SALT LAKE CITY — There could have been a middle ground for the Miami Heat as the Feb. 5 NBA trading deadline approaches.

And that would have made the decision far easier for a team that insists it never quits on the playoff race … even when it often means, seemingly as in this moment, another play-in chase.

With a healthy and available Tyler Herro, the Heat front office could have split the maybe when it came time to decide whether to sell or stand pat on the personnel front at the deadline.

With Herro ambulatory, there was the easier-to-digest possibility of moving Norman Powell for draft capital and then turning to the scoring of Herro to compensate.

But then the ribs followed the ankle and the toe for Herro, at this point little certainty of when he again will stand as a reliable option.

With Herro reliably in the Heat lineup and Powell sent out in a trade, a team that has spent the bulk of the season in play-in orbit … still would be a team in play-in orbit.

But without any sense of what Herro will be this season, a move of Powell would be capitulation.

And the Heat don’t capitulate (with the exception of 2008, when there essentially were no last men standing by midseason on the way to 15-67).

For years, Herro has been an X-factor for the Heat, perhaps the ultimate X-factor, considering you knew what you were going to get from Jimmy Butler in the playoffs, knew what you were going to get from Bam Adebayo on defense and now know what you’re going to get from Powell with his scoring.

Now, if not for this great unknown of this latest rib injury, Herro could have stood as an X-factor again at the trade deadline, there to step in in case Powell is swapped out.

For weeks in this space, the thought — through no fault of their own — was to swap out Powell and Andrew Wiggins for draft capital, to either further fuel the youth pipeline or to amass and then package picks in a trade for a potential leading man (preferably a Greek leading man).

The thought from this perspective is by moving Wiggins, it would further clear the runway for Pelle Larsson, who continues to display an encouraging trajectory. In that regard, moving Wiggins should remain a consideration.

With Powell, though, it’s different. Because with Herro out or limited, there is not another scorer on the roster capable of stepping into that void to at least keep the Heat competitive, as they insist, Adebayo’s recent breakout notwithstanding.

With his lack of outside shooting, Jaime Jaquez is not that player. With his lack of consistency, Nikola Jovic is not that player. With his lack of scoring creativity, Davion Mitchell is not that player. With his lack of experience, Kasparas Jakucionis is not that player.

Therefore, to move Powell without Herro being up to speed would be the Heat waving the white flag on White Hot Playoffs.

The Heat do not wave white flags when white playoff towels instead can oscillate at Kaseya Center, no matter any long odds (See: playoffs, 2025, vs. Cleveland Cavaliers).

What the Heat need at the moment, or soon, very soon, as in a matter of days, is an effective, reliable, efficient Herro, a player hungry for an extension, Herro knowing that such a payoff would be an extension of his ability to score.

Powell has fueled the Heat to this stage of the season for a franchise that otherwise would have run out of gas due to the scoring inconsistency elsewhere on the roster.

But now is decision time, time to consider that draft capital that has fueled just about every major NBA trade in recent years.

Powell potentially could next provide that for the Heat if the right offer comes across Pat Riley’s desk.

But without a Powell replacement scorer, that scoreboard math and, therefore, the playoff math would become exponentially more complex.

In that regard, here, again, stand the Heat, in need of something from Tyler Herro.

For now … and for the future.

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