One could only wonder how this incentivizes Miami’s trade deadline actions.
The Miami Heat suffered another injury to its frontcourt, as Orlando Robinson fractured his thumb in Tuesday’s win over the Cleveland Cavaliers and will miss Thursday game against the New York Knicks, the team announced Wednesday.
Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reported that Robinson is expected to miss the next “several” weeks, noting the injury occurred in the third quarter of Wednesday’s game.
Heat downgrades Oladipo to doubtful for Knicks game with ankle sprain. Orlando Robinson’s fractured thumb – expected to sideline him several weeks – happened last night in 3d qtr when entry pass to him was slapped out of his hands by Evan Mobley.
— Barry Jackson (@flasportsbuzz) February 1, 2023
#MIAvsNYK INJURY UPDATE: Orlando Robinson (right thumb fracture) has been ruled out of tomorrow night’s game vs the Knicks.
— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) February 1, 2023
Jackson highlighted in a separate tweet that the average time an NBA has been absent for a similar fractured thumb injury is approximately 32 days, according to Hashtag Basketball, which would theoretically hold him out until at least the first weekend of March.
According to Hastag Basketball, NBA players who fracture their right thumb (like Orlando Robinson) miss an average of 32 days. So Heat needs to figure out backup center (Dedmon, perhaps Udonis) until Omer returns after All Star break. https://t.co/u49CZK4IaL
— Barry Jackson (@flasportsbuzz) February 1, 2023
Robinson, currently on a two-way contract, was Miami’s best backup big by far this season. He’s averaged 4.3 points and 4.2 rebounds in 14.4 minutes per game this season. The Heat are expected to get Omer Yurtseven, who’s missed the entire season after undergoing ankle surgery after injuring it in the preseason, back after the All-Star break in mid-February.
In the meantime, the Heat will have Dewayne Dedmon and Udonis Haslem manning the backup big position. With how limited Miami’s frontcourt depth is, this only incentivizes the Heat to make a frontcourt transaction — something I noted here — come the Feb. 9 trade deadline.