Winderman’s view: Market for a possible Lowry trade dwindles amid needed Heat win
Observations and other notes of interest from Wednesday night’ s 116-111 victory over the Indiana Pacers:. –The Timberwolves landed Mike Conley Jr., taking them out of the market for a point guard. –And with Russell Westbrook soon to be bought out by the Jazz, Yahoo reported Clippers interest.
Observations and other notes of interest from Wednesday night’s 116-111 victory over the Indiana Pacers:
– Yes, this game mattered.
– So the Heat took care of business.
– But so did what happened Wednesday night on the NBA trade market.
– The Timberwolves landed Mike Conley Jr., taking them out of the market for a point guard.
– And with Russell Westbrook soon to be bought out by the Jazz, Yahoo reported Clippers interest.
– Which could remove another team interested in a potential move for a point guard.
– So the market for Kyle Lowry is . . . ?
– Before Wednesday night, the Timberwolves and Clippers appeared to be potential landing spots.
– Now not so much, although Westbrook hardly is a prototypic point guard.
– But as with any trade speculation, that has to be an intake team.
– Now the options shrink.
– All as Lowry remains sidelined at least two more games with his knee issue.
– Thursday will be interesting.
– But Wednesday seemingly already had an impact on the Heat.
– Without the Heat even being involved.
– And, yes, would have parted with a Heat protected first-rounder, like the Lakers did, for the haul they netted of D’Angelo Russell, Malik Beasley and Jarred Vanderbilt.
– With Lowry sidelined Gabe Vincent again started at point guard for the Heat.
– He got off to a solid start, with 11 points on three shots in the first quarter until he was forced to sit with his second foul.
– The opening lineup otherwise was rounded out by usual starters Bam Adebayo, Caleb Martin, Jimmy Butler and Tyler Herro.
– Lowry was inactive, as were Victor Oladipo (ankle), Duncan Robinson (finger), Omer Yurtseven (ankle) and Nikola Jovic (back).
– Orlando Robinson, Max Strus and Haywood Highsmith then entered together with 5:34 to play in the first period in the Heat’s first substitution.
– That proved to be the depth of Erik Spoelstra’s rotation.
– Spoelstra said center Omer Yurtseven continues to trend in a positive direction from the ankle surgery that has him yet to make his season debut.
– “Omer is making a lot of progress. So in the meantime, we have enough guys that we can play there,” Spoelstra said of the team’s status at center. “We also have some encouraging news with guys coming back and have a little bit of flexibility on our roster, too.”
– With the addition of Jamaree Bouyea on a 10-day contract, it makes it five players from the Heat’s summer-league team who have spent time on the Heat roster, when counting Bouyea, Jamal Cain, Orlando Robinson, Nikola Jovic and Dru Smith, who since has moved on to the Brooklyn Nets.
– “This has been a fun process with this group. It really has been,” Spoelstra said. “Because we’ve had a lot of different summer-league groups, and this one has probably surprised us as much as any group, just from who they were and what they looked like the first few days of summer camp and then our training camp.”
– Spoelstra added, ”And then, each one of them have made such significant progress in Sioux Falls. That has been enjoyable to watch that, but also to be able to keep them in our system but also reward them in whatever ways that we can.”
– Yes, Spoelstra said, he was watching when former Heat forward LeBron James on Tuesday night broke the NBA all-time scoring record.
– “I rarely stay up for those late games, but that was must-see TV,” Spoelstra said. “That’s so historic for him to be able to do that, and also for Kareem [Abdul-Jabbar, the previous record holder] to be in the building. That’s one of those amazing NBA moments. I think everything’s been said already about it.”
– Spoelstra added, “But LeBron just continues to deliver on everything that was anticipated or maybe expected out of an 18-year-old that also is impossible to project forward. He’s basically been doing everything that was projected of him since he was in eighth grade, really. A pretty amazing night.”
– The Heat played a LeBron tribute video during the first half.
– Butler’s eighth free-throw attempt moved him past Paul Silas for 99th on the NBA all-time list.
– Butler’s ninth free-throw attempt gave him 4,750 for his career.
– Butler’s first steal tied Dirk Nowitzki for 92nd on the NBA all-time list.
– Martin’s fifth steal set a career high.
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