The Heat sacrifice the Scavenger

Quite a bloody Sunday it’s been.

First the Miami Heat blew another second half lead, faltering down the stretch, botching a last-possession with a chance to win (thanks in part to the officials) and then petering out in overtime to lose to Toronto.

Now, with the season just about over, someone who actually played 23 minutes in that game is now longer with the team.

Rodney “the Scavenger” McGruder, who was another nice Heat development story until he got ridden too much, was actually a team-best plus-8 in that contest while missing five or six shots. After the game, and with the Heat essentially out of the playoff race, he was released to beat a 5 p.m. deadline to get under the luxury tax.

Heat waiving Rodney McGruder sheds light on choices made at trade deadline… Heat could’ve dropped below luxury tax, permanently, by trading him. They didn’t, presumably b/c they felt he could help them win. They prioritized winning. (And did so again by playing Kelly Olynyk.)

— Albert Nahmad (@AlbertNahmad) April 7, 2019

Teams that can claim Rodney McGruder off waivers (by my unofficial count): CHA, CLE, DAL, DEN, DET, HOU, LAC, LAL, MEM, MIN, NOP, OKC, PHI, TOR, UTA, WAS. They’d of course need to have or create a roster spot for him.

— Albert Nahmad (@AlbertNahmad) April 7, 2019

Because it’s never about the money until it’s about the money.

I’ll have more on this in a column that will post overnight, and how it again exposes the foolishness of slogans such as #HeatCulture, which can now go in the dustbin of Heat history along with #HeatLifer.

But understand that, while McGruder’s play declined over the course of the season, it’s rather stunning to see the Heat just dump for nothing — well, other than money. Of course, this comes after Wayne Ellington was traded to dump Tyler Johnson’s money, and Ellington is now averaging 12.1 points per Detroit and helping push the Pistons ahead of the Heat into the postseason.

And the Heat?

Well, whatever could go wrong this season, other than Dwyane Wade’s strong play in his #OneLastDance, has.

Other than Dwyane Wade and Udonis Haslem, is there a player Spo loves more than Rodney McGruder?
This may be the one that makes him fist fight Riley and Andy pic.twitter.com/iyCgcBpI2a

— Brendan Tobin (@Brendan_Tobin) April 7, 2019