Does Rozier Move The Needle Enough For Miami?

Photo From Sports Illustrated

Just recently, the Miami Heat made the trade to acquire Terry Rozier from the Charlotte Hornets ahead of the Feb. 8th trade deadline. Rumors started circulating just a few days ago that Lowry could be traded by the end of the week. It felt almost inevitable that Miami was going to do whatever it took to move on from the aging point guard. Luckily, they got a player that could possibly move them back into title contention.

We’re now more than halfway through the regular season, and the Miami Heat sit at bottom third of the league in offensive rating. Prior to the trade, Kyle Lowry was playing possibly the worst basketball of his career. Over his last seven games, he is shooting an abysmal 33% from the field. He has been nothing short of a liability to the Miami Heat offense and defense this season.

The acquisition of Rozier has raised questions towards having a Herro-Rozier starting backcourt since neither of them hang their head on defense. But leave it to coach Spoelstra to figure it out. The Miami Heat are very reliant on Tyler Herro to create his own shots since the team lacks perimeter shot creation. Rozier is a veteran shot seeker who can score on all three levels. This’ll take the pressure off of Herro and allow him to facilitate more.

Does Rozier move the needle enough for Miami to be back in title conversations? Potentially, yes. Though, come playoff time, they still might be missing a couple bench pieces that they could acquire via trades. Trading for a viable backup center with length could go a long way since backup big men minutes have damaged Miami in the past.