The 2024-25 Miami Heat season has ended after getting mercifully swept by the Cleveland Cavaliers. The offseason is officially upon us!
Miami finished with its worst record since 2014-15, trading away their franchise star in a season mired by drama, inconsistency and #guts™. There are plenty of questions to ask regarding the current and future state of this team, and I know I won’t get to all of them. Let’s dive into a few of them…
1.) Which Heat players are still under contract?
As of right now, there are currently eight players on guaranteed contracts for the 2023-24 season, accounting for roughly $124 million.
They have $82 million tied up elsewhere to players on different options and partially guaranteed contracts. Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Keshad Johnson have team contracts for nearly $6 million; Pelle Larsson has a partially guaranteed contract that gets picked up for $2 million.
Duncan Robinson has a partially guaranteed Early Termination Option that he has until June 29 to exercise. Only $9.9 million is guaranteed–which becomes fully guaranteed on July 8. Terry Rozier’s partially guaranteed contract is 95 percent of the way guaranteed, so he will be on the books for at least $25 million next season.
Here are the 13 players on contract:
- Bam Adebayo — $37.1M
- Tyler Herro — $31M
- Andrew Wiggins — $28.2M
- Terry Rozier — $26.6M; partially guaranteed
- Duncan Robinson — $19.9M; Early Termination Option
- Kyle Anderson — $9.2M
- Haywood Highsmith — $5.6M
- Nikola Jovic — $4.4M
- Kel’el Ware — $4.4M
- Kevin Love — $4.2M
- Jaime Jaquez Jr. — $3.9M; team option
- Pelle Larsson — $2.0M; partially guaranteed
- Keshad Johnson — $2.0M; team option
2. Who are their free agents?
In addition to their three two-way players, the Miami Heat will have two free agents: Davion Mitchell (restricted) and Alec Burks (unrestricted).
Mitchell, 26, was acquired by the Heat in the five-team Jimmy Butler blockbuster. He was spectacular for the Heat upon arriving, averaging 10.3 points, 5.3 assists and 1.4 steals on 50.4 percent shooting, including 44.7 percent from 3-point range (3.1 3PA) and 70.2 percent from the free-throw line.
This year will be Mitchell’s first as a free agent, represented by Ty Sullivan (CAA Sports). He will have a $19.4 million cap hold, a placeholder that will go away once he signs a new contract–whether it’s with the Heat or another franchise.
Burks signed with Miami last year on a one-year veteran minimum. The veteran guard wasn’t always in the rotation. But when he was, he was a clear net positive. The 14-year veteran averaged 7.3 points on 42.5 percent from 3-point range in 49 games this season–including 14 starts.
3. Predicting which free agents get brought back (as of April 18)
I’ll have a column on this at some point. But as of right now, I think the Heat re-signs both Mitchell and Burks if I had to guess.
4.) Are there any Heat players who are extension-eligible? If so, who?
Miami will have four players become extension eligible this offseason: Tyler Herro, Andrew Wiggins, Terry Rozier and Nikola Jovic, who’s completing his third NBA season.
I’m not in the front office, but I highly doubt it re-signs Rozier. As of right now, I also don’t expect them to extend Wiggins, who has two years left on his contract after 2024-25.
Miami has been open about wanting to keep the summer of 2026 open, though free agency is dead in the modern day. His $30.2 million player option in 2026-27, his age-31 season, will have value, as it only accounts for 17.7 percent of the cap.
This was Wiggins’ least healthy season of his career. He doesn’t have a real injury history track record outside of a right adductor injury that forced him to miss 15 games in 2022-23. However, he only appeared in barely half of the Heat’s 33 available games post-trade due to multiple lower-body injuries. He’s in his physical prime and none of them were alarming soft-tissue injuries (i.e. torn ACL), so I’m not worried about them long-term.
The discussion about Jovic’s extension is the most fascinating because of his recent injury history. He missed most of his rookie season due to a back injury; he suffered a bad ankle sprain last summer and broke his second metacarpal in his hand in February.
The 6-foot-10 wing was playing the best basketball of his career up until his most recent injury. For the season, he averaged 10.7 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.8 assists. Jovic, 21, could bet on himself and play out the final year of his rookie contract or sign a smaller-than-expected deal for long-term security.
