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The Miami Heat close preseason with a 114-109 comeback win in Memphis

Miami finishes with a 4-1 preseason record; good for a first seed tie in the Eastern Conference. (Photo via Miami Heat/X)

After a fourth straight win, the Miami Heat will conclude their preseason with an outstanding comeback-from-behind victory against the Memphis Grizzlies, 114-109. Miami finished in a three-way tie with the New York Knicks and Boston Celtics for the top seed in the Eastern Conference heading into the 2024-25 season.

This was a resounding win from the impressive Heat young core. Eight veteran players, including the likes of Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo, got the night off. However, it opened playing time for a lot of the team’s development pieces. Josh Christopher, the summer league MVP led the team in scoring with 17 points off the bench in 22 minutes.

He shot 6/11 from the floor and 2/4 from 3-point range. Kel’el Ware also headlined with 16 points and 7 rebounds to go along with a pair of blocks and steals. There was some high two-way activity from the new big man.

Seven players finished in double figures, and the offense ignited a late rally. The Heat outscored the Grizzlies 29-18 in the fourth quarter. It was an encouraging way to continue momentum into the season, while giving more experience to the young guys looking to standout.

The summer league players in Ware, Christopher, Pelle Larsson, Keshad Johnson and Zyon Pullin looked impactful in each of their stints.

Miami shot 46% as a team and 44% on 3-pointers, compared to the Grizzlies 48% and 38%. The Heat also won the turnover battle, with a 17-23 advantage. Despite standout performances from the Memphis duo of Ja Morant and Desmond Bane, Miami stayed in striking distance the whole way until finally going on clutch run. Morant finished with 17 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists. Bane led all scorers with 19 points.

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SunManFromDogBone

Kyle Kuzma for Duncan Robinson, Nikola Jović, Josh Richardson and either Pelle Larsson -OR- 2030 first-round pick (protected 1-10)

Any thoughts?

Last edited 20 days ago by SunManFromDogBone
vagibugi

Nope. But I would prefers something like Cam Johnson for Robinson, Pelle and JRich.
It works.

vagibugi

Interesting players for Heat would be Grant, Randle, Cam Johnson.

SunManFromDogBone

Grant is 6’7″ and weighs 210 lbs. Low rebounds and assists for a PF or SF. Averaged 54.5 games per season last four years. Very poor defensive rating (126.2 last year. 4 years left on his contract at $33 million per year average ($36M in final year).

Randle is 6’8″ and weighs 250 lbs. He has two years left on his contract for total of $60M. However, like Butler. 2025-2026 is player option and he will be expecting a big contract extension. He played in 46 games last year. Poor defensive rating of 117.9. 31.1% 3 point shooter in 2024/33.3 career. Another mid-range scorer. His style is not compatible with Heat’s.

Cam Johnson is 6’8″ and weighs 210 lbs. He averaged 13.4/4.3/2.4 last year in 58 games. Played 42 games the year before. Very poor defensive rating last year 122.0. Has 3 years left on contract for total of $65.5 M/21.8M per year.

vagibugi

Those three, and Kuzma, and maybe Harris, are power forwards, which could be available and could be an improvement at power forward position.
All those ranks between 10 and 20 best power forwards in the league. Power forwards ranked higher are stars or crucial parts of their teams, and wont be traded. Power forwards ranked bellow are not good enough.

So, we have those 5 with contract 20-30 mill a year. Any trade for those 4 players means long time commitment.

Any of those players makes team better, but none of them, at least in my opinion., cannot bring enough to makes Heat a real contender.

At the moment we have Jovic on his rookie contract, which will probably improve and achieve top 20-30 power forwards rating in 2-3 years. I believe, the best to get a good player on this position is to wait some time.

Things might change if players like Yannis could be available.

If we are talking about trades, should be other positions. Is there Rosier the best point guard available? Its time for Tyler to go?. What about Jimmies age?

