The Miami Heat are 25-21 and have won 18 of their last 28 games, as their vaunted defense from the last few years is making a comeback.
But by no means are they a finished product.
The Heat could use another scorer, and other than Bam Adebayo, they don’t have any regular rotation players who are taller than 6-foot-7.
The team has been looking around for possible trade scenarios, and one trade discussion it reportedly had seemed palatable.
“They had discussions with Atlanta about John Collins that have since gone dormant, a deal that would potentially send Duncan Robinson and [Caleb] Martin to the Hawks (perhaps with a protected draft pick),” Heavy.com’s Sean Deveney wrote (h/t Heat Nation). “Those talks could be rekindled, though there is concern among some with the Heat that Collins and star big man Bam Adebayo would not be a great fit.”
Collins has been one of the Atlanta Hawks’ key players over the last few years.
He has emerged as a legitimate scoring option who has a career average of 16.1 points per game and is putting up 13.3 points a game this year, as well as a solid rebounder and a strong finisher at the basket.
JOHN COLLINS TIP IN FOR THE WIN pic.twitter.com/lZ9EC3U47s
— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) January 14, 2023
In past years, Collins also showed an ability to stretch the floor by hitting the 3-point shot, although he’s at just 24.4 percent from that distance so far this season.
In addition, his 1.4 blocked shots per game could give the Heat a little more interior defense and help a team that is last in blocked shots per game.
JC closed the door. pic.twitter.com/vhdYpazg5x
— Bally Sports: Hawks (@HawksOnBally) January 19, 2023
However, Robinson’s contract will be tough to unload, as he’s owed $16.9 million this season and over $18 million in each of the next three seasons.
He used to be a deadly 3-point shooter the last three seasons, but at 33.1 percent from downtown this year, he can no longer justify his contract.
Another piece of dead weight the Heat would love to get rid of is veteran point guard Kyle Lowry, a six-time All-Star who is now a shell of his old self, yet is owed $28.3 million this year and $29.7 million for the 2023-24 campaign.