5. So, what about Tyler Herro’s extension?
There’s no doubt that Tyler Herro had the best season of his career and has improved each season of his career. He made the All-Star team for the first time in his career and completely modified his shot profile for the betterment of the offense (even if it didn’t collectively improve).
That said, Herro’s efficiency–both as a shot-maker and playmaker–dipped as the season went on. He was a target for offenses in the postseason once again and couldn’t create much offense against the opposing team’s worst defenders more often than not.
Herro, 25, will be eligible to sign a three-year extension worth $150 million in early October, beginning at $46.2 million. His contract right now takes up 20.6 percent of the cap; over the next two seasons, it will account for 20.1 percent and 19.4 percent, respectively. If he gets extended for the full $50 million per year, his new deal would take up 24.7, 24.2 and 23.7 percent of the cap over those three seasons, respectively.
Combine the latter with Adebayo, and they’re taking up nearly 55 percent of the cap. As we transition into this next build, there are serious questions that need to be asked. Will Herro make enough growth to justify him and Adebayo taking up 55 percent of the cap? Will Herro consider taking less to have some more flexibility to grab another star?
Personally, I don’t think extending him for any amount is worth it because neither he nor Bam is good enough to lead you to a title. This won’t be the first time I say this: Learning from your own mistakes is important! If the Heat don’t think they should extend Herro, explore the trade market and strike while the iron is hot! If they do extend him, they better have a dang good plan to supplement the rest of the roster.
6. How did each rookie play this season?
At the time of the draft, my official grades for Kel’el Ware and Pelle Larsson were B and A- selections, respectively.
It’s hard not to be intrigued by how Ware’s rookie season went. He entered the starting lineup in January and didn’t look back–even though there were still bumps on the road. Those around the organization continuously praised his ability to process information and learn from his mistakes.
He was one of the most talented bigs in his respective draft class, though the reason why many (including myself) had questions surrounding his motor. When the screws are tightened, he pops off the page–figuratively and literally.
He developed into Miami’s best rim-running vertical spacer and rebounder with above-average rim protection. One of my favorite traits about him is his hands. Throw it anywhere within a 10-foot radius and he’s catching it if he shows the “want to.”
The same can’t quite be said for Larsson, who was out of the rotation for most of the season. Miami had a crowded–albeit average–wing room.
His physicality (despite the fouls), raw instincts, connective playmaking and cutting were always there. However, the Swedish rookie struggled to consistently make shots. He improved late in the season, but it was still an up-and-down season in that area.
7. What does each young player need to improve?
I’ll expand my thoughts in a later article, but so we can keep it moving and succinct, let’s list one thing that each must improve:
- Nikola Jovic: In-between game offensively
- Jaime Jaquez Jr.: 3-point shooting consistency
- Kel’el Ware: Strength
- Pelle Larsson: Shooting consistency
- Keshad Johnson: Ball-handling
- Isaiah Stevens: Shooting mechanics (he developed a hitch; no bueno)
- Josh Christopher: Shooting consistency
8. Which draft picks do the Heat own?
This offseason will be very important for the Miami Heat. By making the playoffs, they lost out on their own pick that had the 11th-best odds in the 2025 NBA Draft, conveying to Oklahoma City–though it prevented them from automatically locking out two future picks (2026, 2028).
The only other pick it owned was Golden State’s pick due to the Jimmy Butler trade. The Warriors finished 48-34, tied with the Milwaukee Bucks and Memphis Grizzlies. Upon the conclusion of the regular season, the pick was positioned to finish anywhere from 18-20. But as a result of a random drawing, the Warriors’ pick finished dead last, meaning it dropped to No. 20.
Making the playoffs (and preventing two picks from being locked) has value, sure. But, personally, the feeling of having two picks–including one just outside the top-10–to just one at 20 is underwhelming, I won’t lie.