Im sure those question will be asked before power forward position issue.

SunManFromDogBone

Jovic top 20-30 in 2-3 years? Dude, there are only 30 teams and his rookie contract expires before then.

Sundayafternoons

Why trade from young, likely to improve and relatively inexpensive depth for more depth?

If they’re trading Nikola and Pelle it’s gonna be for an all-star/3rd team NBA caliber player.

And, unless they have info on Duncan’s health they haven’t shared he’s a championship quality caliber role player. He’s gonna play a lot of minutes next to Jamie this year and make Jamie’s playmaking look really good. Especially if Ware can play his way on the floor and Duncan has vertical rim protection behind him.

SunManFromDogBone

Jovic is a rotation player, at best, not a starting caliber player.

Pelle is a year or two away from becoming a reliable rotation player.

This is probably Duncan’s last year with Heat unless he is willing to take a big pay cut. He is on partially guaranteed contract next year.

Sundayafternoons

Even if you’re right about Pelle and Niko–why should Miami make a trade to get older and more expensive?

Solid rotation players, who understand their roles, can play them at a high level, and are on less expensive contracts, are key to team building under the new CPA.

But the things is, Niko is better at his role in our offense than Kuzma has ever shown to be. AND Niko is as efficient, or very close to it, when you look at the shots Kuzma took with Washington last year.

The role of the 4 position for our offense (at least last year) was to space the floor and quickly distribute the ball to keep the offense moving. That’s likely to be the same this year. Niko shot 39% on catch and shoot threes to Kuzma’s 35.5%. If you compare their shot profiles, Niko hit corners threes at a rate of 49% (left) and 37% (right), Kuzma was at 32% and 36%. Key shots in our offense, Niko was just hands down far and away better. Niko also had a higher pass percentage to his teammates who he was on the floor with, and to a more diversified player profile (guards, wings and centers.) Kuzma almost exclusively was passing to guards running the PnR with him.

So Kuzma would need PnR reps, would primarily want to take off the dribble pull up opportunities, and try to get paint touches. All of which he’s less efficient at than Bam, Jimmy, Jaime, Herro, Terry, and even Duncan. (As measured based on pull up field goal percentage and field goal percentage within 10 feet of the rim.)

I understand the desire to get better, but Kuzma is not a player that helps our team.

InsuranceMan

You raise good points

SunManFromDogBone

Based on his past performance and current trajectory, Jovic is not the solution, unless he becomes a much better scorer, defender and rebounder…overnight. That is what a POWER FORWARD does. Otherwise, what you have is Kelly Olynyk 2.0.

Kuzma averaged 22.2 points and 6.6 rebounds per game last year and has a career average of 6.4. He is also on a very affordable 3 year contract at about $21.5M per year. He was and can again be a very good defender in the right situation, as he was when he played for the Lakers.

Kuzma is Miami’s best chance to win now on an affordable contract. That gives Ware time to develop and potentially slide into the C spot by the playoffs and everyone else can slide down a position (Bam to PF, Kuzma to SF, Butler to SG and Herro or Rozier into the sixth man slot). Works for me.

Last edited 18 days ago by SunManFromDogBone
Sundayafternoons

Jovic is a more efficient scooter than Kuzma. So that’s one check in his hat.

I could Pull the defensive stats but I bet Jovic benefits from playing on a competitive team in a way that isn’t fair to Kuzma. (And that’s exactly what it shows, Jovic defense rating was 22 points better than Kuzma’s)

In terms of rebounding, it appears the difference in total rebounds is mostly explained by Kuzma playing more minutes per game than Jovic did. Jovic had a higher percentage of secured rebounds that were contested by an opposing player.

But ultimately this comes down to, do you want Kuzma taking DHO, PnR and triple threat opportunities away from Bam. If the answer is no, then Kuzma doesn’t make sense. There’s a reason why the trade you’re suggesting hasn’t happened.

