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Things aren’t exactly going according to plan for the Miami Heat as the first half of the 2022-23 NBA Season comes to a close. Miami sits amongst the Play-In teams in the Eastern Conference with a record of 20-19, which is good enough for just eighth place. There have been plenty of injuries for the Heat to deal with throughout the year. Jimmy Butler, Gabe Vincent, and Victor Oladipo have all missed at least 10 games. On the January 6 edition of the Ringer’s “The Mismatch” podcast, host Chris Vernon pitched a possible move to give the team a boost towards locking down a playoff spot.
He suggested that Miami move on from veteran guard Kyle Lowry in exchange for D’Angelo Russell of the Minnesota Timberwolves. Vernon explained that while the potential move could improve this season’s Heat squad, the real motive would be to save the franchise money.
“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.”
In two seasons with the Heat, Lowry is averaging just 13.4 points per game, while shooting 42.9% from the field and 36.5 from deep. Before heading to South Beach, the 36-year-old hadn’t averaged that few points since his first year with the Toronto Raptors in the 2012-13 season, when he scored just 11.6 a game.
Russell’s numbers in Minnesota are down this season as well. His 16.8 points per game is the lowest it’s been since he was traded from the Los Angeles Lakers to the Brooklyn Nets in 2017. In his last season with LA he averaged just 15.5 points each night, while shooting 41.4% from the field and 32.4% from deep.
To add fuel to the fire, fans noticed that the 26-year-old unfollowed the Timberwolves on Instagram on Jan. 4.
Heat Have Shown Interest in D’Angelo Russell
Chris Vernon’s proposal wasn’t the first time that there have been rumblings of a potential Kyle Lowry for D’Angelo Russell swap.
Darren Wolfson of SKOR North hinted that the Heat might have interest in trading for the former Buckeye on December 15. While chatting on KSTP, a Minnesota television station, Wolfson explained what he’d heard.
“I’m told that the Miami Heat are showing some trade interest, just a little bit, in D’Angelo Russell of the Wolves,” he said.
Bam Adebayo Snubbed in Initial All-Star Tally
One player that has certainly earned every penny of his lucrative contract has been Heat center Bam Adebayo. He is averaging a career-high in points per game this season at 21.8, to go along with 9.9 rebounds and 3.2 assists. Despite nearly averaging a double-double, Adebayo did not see a lot of love in the first return of NBA All-Star voting.
The 26-year-old didn’t even crack the top-10 for Eastern Conference frontcourt players. The likes of Kyle Kuzma, Nic Claxton, and Jarrett Allen all tallied more votes than Adebayo. Throughout his six-year NBA career, the Kentucky alumni has been selected to just one All-Star Game.
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