MIAMI — The Miami Heat were unable to sell at Thursday’s NBA trading deadline, beyond the deal earlier in the week that excised Dewayne Dedmon from the roster.
So Kyle Lowry remains with the Heat. So does Duncan Robinson. So does their 2023 first-round pick.
Despite a whirlwind around the league that over the previous 24 hours saw players such as Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, D’Angelo Russell, Saddiq Bey, Mike Conley, Jae Crowder, James Wiseman, Luke Kennard, Danny Green, Eric Gordon, Reggie Jackson, Patrick Beverley and others moved to new locations, the Heat have the same roster they did for Wednesday night’s victory over the Indiana Pacers.
By not moving off Lowry’s money — or by being unable to move off Lowry’s money — the Heat figure to attempt to put the final year of Lowry’s three-year, $85 million contract into play in the offseason as part of the type of larger deal that was not achieved by Thursday’s deadline.
Lowry, who has struggled this season, with the Heat often performing better with Gabe Vincent at point guard, was not at Miami-Dade Arena for Wednesday’s game and will miss at least two more games with knee soreness. The Heat said Lowry had an excused absence Wednesday.
Lowry said prior to the deadline that he was aware he could be shopped, with Heat forward Jimmy Butler addressing the Lowry rumors ahead of Thursday’s deadline.
“I told Kyle, you got to control what you can control,” Butler said of Lowry, who is the godfather to his daughter. “That’s my guy and I love him to death. I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I love Kyle as an NBA player, as a human being.
“I want to play with Kyle. But so much is out of my control just like so much is out of his control. He can be my guy forever and I want him to be my teammate forever. Whatever happens, happens.”
Butler, though, said he had expected Lowry to remain with the team beyond the deadline.
The next question with Lowry is what comes next with the Heat, whether it is a return when his knee heals, perhaps a move to a reserve role, or something closer to the boost he had provided at the start of last season.
Lowry had been linked to potential interest from the Minnesota Timberwolves and Los Angeles Clippers. The Wolves, however, addressed their need at point guard by acquiring Mike Conley Jr. from the Utah Jazz, while the Clippers bolstered their backcourt with the Thursday additions of Gordon and Bones Hyland.
Robinson stood as a potential move for a team looking for shooting, with the Atlanta Hawks instead landing Saddiq Bey from the Detroit Pistons.
The Heat next figure to attack the buyout market, with several veterans dealt to lottery-bound teams Thursday likely to request buyouts. Players must be waived by March 1 in order to be playoff eligible for another team.
The Heat already have been linked to interest in Westbrook.
The Heat currently have a vacant roster spot and several exceptions at their disposal to add players from the buyout market and are positioned to outbid teams that can only offer minimum contracts.
While the Heat remained in place with their roster, teams at the top of the Eastern Conference were active, with the Milwaukee Bucks adding Heat trade target Crowder, the Boston Celtics adding power-rotation depth with Mike Muscala and the Philadelphia 76ers adding the athleticism of Jalen McDaniels.
Beyond those top three seeds in the East, the rest of the conference playoff race in the Heat’s No. 6 range were not involved in tangible leaps. The No. 4 Cleveland Cavaliers did not make a move, the No. 5 Brooklyn Nets took a considerable step back with their trade of Durant to the Phoenix Suns and the No. 7 New York Knicks made a nominal acquisition with a trade for Portland Trail Blazers guard Josh Hart.
Although speculation had linked the Heat to several significant possibilities, among those who were part of that speculation and were not dealt Thursday were Toronto Raptors forward O.G. Anunoby and Atlanta Hawks forward John Collins, the former South Florida prep standout.
It is the second consecutive year the Heat did not add a player at the trade deadline, with last year’s only move the shedding of KZ Okpala’s contract to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Thursday’s lack of movement left the Heat with 13 players under standard contract: Bam Adebayo, Butler, Udonis Haslem, Tyler Herro, Haywood Highsmith, Nikola Jovic, Lowry, Caleb Martin, Victor Oladipo, Duncan Robinson, Max Strus, Gabe Vincent and Omer Yurtseven. The team’s two-way players remain Jamal Cain and Orlando Robinson. The Heat on Wednesday also added G League guard Jamaree Bouya on a 10-day contract, which counts against the 15-player standard roster.
The Heat next play Friday against the visiting Houston Rockets.