SunManFromDogBone

It hasn’t happened because Washington is in full rebuild mode and wants 2 first round draft picks and no team is willing to pay that price. When they accept that isn’t going to happen, they’ll listen to other offers.

As soon as Ware is ready to start as C, Jovic is getting bumped to the second unit. If he can’t up his stats (7.7 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 19.5 minutes) he may be traded long before his contract expires. Even 35 year old Love had better stats than Jovic (8.8 points, 6.2 rebounds, 2.1 assists in 16.8 minutes).

Nikola Jovic has a 117.9 career defensive rating. Kuzma has a 113.5 career defensive rating. Kuzma’s defensive rating in four years playing with a better defensive team (Lakers) was was even better (109.3).

vagibugi

If the final goal is Ware at C and Bam at PF, than this should happen soon, next year a latest. From then, Bam is our starting PF.

That would make Kuzma one year rental.

SunManFromDogBone

Kuzma to SF, which he has played before. Butler to SG, which he has played before. Herro to 6th man, which he has played before. Jovic to rotation player, which he has played before.
Ware, Bam, Kuzma, Butler, Rozier
Smith, Burkes, Jaquez, Highsmith, Love
Stevens, Christopher, Johnson, Bryant

Sundayafternoons

Yeah I don’t quite see your logic except for volume is more important than efficiency.

Jovic is a better shooter, a better passer, pulls down slightly fewer rebounds, and has shown he can fulfill his defensive responsibilities. All at 21 years old, having come from an international league where he played shooting guard.

And you want to trade him for a role player who would play his role less effectively?

SunManFromDogBone

Jovic’s stats aren’t starting unit caliber. He is still very much a work in progress. 7.7 ppg in 20 minutes won’t cut it. I would start Ware over Jovic and move Bam to PF any day. Keep Jovic as a back-up until/unless he shows he can adequately perform all the duties of an NBA PF. He is the weak link in Miami’s starting unit.

ManilaHeat

Nope for me. Its a risk but id take it, want to see what would become of Jovic. This is just me but imo Kuzma is just like Caleb Martin so no point in getting him when Heat just released Caleb. Maybe Dunc+JRich only? Hehe

SunManFromDogBone

Kuzma scores more that 2x per game more than Caleb and is a better rebounder.

Deadsori123

To be fair to Caleb. Kuzma is first and or second option for scoring. Caleb is what ,4rth or 5th ?

SunManFromDogBone

I see Bam, Herro and Butler at 20.0 PPG, Rozier and Kuzma at 16-18 PPG. Those 5 alone total 92-96 PPG. Throw in Jaquez, Highsmith, Burkes, Ware, Love, etc., and Heat are up around 120 PPG. Works for me.

Last edited 17 days ago by SunManFromDogBone
SunManFromDogBone

Hey H4L. It looks like Herro finally turned the defensive switch on. If he really works at it, I can see him elevating his game to another level. If that happens, I can see him being in the all-star conversation. He’s pretty much the same physical profile as Booker. The only thing he has lacked until now is the desire to be a complete player.
GO HEAT!!!

https://allucanheat.com/early-heat-preseason-returns-suggest-tyler-herro-changed-man?utm_campaign=FanSided+Daily&utm_source=FanSided+Daily&utm_medium=email&sc=e0273490fd355e2c28bdb25751d41af65a4dd80936ff00a80be9866c97887955

heat for life

agree only problem hes always hurt,ty starts out great when hes fresh and has his legs.then his play tapers off and he loses some juice and then boom the dreaded injury.hopefully he can remain healthy.hasnt since hes been here

SunManFromDogBone

For those who constantly seem to finds things to be negative about, here’s a few things to be positive about. Now if Ware can just be fast-tracked to start by the second half of the season, we’ll be in business by the playoffs! If the Heat can somehow pull the trade off for Kuzma I suggested the other day…forgetaboutit!!!
GO HEAT!!!

https://allucanheat.com/4-reasons-miami-heat-fans-should-be-wildly-optimistic-after-successful-preseason?utm_campaign=FanSided+Daily&utm_source=FanSided+Daily&utm_medium=email&sc=e0273490fd355e2c28bdb25751d41af65a4dd80936ff00a80be9866c97887955

Sharkey

I agree with all 4 points raised. Although without fancy acquisitions, I believe Heat will be much better this season. Health will be crucial and for sure it can’t be worse this season, can it? I am cautiously optimistic and looking forward to the new season and improvements from our players.

