The Miami Heat front office have finally received their overdue flowers in recent days. Their shocking acquisition of All-Star caliber Norman Powell was enough to turn heads around the league for the bargain price tag they used to get it done.
An underwhelming 10th seed Heat roster this past season was in serious jeopardy of “running it back” once again. Outside of the 20th overall draft selection of 19 year-old Kasparas Jakucionis, Miami was looking at a nearly identical roster that just got dismantled in a first-round series sweep at the beginning stages of this summer’s free agency.
Since then, they have made a Davion Mitchell re-signing official and then traded Duncan Robinson in a cost-cutting move for sharpshooting replacement Simone Fontecchio. Both of these moves were then followed up by the brilliant Powell trade for cheap.
But despite an A+ grade for their most recent deal, there’s still work that could be done. And Pat Riley needs to pounce.
Instead of going all in on the direction of youth, Powell’s addition to the roster brings a new sign of competitive life. All of a sudden, Miami has a formidable core around a potential starting lineup of Tyler Herro, Powell, Andrew Wiggins, Bam Adebayo and Kel’el Ware in a wide open Eastern Conference.
Even so, there’s still question marks that could make this team more formidable if solved. But the fate of that notion falls in the hands of Riley’s continued aggression.
The Miami Heat’s problems have been deeper than the lack of roster talent over the years.
Riley and the Heat front office have built a complacent reputation in recent years. Once known as an elite executive with a storied history of whale hunting, it’s seemed like the modern era of deal making has passed Riley by. A failed pursuit of Kevin Durant once again only proved so even more than ever.
However, Powell was a perfect bounce back target to flood optimism back into the fanbase. So what’s next for the Heat?
They are reportedly not done searching for upgrades. And they still have attractive trade chips remaining with Wiggins, Terry Rozier’s expiring salary and Jaime Jaquez Jr.— along with an open roster spot to now utilize.
On paper, Wiggins is still an attractive contributor to round out coach Erik Spoelstra’s revamped lineup. But availability concerns and fit both on and off the court proved otherwise last season.
If Riley can flip him into an effective wing that aligns better with the roster chemistry, this could somehow develop into the best Heat offseason since Jimmy Butler’s signing in 2019. After Kevin Love’s departure in the Powell trade, a backup big is now the newest necessity even after that, as well.
In hindsight, Miami could be just a couple of more moves away from being a legitimate playoff contender. It’s up to Riley and the front office to continue maximizing the opportunity to improve.
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While the drunken sailors fall for the call of the siren, I’ve been enjoying the quotes coming from Stormin’ Norman’s little presser. From his confidence, to how Wade text him a few weeks back, then again after being traded to the Heat. Cool, fun stuff.
kings add isaiah stevens to-two way deal.
I saw that but my man is at a huge disadvantage size-wise. I don’t expect an Isiah Thonas-like career. Celtics Isiah
From KJ regarding his stellar play in Cali.
“I think I need to just settle in more, play at my own pace, don’t get sped up too much as I was these three games,” Jakucionis said. “I didn’t feel myself in those games. But I think that’s normal. It’s a process, so I’m just happy to be here, happy to be able to learn from coaches, from other guys by working out, watching film and just understanding the game.”
Mature attitude. He’s young. Just turned 19. It will be a process that will take time. No rush as long as he shows consistent improvement.
Pelle and Keshad making All California Classic team. Only 4 teams, and two games played each, but still nice to see considering they are under contract.
Pelle Larsson (Heat): 16.5 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 2.0 APG, +17 (two games)
Keshad Johnson (Heat): 12.0 PPG, 6.5 RPG, 2.5 BPG, .563 FG% (two games)
I wish I could have a discussion, an honest, open one, on the Heat’s collection of one way players and how it relates to winning from a historical perspective.
But, discussion of this subject is often shut down, not tolerated, and for good reason. So, I will not go into it deeply and will use euphemism when referring to this topic. It’s too bad we can’t talk about it as Pat has gathered the largest collection of these type players anywhere outside of Europe and it’s that very difference between us and the rest of the league that is always the elephant in the room.