Here’s each of the Heat’s first-round picks in the 20s throughout their franchise’s history:
- 2022: Nikola Jovic (No. 27 overall)
- 2020: Precious Achiuwa (20)
- 2005: Wayne Simien (29)
- 1999: Tim James (25)
- 1997: Charles Smith (26)
- 1988: Kevin Edwards (20)
9. What are some names to look out for?
Over 80 players declared as early entrants over the weekend. Here are a few names to look out for:
- Rasheer Fleming, F, St. Joseph’s
- Carter Bryant, F, Arizona
- Ben Saraf, G, Israel
- Nique Clifford, G/F, Colorado State
- Jase Richardson, G, Michigan State
- Liam McNeeley, F, UConn
- Nolan Traore, G, France
- Thomas Sorber, F/C, Georgetown
- Labaron Philon, G, Marquette
- Boogie Fland, G, Arkansas
- Tahaad Pettiford, G, Auburn
- Walter Clayton Jr., G, Florida
- Kam Jones, G, Marquette
- Danny Wolf, F/C, Florida
- Asa Newell, F/C, Georgia
- Egor Demin, G, BYU
10. What’s next for this build?
That’s a convoluted question because this can go in multiple directions. I don’t have the direct answers right now–other than change is needed. I can’t tell you where or how, but change is needed. No more #RunningItBack™, please.
On one hand, they can look to build around Adebayo and Herro, should he sign an extension for less than the max or completely hold off until the summer of 2026. They can try to consolidate some of their big money contracts (Wiggins, expirings (Rozier, Robinson) and young players (Jovic, Ware, etc.) plus any of the three tradable picks (on draft night only) for another star (if one becomes available) around Herro and Adebayo.
On the other hand, they can look to “re-tool” (they’re never going to rebuild, let’s be honest) and collect future assets and prioritize cap space for the 2026 offseason. That would mean trading Wiggins, potentially Herro and others to the highest bidder while refusing to pay any of its young players minus Kel’el Ware, who will be extension eligible after the 2026-27 season.
Miami can also look to do a little bit of both, even though they would have to attach assets to get off, say, Terry Rozier. I guess the real questions interwoven in between the aforementioned question are: How many future assets will this organization be willing to part with to repair a stationary ship? And how will these players or assets that are (potentially) received in any consolidation affect their short- and long-term future, whether they’re kept or parlayed into something larger?
What’s the cost of going for a star or retooling around your two best players? What’s the give and take? And how do their possible moves allow them to maintain flexibility not only below the second apron, but below the luxury tax if that’s a goal (so repeater tax is avoided)? Miami needs to consolidate to have more roster and rotation clarity, but it needs to be done so wisely so there’s sustained success not only for next year, but for future seasons.
11. Should the Heat prioritize Kevin Durant, another “whale”?
The worst-kept secret around the NBA is that Kevin Durant has likely played his last game with the Phoenix Suns. The Miami Heat have continually been involved in the conversation for Durant–dating back to the summer of 2016 when he was thinking about leaving Oklahoma City (he joined Warriors instead).
While Durant is still a good player would inarguably help Miami in the shot creation department, I don’t think they should go this route. I know I’m in the minority. I also know that Pat Riley is 80-years-old and is more urgent than the rest of us.
But let’s be honest: Miami is more than a Kevin Durant away. If the price is anywhere near where it was at the deadline, it’s not worth it. Even then, Durant is on an expiring deal and will likely want a two-year extension for north of $55 million per year. The 17-year veteran will be entering his age-37 season in 2025-26 and, assuming you pay him that kind of money, you’re going to have to part with both Andrew Wiggins and (best two-way wing) and Tyler Herro (best non-Adebayo player) in some way to keep some sort of flexibility.
Houston also makes way more sense if Phoenix’s main goal is financial flexibility. Their best expiring contract (Fred VanVleet) is better than any of the Heat’s; their young core is better, they have far more assets to move and, frankly, they’re far closer to contention than the Heat. Oh, and guess who has the Suns’ picks in 2025, 2027 and 2029? Houston.
You trade for Kevin Durant if you’re one piece away, not if you’re several, like the Heat. It’s incredibly difficult to win if you’re top-heavy in today’s NBA without a good supporting cast. The Suns and new owner Mat Ishbia learned the hard way. Now look at them. Miami was at least one piece away for the last three years with Jimmy Butler. Why would that be any different with Durant? The gap isn’t that much greater to justify that, if at all.
