The hope this week is of the Miami Heat getting a better sense of self, in what has turned more into a quest for healing than necessarily an upgrade at Thursday’s NBA trading deadline.
After losing Saturday night to the Milwaukee Bucks to close out a 1-3 trip, the Heat limped back to South Florida short on bodies and again long on medical questions, questions that seemingly all come with answers due this week.
Saturday’s loss came with the Heat able to dress only nine players, six short of the league maximum, playing only eight.
No, not easy.
“It’s not,” said forward Jimmy Butler, who scored 32 in the 123-115 loss to the Bucks at Fiserv Forum.
“But,” said guard Tyler Herro, who added 24, “we feel like we have enough.”
As soon as Monday, the Heat should learn when they will have more.
The trip began with point guard Kyle Lowry and center Orlando Robinson both available and ambulatory. It ended with both looking on in street clothes in Milwaukee.
Robinson fractured his left thumb in the second half of Tuesday night’s victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Heat’s lone win on the trip, with the Heat saying further evaluation would come after Sunday’s return.
With Robinson having only nine NBA days left on his two-way contract, a read on his status could be crucial, with the Heat otherwise needing to clear salary-cap space below the luxury tax to convert him to a standard contract.
If Robinson is projected to miss a month, his NBA availability on his two-way deal would run out in mid-March, a month before the end of the regular season. In addition, players on two-way deals are not eligible for playoff rosters.
Lowry sat out Saturday due to soreness in his left knee, also planning on further evaluation this week. He missed four consecutive games in mid-January with the same issue, sitting out eight days. A similar timetable would have him out three more games.
Also particularly relevant with Lowry is Thursday’s 3 p.m. NBA trading deadline, with the 36-year-old point guard linked to possible deals that could allow the Heat to escape the $29.7 million he is due next season.
The return home also should afford greater clarity with the sprained right ankle that has had guard Victor Oladipo out the past two games.
Oladipo, who made his season debut Dec. 6 from preseason knee pain, had appeared in 16 consecutive games before this latest absence.
Then there are the timing elements on both forward Nikola Jovic and guard Duncan Robinson.
The Heat announced the first week of January that Jovic would be sidelined at least four weeks due to a lower-back stress reaction, the next day announcing Robinson would be out a month due to finger surgery.
A month later, the team has yet to issue an update on either.
Jovic has missed the past 17 games with the back issue, last playing for the Heat on Dec. 28. He said he had been dealing with the problem for months.
Robinson has missed the past 16 games, last playing on Jan. 2. The injury to his right second finger initially was sustained ahead of the Heat’s Nov. 18 road loss to the Washington Wizards, held out that night with what the team had listed as a right-hand sprain. He then appeared in 13 games while trying to play through the issue, as his 3-point percentage careened.
More definitive is the status of center Omer Yurtseven, who has yet to play since the preseason, sidelined since November ankle surgery.
The Heat last week confirmed that Yurtseven has been cleared for contact work, although a return before the Feb. 24 conclusion of the Heat’s eight-day All-Star break appears unlikely, a timetable, however, that now might be expedited with Orlando Robinson out.
The other player out Saturday for the Heat was rookie forward Jamal Cain, who has been with the Heat’s G League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce, where he was sidelined by a dental procedure.
“We have three days before we play Indiana,” coach Erik Spoelstra said of Wednesday night’s game at Miami-Dade Arena against the Pacers, “so we’ll calibrate and get ready for that game.”