I want to win and I like to win utilizing all kinds of players. There is a place for every kind of player, if you have scintillating talent. But, this is also the hardest league of any, the most difficult to make it in. And, weaknesses get exposed quickly.
To win in this league, our team, if viewed from a historical perspective, still would need to pare down at least one or two of these one way players.
There, I said it. As Kurt Cobain once said, all apologies.
The Miami Heat’s defensive rating for the 2024-2025 NBA season was 112.9, according to StatMuse. This placed them as the 9th-best defensive team in the league. They had an offensive rating of 106.7, placing them 29th in the league. Their net rating was -19.1, ranking them 27th
I understand that interesting stat. It has to do with some players, not others, including a player no longer with us who was outstanding on defense and another great defender we picked up late last season. I stand by what I said. And it’s not just defense but bringing the ball upcourt also, and other subtleties of the game. I must admit I feel uncomfortable talking about this but it’s necessary in my mind. Thanks for taking my comments seriously.
Yk you can’t lmao they come with “analytics” instead of what we use our eyes for and you are correct. Pat has picked a lot of one way players, whether it’s from draft, another teams castoff or undrafted players. And in all honesty has just picked another one. Whom has made a whopping 1fg has more fouls and turnovers than he has points lmao. Lemme guess it’s just summer league he’s young give him time blah blah blah. Heard that as many times as I’ve heard “running it back” around here. But vj edgecombe is one of them ones was practicing as soon as he got drafted to Philly, I said that to say this. Mia wants their dwade but doesn’t want to do what they did to get him your franchises best player was picked 5th overall yet this team and fanbase is to prideful and won’t tank to get another wade. Instead picking in the teens and twenties is good I guess, yk your bam Tyler herros jjj jovic the new kid all complimentary players to actual ss type players which Mia would rather be mediocre sell false hope, whale hunt and fail because your greatest franchise player (picked 5th overall) isn’t around anymore.
With all due respect, we’ve had this discussion. Many times. We’ve had it honestly, and openly, just ask you describe. But it’s a boring one that doesn’t really hold water in the end. And I’ll bet a lot of us are just tired of retreading this well-worn ground that never goes anywhere. You talk about this idea more than I talk about Duncan Robinson.
You’re free to do what you want. But please don’t pretend you’re some kind of victim because people aren’t interested in your pet conspiracy theory.
I am not playing any type of victim. I didn’t mean to imply that. It is no conspiracy theory as the situation I described exists on our roster in comparison to everyone else’s in this league. It is well worn ground that has not gone anywhere because the situation has been going on for years now without change, to the detriment of our team, a team whose trajectory has been downward over the last two years. With due respect, I stand by my comments.
True. We know how some feel about this. It’s their prerogative to feel or believe what they want to. But repeating the same thing over and over gets tiresome and doesn’t change how anyone else feels. Same thing with those who repeatedly remind us that they dislike Spo, or Riley, or Herro, or Duncan. If I state that I don’t like sushi, most people will get it the first time or, at worst, the second time. If I wrote that on every thread, it would be excessive and silly.
How can you not like sushi? I don’t get that… 😉
It could still be moving when they hand me the plate. 😆 Although I admit I grew up eating clams on the half shell that were, um, neutralized seconds before I ate them.
Lest see, how those certain type of one way players arrived in Miami.
Tyler Herro, no 13 pick.. Notable players picked after him NAW, Poole, Johnson, Claxton,Gafford, Bol Bol.. al have worse career, and at least 7 players picked before him had worse career then him. Its safe to say that he should be around 5 pick.
Nico Jovic-no 27 draft… Notable players picked after him, Nembhard, Williams, Christie, Hardy had mostly similar career, and at least 10 players picked before him had worse career then him. Its safe to say that he should be around 15 pick.
JJJ, no 18 pick.. Notable players picked after him, Podziemski, Withmore, all but Podziemski have worse career, and he was 4th in NBA rookie of the year selection.
