Miami Heat has two weeks to make a trade before the deadline. What to know

The Miami Heat would like to augment its roster before the Feb. 9 NBA trade deadline, but its lack of appealing available assets works against it.

According to a Western Conference source, the Heat remains interested in acquiring Phoenix Suns and former Heat forward Jae Crowder, but the Suns have resisted the Heat’s trade concepts and other interested teams have a clearer pathway to a deal. Talks with Miami simply haven’t gained traction, according to the source.

Duncan Robinson’s name was raised in trade discussions with Phoenix, but the Suns had no interest in taking on the final 3 1/2 seasons of his five-year, $90 million contract, the source said. Miami has not shown any inclination to offer Caleb Martin in a deal for Crowder.

Crowder would have interest in playing for the Heat, and Miami would pursue him if he’s bought out. But the Suns remain hopeful that they will be able to find a trade for Crowder, who has been away from the Suns since requesting a trade before training camp.

Crowder, acquired by the Heat in February 2020, averaged 11.9 points, 5.4 rebounds and shot 44.5 percent on threes in 20 regular-season games for the Heat and started throughout Miami’s run to the NBA Finals that season. He joined the Suns months later on a three-year, $29 million deal.

Among other power rotation players who have been linked to the Heat in trade discussions: Atlanta’s John Collins, Utah’s Jared Vanderbilt and the Pelicans’ Willie Hernangomez.

Meanwhile, even though the Heat is not aggressively trying to trade point guard Kyle Lowry, his name has been mentioned in trade speculation and a deal involving Lowry cannot be completely ruled out.

The Ringer reported that the Clippers have interest in Lowry, among other veteran point guards. Lowry is in the second-year of a three-year, $85 million contract.

All the while, the best stretch of the Heat’s season continues with the trade deadline approaching.

The Heat, which closes a three-game homestand Friday against the Orlando Magic (8 p.m., Bally Sports Sun), has won 15 of its last 22 games following a 12-15 start to the season to enter Thursday in sixth place in the Eastern Conference with a 27-22 record.

Despite the recent improvement, the Heat still clearly has a few needs it could fill through a trade.

The Heat’s defense has statistically been elite, entering Thursday with the NBA’s fifth-ranked defensive rating this season. But Miami has posted the fifth-worst offensive rating in the league.

Acquiring a reliable high-volume three-point shooter to help space the floor for the Heat’s leading trio of Bam Adebayo, Jimmy Butler and Tyler Herro would help lift those offensive numbers. Miami is ranked 27th in team three-point percentage at 33.5 percent this season.

The Heat also has a need at backup center after veteran Dewayne Dedmon fell out of the rotation and lost that job to undrafted rookie Orlando Robinson.

Dedmon played as the Heat’s backup center for most of the season but struggled to produce positive results while battling through plantar fasciitis in his left foot.

Dedmon is a player who the Heat is expected to make available in trade discussions ahead of the deadline. He’s on a $4.7 million salary this season and his $4.3 million salary for next season is fully nonguaranteed, which is a contract that could be attractive to a team looking for salary cap relief in a trade.

Robinson has been used as the backup center behind Adebayo in each of the past six games, and Dedmon has not played during that time. While the results have been better with Robinson in the role, the Heat has still lost the non-Adebayo minutes by 5.6 points per 100 possessions during this six-game stretch.

Robinson’s availability is also restricted by his two-way contract, as he’s only permitted to be on the Heat’s active list for 13 more games this regular season and is not eligible to take part in the playoffs.

The Heat can convert Robinson’s two-way contract to a standard deal to avoid these limitations, but making that move would currently push Miami into the luxury tax.

By trading Dedmon’s contract and not taking in as much money in return, the Heat could open the necessary room to convert Robinson to a standard NBA contract, add an outside free agent and/or create the flexibility to take in more money in another trade without entering luxury tax territory.

Omer Yurtseven is another backup center option on the roster, but he has not yet played this season because of a left ankle injury that required surgery in November. Yurtseven was putting up set shots after Thursday’s practice at Miami-Dade Arena with a splint on his left ankle, but his return is still weeks away.

The Heat could also choose to address the power forward position ahead of the deadline after losing P.J. Tucker in free agency this past summer and never replacing him with outside help.

Martin has played as Miami’s starting power forward this season despite being undersized for the position at 6-5 and 205 pounds. He has been solid in the role, averaging career highs in points (9.9 per game), rebounds (4.7 per game), assists (1.7 per game), steals (1.1 per game) and minutes (30.7 per game).

But whether it’s to move Martin back to the bench to again play his natural position of wing or just to add bench depth at power forward, a trade that brings another four to the Heat would help. Crowder would obviously help fill this need.

With the trade deadline two weeks away, here are some things to know about what the Heat has to offer and other factors in play:

▪ Every player on the Heat’s roster is currently eligible to be traded.

But Victor Oladipo and Udonis Haslem can’t be dealt without their permission because of the structure of their contracts.

Also, Herro is essentially untradeable until this upcoming offseason after signing his extension with the Heat in October because of the “Poison Pill Provision,” which makes the required salary-matching in any potential deal involving Herro almost impossible to complete. Herro will no longer be subject to this provision starting July 1.

▪ With just 14 players signed to standard contracts, the Heat has an open spot on its 15-man roster to take in an extra player in a trade. But the Heat is also just about $200,000 away from crossing the luxury tax threshold and the expectation is it will not want to cross that line unless it’s for a significant return, so any potential trade Miami makes will likely need to be done without taking in more salary than it sends out.

▪ The Heat is currently eligible to trade unprotected first-round picks in 2023 and 2028 or 2029. The Heat could unlock its 2027 first-round pick to include in a trade by lifting the lottery protections on the 2025 selection it owes the Oklahoma City Thunder.

▪ The Heat has its full allotment of $6.4 million of cash available that it can dip into to help facilitate a trade.

▪ The Heat holds a $1.8 million trade exception available that is set to expire on Feb. 9 as part of last season’s deal that sent KZ Okpala to the Thunder.

Trade exceptions allow teams to trade for a player whose salary fits or players whose salaries combine to fit into the exception without having to send back salary to match. Trade exceptions can’t be combined with a player to acquire a more expensive salary.

INJURY REPORT

The Heat ruled out Nikola Jovic (back), Duncan Robinson (finger) and Yurtseven (ankle) for Friday’s game against the Magic.

Haywood Highsmith (shin contusion), Martin (quadriceps strain) and Max Strus (shoulder irritation) are listed as probable.

Butler, who was a late scratch for Tuesday’s win over the Boston Celtics because of lower back tightness, said Thursday he will play against the Magic on Friday.