There’s value in learning from your own mistakes. There’s even more value in learning from other people’s mistakes.
That said, if Giannis Antetokounmpo becomes available, practically anything should be on the table.
12. Are there any positives to take away from this season?
There are always some positives, especially over the course of a full 82 (and then some). Let’s go over them!
- Tyler Herro responded to Pat Riley’s criticism last year and grew as much as he ever has year-to-year.
- Kel’el Ware surpassed expectations, grew into a full-time starter alongside Adebayo
- Davion Mitchell burst through the gate as the Heat’s best point-of-attack defender while being one of their best knockdown shooters and playmakers
- Pre-injury Nikola Jovic continued to showcase improvement as a shooter, defender and decision-maker
- Bam Adebayo’s 3-point shooting!
- Heat were a top-9 offense and a top-5 defensive rebounding team
13. Moments that we forgot happened this season that happened
As I’ve said more times than once, this season has felt like three seasons jumbled into one. There were a few moments–both good and bad–that happened that we may have forgotten because of how excruciatingly long it was:
- “You sound scared” soundbite from media day.
- Erik Spoelstra’s timeout debacle against Pistons.
- Kel’el Ware outplaying Victor Wembanyama.
- Heat dismantling LeBron James, Lakers by 41 points.
- Orlando outscoring Heat 37-8 in fourth quarter (thanks, Cole Anthony).
- Thomas Bryant getting traded as soon as he was eligible.
- Jaime Jaquez Jr.’s face when he heard Butler got traded.
- Tyler Herro winning the 3-point contest.
- Bam Adebayo’s game-winner against Spurs.
- Adebayo breaks Rony Seikaly’s double-double record.
There are probably others that I forgot to list, too. It was a long season.
14. How does Heat not become a bottom-10 offense for a third-straight year?
At some point, it will come down to improving the overall talent around the roster. Spoelstra’s exhausted every last option and it didn’t bear any fruit. This is what happens when you lack a true facilitating guard who can organize an offense, which is a dying breed in today’s NBA.
That said, I think Miami should consider bringing in an offensive-minded assistant to help add more layers to the playbook. Better talent will obviously be the most important thing, but Spoelstra’s Heat teams have never produced great offenses outside of the Big 3. Their process has continuously been out of flux and disorganized in the halfcourt. Defense wins championships, but great offense beats great defense in the modern day.
Whatever happens, change is needed.
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The players’ strengths and weaknesses we already knew. I said that during the play-in tournament, and the risk of injuries was real and not worth exposing the players for the playoff. Apparently the players wanted to be in the play off according to Tyler Herro’s post conference interview after the game 3 loss.
Well, the playoff games further highlighted the strengths and weaknesses of the players and team. Having lost Games 3 and 4 by 21 and 50 points margins. I strongly believe that some players may quietly be more willing and less resistant to be traded off to a more competitive team next season than coming back to this team.
In a nutshell this might be a blessing for the front office who will be more emboldened to lay any tradeable asset on the table that they were reluctant to do in the past.
For the players, I will say you asked for it. You will not have placed your selves in this precarious situation if you had not got yourselves into the playoff( Good side of it, there were no injuries which I had feared).
Remember: What the elders see coming, the young will not see it standing on the hill top.
We all need a breathe of fresh air moving forward.
This is a tough one, because at the end of last year, there was pretty unanimous consensus on HHH that the Jimmy Butler Era was over for the Heat; it was time to trade Jimmy and start the rebuild. The management had other ideas, and we all saw how that worked out.
Now they’re stuck with Andrew Wiggins contract, which puts them another year away from having cap space. What’s worse, the team is just kinda boring. Forget about wins and losses, I probably watched less Heat basketball this year than I have since the bubble run, because the team just wasn’t fun to watch. They can’t possibly run it back again.
Unfortunately, they’re going into this offseason with a worse version of the same team they had at the start of last offseason. Wiggins is not nearly the trade chip that Jimmy would have been last offseason. Rozier is probably untradeable. Jaquez and Jovic both slumped this past season. It’s tough sledding all around.