Dunc… undrafted… should be no lower then 20 pick.
Larsson 44 pick . Notable players picked after him, Bronny James. at least 20 players picked before him had worse career then him. Its safe to say that he should be around 25 pick.
Jakucionis-we dont know yet
Goldin-we dont know yet
Fonteccio-we dont know yet.
So, there are five certain type of players out of five, which performed better then they should according their pick. And we can hardly find any players picked behind them, to be any better then them.
That tells me something, at least two things:
-Miami Heat picked best players available, not certain type of players.
-Miami Heat picked players, worth much more than their draft number shows.
If those players are not good enough, is another thing. They might not be, at least majority of them. But Heat FO made a great job to pick those players with available picks.
Chicken salad out of chicken s**t.
Bon appetite :).
This may be my favorite comment from you of all time! You point out, without adding personal preferences or emotion, that in all the cases you cite, the Heat made a very reasonable selection. There are always times a player picked later turns out to be better (Giannis, Jokic, Maxey, Butler, etc). But, like you, I have also pointed out that the Heat picks seemed to be based on ability and turned out better than any number of players chosen above them.
Thank you.
It seems pretty obvious to me.
I would prefer to continue this discussion with a bit different topic, about how many of those players would be a part of contender level team.
That said, I believe, no more then two (out of eight).
Top comment! Beautiful
Thank you.
Yes, and valid comments, but it is by the accumulation of so many of these types of players that the issues become problematic.
If you can agree, that I was right and those were the best players and clearly better then others still available for picks Heat have, then the question is, why those players were still there, when Heat picked them.
Is there possible that 29 other teams FOs prefer to pick clearly worse players before those picked by Heat because what they are? All 29 of them?
I dont think so.
It must be something else.
I bet on bad scouting, preferring athletism over skills, maybe preferring having American players over other nations players.
Let’s get real here for just a second. Those comments are well thought out reasoning for sure. But, there is also the long history of the “American” (black) players usually performing better. That is the underlying reason why a Kaspar is picked later than expected. And, SL results from his first three games may have several opposing GM’s snickering at us. And now we have to wait three years to decide if Kaspar is for real. I hope we can all revisit this then. But, if it’s me, I take my flyer on what we will refer to as the two way player, a wing, which is what I said the day we picked Kaspar. I doubt any other player we picked would have KJ’s stat line after three SL games. So, it was, in my humble opinion, a very low percentage move, which many GM’s apparently agreed with. So, let’s come back to reality a little. This is the NBA, and not everyone makes it. And each number one pick matters, you can’t afford mistakes.
Yes, there is a lot of good black players, but they are usually picked before its Heats turn (with a exception of Bam, Ware, and Winslow).
Remember Justice? A prototype of a two way player, but unfortunately he couldn’t shoot , which is the reason that he is out of the league.
There is a lot of underlying reasons that things are as they are. One of I didn’t mentioned is, that European players are better trained then American ones skills wise, so there is often a comparison between an American player with potential (he is good, just to learn how to dribble, shoot, assist) or European player (he knows everything, but you cant learn how to jump).
KJ had a terrible start, that bad that’s almost ridiculous. But its easy to be seen, that he is a complete player, with everything he needs to be a solid, even good NBA player some day. If anything worries me, is that he is nervous, which affected his game. Some players can overcome that, some cant.
But of course he is not Flagg, Harper, VJ or Bailey, which will be stars very soon. Those players are available only tanking teams, which is not Miamis way. I fully accept the price for that, which is, that Heat can get via draft worse players then some other teams, including a bunch of one way white players, left to be late picks for whatever reason, although should be picked before.
Good response. And there is some validity to the fundamentals being taught more in Europe. But, KJ’s handles were the most concerning part of what he has shown so far. And, those fundamentals only carry you so far. Talent is always the arbiter of success and the quality American black players have only a little adjustment period before they have that aspect of the game down.
This argument again? I mean I find it funny that Pat seems to love acquiring players of a certain skin color, but there are good defensive white players, good offensive white players and well rounded white players.
