While we still have to play the games, on paper, there’s little doubt that Monday’s trade to snag Norman Powell away from the Los Angeles Clippers was a huge success.
The Miami Heat essentially gave up next-to-nothing, consolidating Kyle Anderson–a 7th or 8th man, at best–and Kevin Love, who was entering his age-37 season, to acquire him. Powell, 32, is one of the more ignitable and efficient scorers in the NBA, averaging 21.8 points on 41.8 percent shooting from 3-point range last season.
Better yet, he’s shot at least 39.5 percent from deep in eight of his 10 NBA seasons.
However, by consolidating both Anderson and Love, a gaping hole in the frontcourt behind Bam Adebayo and Kel’el Ware continues to grow, which is something they must address before the season to avoid potential disaster.
Heat frontcourt is now thinner than ever:
I’m not here to say that Love would’ve made a huge impact throughout the 2025-26 season; he dealt with personal reasons for most of last season after being one of the more impactful backup bigs in the NBA in 2023-24.
However, Anderson was utilized as a small-ball 5 more often than not when he was in the game toward the tail-end of last season. The results were fairly mixed. But now the Heat are completely devoid of options after Adebayo and Ware.
Nikola Jovic isn’t a big; Keshad Johnson can function as a small-ball big, but is still raw in an NBA setting; Vlad Goldin may not get much opportunity on a two-way contract; Haywood Highsmith is too small to be anything more than a small-ball 4.
As it currently stands, the Heat are over $1 million above the luxury tax and $4 million below the first apron, where they’re hard-capped. They have an open roster spot, giving them more optionality in the trade market to potentially bring back more players than they send out if they choose to get off Andrew Wiggins or a combination of Terry Rozier, Haywood Highsmith or Simone Fontecchio (Tyler Herro should be in that conversation, but that’s another conversation for another day).
If not addressed, should Heat lean into staggering Ware and Adebayo?
Believe it or not, there’s still a world where Ware and Adebayo don’t start together full-time, even though that option remains unlikely.
Lineups with Kel’el Ware and Bam Adebayo (minus Jimmy Butler) finished a plus-2.9 per 100 possessions in non-garbage-time minutes, which graded in the 68th percentile, according to Cleaning The Glass. They were a middling offense (114.2 ORTG; 49th percentile), despite finishing in the 90th percentile in effective field goal percentage.
All in all, those lineups were still clunky (at times), even though Adebayo spaced the floor quite well after the New Year. It doesn’t everything to do with that pairing, but it’s not easy to build lineups around two non-spacers.
That doesn’t mean the Heat still can’t sprinkle Ware and Adebayo together. But there’s an argument to be made that staggering them more often than not is the proper route to follow because of how thin their frontcourt is behind them.
Powell’s a huge upgrade, but Love and Anderson were safety nets they no longer have. And now I’m fascinated to see if they can mitigate that weakness by the time October rolls around.
***
To check out our other content, click here.
Follow Hot Hot Hoops on Twitter/X here!
Follow Hot Hot Hoops on Instagram here!
Subscribe to our YouTube channel here!
- Bam Adebayo crushes critics over 83-point game: ‘You can’t be mad at that’
- Heat extend their win streak to a season-high seven straight in 112-105 victory over Bucks
- NBA GAMETHREAD: Milwaukee Bucks (27-37) @ Miami Heat (37-29)
- GAME PREVIEW: Bam Adebayo, Heat seek seventh-straight win against Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bucks
- Hanifan: Nobody should care how Bam Adebayo scored 83 points
- Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and other NBA stars react to Bam Adebayo’s historic night
- A’ja Wilson drops hilarious reaction to Bam Adebayo’s 83-point game
A lot of good stuff for the Heat tonight, but I’ll start with the ugly. Kaspar 0-9 with 8 fouls and 4 turnovers. Hey, he can only go up from here.
Really good game by Pelle, Keshad, Kira Lewis. Vlad looked much better tonight though he is a little slow of foot. He could develop into a decent backup center. I also look forward to seeing more of Dainja and Ballo. I hope both end up with the SkyForce.
Pelle, Johnson, Jovic and Jaquez are going to be expected to step it up this season, or they may not be around by the next one. Vlad may be rotation material some day. I think Jakucionis will be a slow bloomer. He’ll get incrementally better with more experience and coaching. He might start to show progress by the end of the season. He needs a lot of seasoning. Something a year at Sioux Falls should help provide.
I feel the same way. Kid is only 19 (a few weeks ago). Not afraid to mix it up or dive for a loose ball.
He is raw but shows good potential. He needs more experience and more time. I don’t see him paying dividends until year 3 when he is 21.
Kaspar missing shots are almost ridiculous, but boy has good shot mechanics and shot selection. He is obviously not prepared for team doublings, and he is careless with the ball.
Still, he is already a solid playmaker, penetrate the rim, solid defender, rebounder, able to go to the line… there are positives to be seen.
Not a NBA level player, still, I believe, he will play rotation minutes this year, but probably< not from beginning. I see Wares path for him next season.
Let’s go Heat!
From SI and I love this proposal! (Middleton is an expiring contract)
The pitched deal sends Wiggins and Haywood Highsmith to the Los Angeles Lakers, Maxi Kleber Gave Vincent, Shake Milton, and Jordan Goodwin head to the Washington Wizards, and the Heat acquire Khris Middleton, Dalton Knecht, and a 2032 first-round pick (via LAL, top-five protected.)
The investment in the future is good, but there will be a drop in performance (from Wiggins to Middleton) on both sides of the ball. Good thing he and his $33.3M expiring contract come off the books next summer.
Jury is still out on Knecht. Heat can add him to their group of players on rookie contracts being developed or include him in a trade package for a better player. The 2032 pick would also be good for inclusion in a trade package for a better player.
Rozier, Knecht, Jaquez or Jovic and a pick should be good for something.
Yes, Yes, Yes…
HEAT FRONT OFFICE SHOULDN’T TRADE HERRO
He is not worth 3 years/$150M. 3 years/$120M maybe. If he insists on max extension, I see a trade coming before the trade deadline (or sooner).
Even $120m seems high. Maybe $35m per.
He is due $31M in 2025-2026 and $33M in 2026-2027. He is in the same situation as Butler was. He can be extended this year or next. I agree on his value at $35M per year or even 4 years/$150M makes more sense ($37.5M per season). However, I think he will be able to get more elsewhere.