As usual, I still trust Riley and Spo and the front office in general. They’ve had too much success, and rebuilt the roster too many times for me to say they can’t do it again. But they really let me down last offseason, standing pat when we could all see they needed to make a change. Hopefully they don’t waste next season the same way they wasted last season.
Drastic changes needed. Everything should be on the table. Every player expendable. Riley should officially step down. Pat’s “shut your mouth” fiasco with Jimmy screwed up Heat in every way possible and Heat paid dearly for what he got in return. Communicating behind closed doors vs a public rant would’ve been the most effective way. Riley’s pattern pissed off LeBron, Wade eventually … whereas Wade really was the one who influenced both LeBron and Butler to come to Miami. Next… Spo’s offense is non existent…what the hell was that? No wonder Jimmy wanted out. Spo has zero offensive vision. Perfect point puffing scenario for Herro with his ensuing contract. Sorry…Bam hoisting 3’s are an opposing team win. Also…Heat’s draft picks are not any better than most teams. Just to name several they whiffed on Dorrel Wright over Jameer Nelson, Justine Hamilton over Draymond Green, Acheiwa over Maxey plus stupid signings like Lowry and Rozier. Can’t wait for Riley’s end of season presser.
I agree that having the conversation behind closed doors, but Butler had already half assed it that season before Riley made his remarks. He took a day off after attending a tennis match, as well as other days for reasons unknown. In retrospect, the issue turned out to be Riley not giving him the extension he wanted. I’m not judging whether Butler was wrong to be upset, but it was all about the money.
ty is a greatly improved player i dont thinku can win with him though.he lets as many pts in as he scores .bam is a keeper cause of his d the major thing that needs to be done is get bam and ware to work
To me it’s simple – this off season needs to be about starting a rebuild. They cannot commit to anymore long term contracts. They need to oust Duncan and save the $10M they can by waiving him.
They need to trade any player than can with a longer term deal for an expiring contract, and any draft capital they can accumulate.
Then they need to play the kids.
We can talk about how they have pieces, but honestly the cupboard is pretty bare. Bam Adebayo is going to start earning $50M a year in 2026-27. He goes from being a valuable asset to a negative contract at that point, so if they can off load his deal, while he’s still a respected defender and leader, it would make sense. Herro might have some increased value based on his solid contract and improved season, but not many teams are going to commit long term assets for a one dimensional player.
I know rooting for a Wizard’s like season feels bad, but to me, it’s the only logical path forward.
Paying Bam $50M, when he’s a number three. Re-upping Tyler again to a similar deal to Bam’s, when he’ll seemingly always give up as many points as he scores if he’s playing a decent starter, would be a scary long term mistake.
Time to re-build, the Jimmy Butler years are over.
no wizards season i need to talk with rc every heat night and that will not happen if we become the bullets
Great article. Pat Riley’s urgency to stay relevant is his own ego talking and not in the best interests of the Heat organization anymore. The never rebuild, false hubris about Heat Culture, it all has been taken to its logical extreme and has left this organization in a shambles, closer to the bottom than the top. The Butler saga was Pat’s Waterloo, the hill his legacy died on, and he should take his accolades and head for the exit before the hard work of fixing a team that is closer to the bottom than the top can commence. Good bye Pat, may we remember your eras of major success, and try to forget the bumbling, ineffectual meanderings of the present.
Harsh words? Or just simple truth? I don’t really know the answer to that question. But since I would be surprised if he steps down, we’ll see what he can do to fix this mess. The quitter saga his Waterloo? I would agree with that only if we mean (as I said at the time) he should’ve traded him when the writing was on the wall, in February 2024. It was clear quitter wasn’t giving full effort in the first half of the season. Quitter lied about money and the extension not being important to him. I agree Riley should’ve seen it and traded him then. His value was high at the time, and we probably could have gotten 2-3 first round picks and a good player or 2. As we can see now by quitter’s accomplishments with GS, he had the ability to help his team at that point, but he chose not to.
Pat’s been washed for a minute. We can talk about the run with Jimmy Butler, but other than luck boxing his way into the 76ers making a franchise altering mistake, with Wade and Butler crossing paths in Chicago, Riley’s been down and out since LeBron left.