Just because Herro isn’t a good defender, doesn’t mean Larsson isn’t or can’t be. Also one of our worst defenders (and he’s been bad most of his career) is Terry Rozier. His skin color doesn’t match Tyler’s.
OKC was a better defensive team with Alex Caruso and with Chet Holmgren, than without from at least a defensive perspective. Now neither of them are scoring 30 a game, but they are both capable offensively as well. Franz Wagner is a fairly complete player. Zubac is great defensively and a solid offensive player.
OKC and Boston both won titles recently with their fare share. Just saying.
Humorous that Pat seems to draft these kids? Sure, but automatically make them a offensive liability, defensive liability, or bad athlete? No.
Okc and Boston won because of the better athletes they have Jaylen brown Jayson Tatum sga and Jalen Williams star players 1a 1b players are why those teams won lmao has nothing to do with Caruso Pritchard Chet holmgren prozingus etc etc without those star players 1a 1b players neither team are evening sniffing a finals. Mia has neither but a bunch of complimentary players no 1a or 1b players that’s the problem. Pat keeps picking complimentary players because they are never in position to pick talented players because of the mediocre purgatory picks Pat keeps picking
I believe it’s fair to say that without Caruso’s defensive effort OKC likely wouldn’t get past Denver. I am not saying Caruso alone will win you a championship, but basketball is a team sport, and no star alone is going to win it all without the right role players.
You are free to question Pat’s way and question certain decisions, but 3 championships and 4 additonal nba finals in the last 20 years speak for themselves I guess. But it doesn’t mean we have to agree with every single step the front office does and we sure dont.
Yes Sharkey, both are correct. HHH4 is correct that OKC wouldn’t sniff a championship without Shai and Jalen. But they don’t win that championship without Caruso and Chet either.
Well said. Nobody can say Jokic is not good offensively and nobody can say Caruso is not good defensively. Are white people generally less athletic? Sure. But this statement alone doesn’t mean every white player is unathletic and bad defender. This is just prejudice IMO. Vagi had a great post comparing how well those players performed compared to their draft position.
At least we are discussing this and btw, everything you say is true. Havlicek was one of the best defensive players ever.
But, this subject is more nuanced than you guys are approaching it with your examples, because it is the accumulation of these players that causes the problems, not the individuals. We have one great athlete, the rarest of the rare, a total finesse white player with the skills and athleticism of the most highly skilled black players. It is a pleasure and an honor to root for Ty. But, the rest of our white players are middling talents, except possibly ,Pelle, which is ok in and of itself.. But, it is the accumulation of having so many in the rotation that hurts us, not just defensively, but in bringing the ball upcourt, in not being able to create their own offense, (with the exception of Ty), and in other subtleties of the game.
My concerns, to be quite specific, are about the accumulation of white players. I have no problem with three or even four, but not six. I stand by my comments.
So the Heat have drafted white players. Those players have proved to be solid players and taking into consideration the position from which they were drafted from, they turned out to be more or less the best players available. Would the Heat be in a better situation had they instead drafted non white players remaining at that stage of the draft? Such who turned out inferior or similar level players (see vagi’s post above, he’s done a pretty good summary)? I don’t think so.. But you may disagree, of course.
I think the point is the Heat under Riley will not tank and this means they rarely have high draft pick and they can only choose from what is available. And they try to steal the best player available overlooked by others (and succeed more often than not). It’s fair to question this aproach (although the results do support it imo). But my opinion is that concentrating on the players race is a mistake. It is not a characteristic defining how good this player is/can get.
I randomly chose the Herro draft, since he is discussed a lot here. Players chosen ahead of him that, imo, are not as good include Jarrett Culver (6), Jaxson Hayes (8), and Reddish (10). The 4 players immediately after him (14, 15, 16, 17) were Romeo Langford, Sekou Doumbouya, Chuma Okeke, and Nickeil Alexander-Walker. So it would seem the Heat chose well and took the best available player at that point, taking into account only the skill level and potential and nothing else.
