Getty Phoenix Suns forward Jae Crowder looks on during a game against the Dallas Mavericks.
While the Miami Heat entered Friday night’s bout with the Orlando Magic rocking a season-best 27-22 record, there’s no still no denying how far from the title picture the team has fallen in 2022-23. And while there are shortfalls in virtually every position group, some would point to the frontcourt as the most urgent area of need.
Strange though it may seem given his age an super-specific skill set, the team has still not quite recovered from PJ Tucker’s decision to join BFFs James Harden, Danuel House and Daryl Morey in Philly.
And while the players that Erik Spoelstra has slid into the four spot — Caleb Martin, Jimmy Butler, et al. — have performed relatively well in that function, the Heat have yet to truly address the Tucker-induced drop-off.
So, it should come as no surprise that the team has been linked to ex-Heat forward Jae Crowder with the NBA trade deadline looming. Despite their apparent interest, however, the Heat have apparently made it clear that they won’t be rolling over to deal with Crowder’s current team, the Phoenix Suns.
Miami Herald: Heat Not Willing to Part With Caleb Martin in Jae Crowder Talks
During his brief run with the Heat and, more recently, with the Suns, Crowder played an integral role getting his team to the Finals. And even during a down year in Phoenix last season, he was still an incredibly useful player, averaging 9.4 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.4 steals per contest and hitting 35% of his triples.
But team president Pat Riley isn’t going to make a trade bringing him in that doesn’t actually make the Heat better. This is why, as reported by the Miami Herald’s Anthony Chiang and Barry Jackson, “Miami has not shown any inclination to offer Caleb Martin in a deal for Crowder.”
Again, the whole point of adding Crowder to the mix would be to improve the frontcourt, while also expanding Spoelstra’s options on the wing (where Crowder has played at times throughout his career). But those are exactly the roles Martin is filling currently, and he’s doing so with a career-best efficacy, too.
Through 39 appearances, Martin is averaging 9.9 PPG, 4.7 RPG and 1.1 SPG and hitting the longball at a 38% clip; numbers that are eerily similar to Crowder’s. The Heat forward is also several years younger and locked into an ultra-affordable deal. So there’s no scenario where Riley should be parting with him in a straight-across trade.
Crowder Could Become Available on the Buyout Market
While there’s a real rationale to using their open roster spot to convert Orlando Robinson’s two-way pact to a standard NBA deal, there’s a nonzero chance that Crowder could be available on the post-deadline buyout market.
One thing potentially working in Miami’s favor there is that teams are, per longtime league insider Marc Stein, leery of shipping pieces out for Crowder, who could have a tough time reacclimating to the hardwood (with a new team, no less) after being sidelined for so many months.
Assuming he’s not dealt to Milwaukee or Golden State or some other contending club, an earlier report from the Herald actually indicated that the Heat would prefer to acquire Crowder this way, barring Phoenix being willing to take a bad contract back (which isn’t going to happen).