twitter to have an intervention.
ok Heat Twitter needs an intervention
However, some of the replies weren’t as hostile, and some Twitter users were actually receptive to bringing in Walker in a more realistic fashion.
“No chance. But I’d trade Lowry for a 4 and make Gabe (Vincent) the starting point guard and sign Kemba as a back up,” replied another fan.
@SouthBeachMamba No chance. But I’d trade Lowry for a 4 and make Gabe Starting PG and sign Kemba as a backup
The results of the initial poll were largely negative, with 80% of voters being against replacing Lowry with Walker.
Over the course of two seasons with the Heat, the 36-year-old is averaging just 13.4 points per game, while shooting 42.9% from the field and 36.5 from deep. Lowry hadn’t scored so little since his first year with the Toronto Raptors in the 2012-13 season, when he tallied just 11.6 a game.
Walker played just nine games as a member of the Mavericks this season. He averaged 8 points, 2 assists, and 1.8 rebounds per game. The 32-year-old knocked down 42.1% of his attempts in Dallas, but only made 25% of his shots from beyond the arc.
Proposed Deal Would Swap Kyle Lowry and D’Angelo Russell
Kemba Walker isn’t the only point guard that has been thrown around as a potential successor to Kyle Lowry. On the January 6 edition of the Ringer’s “The Mismatch” podcast, host Chris Vernon suggested a swap that would see the Miami Heat send Lowry to the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for D’Angelo Russell. He stressed that while the move could help Miami in the short term, the real purpose would to save the franchise money next season.
“Kyle Lowry is struggling with the Heat for a second year in a row. While it’s debatable whether Russell is an upgrade or can be reinvigorated under ‘Heat Culture,’ the reasons for doing this would be mainly financial: Miami is set to be close to $20 million over the luxury tax next season after extending Tyler Herro to the 4-year, $130 million extension,” Vernon said. “Swapping Lowry — who is owed $29.7 million next season — for Russell’s expiring contract would solve that tax crunch.”
Heat Interested in Moving on from Kyle Lowry
The podcast trade proposal was not the first time that a Kyle Lowry for D’Angelo Russell swap has been rumored. Back on December 15, Darren Wolfson of SKOR North said that he’d heard there was interest in the former No. 2 pick coming from the Heat.
“I’m told that the Miami Heat are showing some trade interest, just a little bit, in D’Angelo Russell of the Wolves,” Wolfson explained on KSTP, a television station in Minnesota.
“I’m told that the Miami Heat are showing some trade interest, just a little bit, in D’Angelo Russell of the Wolves”
Via: @DWolfsonKSTP on KSTP
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Heat Fans Torn Over Potential Addition of Former All-Star as Kyle Lowry Replacement