Over-Paid hometown guys like Tyler Johnson, James Johnson, Dion Waiters, Hasaan Whiteside, Duncan Robinson. Traded valuable picks for Dragic (who we all enjoyed, but it was under the idea that, the Heat were going to compete for a title), Lowry, Rozier. He’s had an issue with over-rating his roster for a decade at this point. Thinking they are a piece away or that this over-performing guys are going to maintain these unexpected performance levels.
You can point to his improved draft record if you like – he did hit on some middle first round picks like Bam, Herro and maybe Ware. So I’ll give him credit for that, but even then he’s missed some obvious players to fans and media, like taking Precious over Maxey or over-drafting Jaime.
Lastly he just locked up his head-coach to an insane long term deal.
All in all, Micky should have fired Pat a while back, but the Jimmy Butler trade kind of saved his aura for a minute. After that blew up in Pat’s face, I’m not sure what Micky can point too.
2025 – 8th seed (really 10th)
2024 – 8th seed (really 7th)
2023 – 8th seed
2022 – 1st seed
2021 – 6th seed
2020 – 5th seed
2019 – DNQ
2018 – 6th seed
2017 – DNQ
2016 – 3rd seed
2015 – DNQ
That’s a pretty long stretch for a team considered elite or a piece away to be in the bottom half of the playoff bracket on a pretty consistent basis.
Yes, I have mentioned those exact same poor contracts. However, Jaquez wasn’t horrible. There were only 2 players chosen after him in the first round that were probably, or definitely, better choices – Podziemski and Whitmore. All 3 have similar career numbers.
Although I think more highly about Herro than others, I think the next mistake to be avoided would be offering him any kind of contract extension.
If he doesn’t step down and continues insisting on “running it back” and “whale hunting” the Miami Heat will lose fans and many games without improving. I saw it happen to Phoenix after Dragic left. Pat is 80 years old. How long does he want to keep doing this, until he’s 90 or 100? WTF?
hes mickeys best friend hes paid very well,i guarantee u put more hours into this then pat.any guy that gives duncan 6years 90 million doesnt know wtf they are doing plus lots of other terrible contracts.can we start a petition to fire pat on hhh
It was a little harsh. But, what I am saying is the needs of the Heat are more important than a GM’s timeline. Everything has to be taken into account, the age of the players, the contracts, the draft capital, and most of all, the abilities, fairly and rationally assessed, of the talent on the roster, and how far we are from contention. If the GM’s timeline (or ego) is in the way of taking the best possible course of action, then the GM is doing a disservice.
As bad it seems right now, the path forward should be more evolution then revolution. Sell out of the players wouldn’t make thing better. Getting a whale wont help much and would probably ended up as Suns did.
So, I believe, the right way forward should be:
-keep all young players and play them heavily next season, especially Ware, Jovic, Pelle, JJJ, the pick guy, no matter what.
-get rid of as many vets as possible, but not with sell out.
-sign Mitchell.
-Sign another vet point guard as one year rental or bring back Dru. A lot o of the problems this year comes from lack of playmaking.
-keep Herro and Bam for now.
This means another bad season, but there should be fun watching young players developing.
In the summer of 2026 full retool should be carried and all options should be on the table.
I liked what I saw from Mitchell, but I’m personally of the opinion that this team cannot commit anymore dollars to mid level guys who excel here. It doesn’t end up well. Davion it was fun (not really, but he played better than expected), but go get your bad elsewhere.
He is the only player on the team who consistently and effectively gives 100% on both sides of the ball. He’s durable, younger, positive attitude, team player and improving the more he starts and plays with Miami. The Heat can’t afford to lose players like him while keeping players who are a waste of money. Until someone better comes along, who do you propose starting at PG…Jovic?
I’m not looking for Miami to be competitive. I ask you what do you do with 6’8 three point shooters? Or 6’4 elite defenders? Or 7 foot rebounding and block machines.
Miami has over and over over-rated and over paid players.
Tyler Johnson
Josh Richardson
Hassan Whiteside
James Johnson
Dion Waiters
Duncan Robinson
Haywood Highsmith
You folks talking about giving Davion a bag, also wanted to keep these guys. To me it’s simple, next year should be a year we lean into sucking, and try and right the ship with a high draft pick and some cap space the following season.