Reality Czech

I think there is a zero chance that Ware will be traded anytime in the foreseeable future.
I’m still not sold on Jovic as the starting pf.
If Pelle is part of a trade package, it must be for a bona fide starting pf. I hope he remains on the Heat. Nice skill set.
I like the idea of keeping Little, but he may be waived sooner than later due to eventually approaching the second apron. A salary reducing trade would have to be made to fully guarantee his contract for the season.

Sundayafternoons

This game showed me why Ware hasn’t been playing ahead of TB. Like every young big he’s got lessons to learn on defense that comes through getting reps, and it seems like the coaching staff wants to get him those reps in controlled settings.

Offensively he’s got so much athletic ability that it seems at times he’s not sure what he wants to do, and as a rookie we’re just not gonna throw him the ball in the post so he can figure out his game plan.

Once a few things settle down for him and he can succeed in the role the coaching staff sees for him, he’ll play. Or once someone comes calling because they need a back up big.

Deadsori123

Agreed. Ware is still raw and needs a little bit of polish especially his footwork,body control when going into the lane and positioning in rebound and defense. More controlled practice drills will do the trick . Hopefully the Heat will not waste time just letting him sit on the bench when he is not going to even play.

Last edited 20 days ago by Deadsori123
SunManFromDogBone

Our young guys (mostly second, third team and G League players) outplayed the Grizzlies first, second and third teams. It is clear that Ware should be in the rotation over Bryant. I also think Spo should use him in certain situations together with Bam. I think they can alternate playing PF and C.

Dru Smith makes a good back-up PG for the time being until JRich is ready to play. Larsson, Christopher, Johnson, Little, Pullin, Washington, etc., will benefit greatly by getting regular minutes playing in Sioux Falls when the G League season starts on November 9.

Overall, I see a 10 man rotation to start the season, as follows:
Rozier, Herro, Butler, Jovic, Bam
Smith, Robinson, Jaquez, Highsmith, Love (Richardson, Burkes & Bryant waiting in the wings)

Bout30man

Almost like we have too many players, especially when JRich returns. Would be nice to package a few of our youngsters with upside potential, specifically Larsen, Jovic, and maybe Highsmith (I included him as Little perhaps could fill his role), or even JJJ or Robinson, for one higher quality player to play the four. That’s why I liked that trade idea you came up with for Kuzma, especially because some of the rebuilding teams have incentive to unload a contract like that. Maybe there are other teams in similar situations, Chicago, Atlanta, the Nets maybe?, others too. On Jimmy’s last hurrah it would be nice as it seems like the trade is out there for us, and if we made a move, we could contend, if also graced with good health.

Last edited 20 days ago by Bout30man
SunManFromDogBone

Yup. We could use a 3:1 trade like the Kuzma one I proposed, especially with all our young up-and-coming up talent in the pipeline (e.g., Christopher, Johnson, Stevens, etc.).

Big_guy305

A lot of players played good, the warehouse outplayed edey, Christopher was good on both offense and defense. Little looks like decent 3 and d player. Dru Smith solidified his 2 way contract, Pelle struggled shooting early on, but didn’t let that phase his overall game, and looks like the best 2nd round pick we had since jrich.

ManilaHeat

Good showing with Heat young guns. Regular season here we go! Btw…warriors trashed lakeshow by 50+

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