Miami was 12-24 in the games Mitchell played including the playoffs. He was a +9 overall which is impressive on a bad team, but let’s not pretend he’s a star. He’s on his 3rd team in 4 years since being drafted. He’s also almost 27. This isn’t a 21 year old who is going to grow into a star. He is what he is. Sure it’s good, but it’s not great, and it’s not good enough to help Miami win. Let someone else pay him.
Remember when Gabe Vincent played some feisty defense and started for Miami? Hell those teams won. You want his contract?
I can’t speak for others here, but the only person on your list that I was okay with is Highsmith. I was against every other contract. And to top it off, making Johnson captain!
Good comments. What I think is that we Heat fans sometimes don’t have the long term perspective of what they used to call Eastern Seaboard teams, who have seen every permutation of success and failure and know that there are times you retool and times you go for a minor rebuild and times you tear it all down. And you can’t just have a philosophy of never tanking because it eventually boxes you into some formula resembling the Miami Heat’s position right now.
And eventually, you go into your own little self fulfilling downward spiraling pattern that resembles the Phoenix Suns situation. It is up to the GM to be able to assess personnel matters clearly and make the appropriate moves on the chess board that will get us back into contention. What I am trying to say is If the GM has only one answer to the direction a team must take, they eventually hinder the teams chance to return to contention.
I am saying, it’s time for a new direction, and maybe yes, a tank, if that will help more than just trying to retool when the team is probably at least three players away, and two of the three being hard to acquire A+ to A talent. Other teams take this route, take their lumps, and return to contention, often in three years. Sometimes a tank is truly the best option.
The Heat have been making due out of developing late 1st round, 2nd round and undrafted players, and a damn good job of it. You just don’t let a lottery talent like Mitchell go, especially in a position of need. Worst case, he’s clearly a rotational player at PG. Best case, he continues to develop and is our PG of the future, or becomes a valuable asset in a trade for a star.
I agree on Mitchell. A 2 year contract with a team option at around $10 million a year would be reasonable in today’s NBA. If another team wants to pay him more, they should let him go.
Major shake up I guess. For now rest and recover. Every player, coaching staff and the fo needs to think deeply what to do next. Meanwhile, us fans watch in envy as other teams “have fun” in these playoffs. Sigh
Spoelstra my only request is that if we must be mediocre can you please lock yourself in a cabin in oregon or wherever and spend and entire summer revamping the offense? At least it would be something with a different flavor
Getting a true point guard and end of playmaking by committee could fix a lot of issues.
No offence for Mitchell, he brings a lot on the table, but playmaking is not his strong side. He shouldn’t start.
Show me who Miami has that is better, then we can discuss.
The truth is we don’t have as many good choices as we would like. The only good thing about getting humiliated by Cleveland is you get to see the team’s weaknesses and shortcomings that are not exposed by the middling teams.
Mitchell is the best option to start… for now. He played better then Wiggins in the playoffs, he is still young, can still get better, he has a career high 3pt acc, and increased his playmaking from last season. Not to mention POA defense. Think what we really need is a true number 1 scorer/clutch finisher. You want a true pg? Well those are hard to get nowadays. We gotta either trade for morant, (who i believe can fit as that true scorer/true pg) Murray, or even trae as a last resort since he is a liability on D. We can’t draft one at our range, unless you wanna take a shot on egor if he drops,which i doubt or Walter Clayton Jr., For free agency probably only got enough cash to try and resign Mitchell. unless we get off contracts scary terry,dunk,love etc.
That’s how I see it too. I love Mitchell and want him on my team, but his playmaking skills are not his forte. I see him ideally as a seventh man off the bench who can also be used in the fourth quarter.
I will add that in the past, I have been very critical of Spo. However, I must confess that he has been an exceptional coach working with the hand he has been dealt with. I am glad that you did not suggest a coach change in this article, the future is not predictable. As they say no position is permanent. This is not tacitly calling for a coach change.
Who knows that change might actually happen. I love Spo but the team comes first. We will see
I agree. I am not calling for Spo to leave either, unless he gets moved up to GM. To my perception, the biggest problem we have now is at the GM position.