As Vagibugi indicated, I feel confident that if I looked at the draft of those other players, I would find similar results.
So many on the board at the time wanted Sekou. Hilarious.
I disagree about Jovic, JJJ, and Kaspar. I agree on Herro.
Based on what? I took a quick look at the Jovic draft and saw at least 10 players picked above him that either aren’t as good or are strictly G league players. Look it up , no need to take my word for it. And to make a judgement on a just turned 19 year old player after 3 SL is, and as much as I like and respect you, absurd.
So, you would take Nembhard or Williams instead of Jovic? And Withmore instead of JJJ? And somebody else instead of KJ?
That a legit and understandable position.
Why dont you just say so and leave this white boys debate to rest? Anyway I predict half of them will be gone in a year or two, for sure not in trade for Luka or Jokic.
Yes, Nembhard and Whitmore for sure. No question about it. And the tall guy out of St. John’s or one of several talented guards, or wings, like the guy from Michigan State, over Kaspar. There were several better choices than Kaspar. It’s on these picks that Riley lets us down. He used to not make these mistakes.
I asked people at the time of the draft to name which player AT THAT POINT the Heat should’ve taken instead. I don’t think I got much response. It is totally bogus to complain after the fact.
And the reason why these players are overlooked is other GM’s take a pass on them. And, the answer to your comment at the end of your first paragraph is I do very much disagree. I do believe, very strongly in fact, that if the Heat did not take Jovic, JJJ and Kaspar with their picks, and took the best athlete, two way player available, the Heat would be a much better team today. That is not true of Tyler, as he is a rare, gifted athlete.
OKC had three. I have no problem with three. The Celtics were all second teamers except when Porzingus was available. Porzingus, when healthy, is a great player. But, the C’s are/were the closest example as they traded Porzingus. But, they don’t have six with two starting, and several in the rotation. assuming Jovic starts. What about Indiana, the Knicks, the TWolves?
They bring up these other teams with those type players as an excuse then use other teams as an excuse as to why Mia shouldn’t tank. Sitting up here bringing up complimentary players aka the type of players Mia keeps drafting and comparing them to defensive minded players like Caruso or players picked high and in the draft/number one picks Chet and prozingus. Mia keeps drafting the same player since they’ve drafted Tyler Herro just different heights
There are several young players on cheap rookie contracts who still need to be given time to demonstrate if they can be two-way players.
There are veteran players who have already demonstrated that they are not strong two-way players.
Hopefully, as part of Riley’s housecleaning and retooling processes, Miami can, to the extent possible, get rid of the one way players. Note: Many high scorers in the NBA are not good defenders.
The trade for Powell was impressive. The Clippers and ourselves fleeced Danny Ainge. We are still a player away. And we veer towards making the mistake of trading the wrong players and weakening our team more than helping. Trading Wiggins, especially, and even Rozier, who has a definite chance for a bounce back, would not help us as much as trading Herro. Herro is exactly who should go due to his contract alone. I also think we have too many one way players. He would bring back something of real value too.
Speaking of one way players, our new guy Kaspar has been Bronny James last year bad in the summer league. At best, he is nowhere near ready for this year. At worst, he is a bust. Oh yeah, we will have those who shout, it’s just three summer league games, give the guy a chance. And that is true. But, he has been fish out of water bad.
Further, it takes infinitely more courage to criticize our bad moves or advocate for trading a beloved player than just being a cheerleader. We should appreciate those with the courage to point out the best path towards winning. I am not saying I know better than Pat, as that would be absurd to think. He is probably working on another deal right now we could never even imagine. And he needs to make another deal as now, after getting Powell, we are close to competing again. What I am saying is those with a willingness to critique want to win as much as anyone here.
Go Heat!
I find it interesting that you said KJ has been Bronny last year bad so far. And that is true. I have tried to recall if I’ve ever seen a worse stat line than what he had last night. So bad, I actually had to laugh. Then you say there are those who will point out it’s only 3 summer league games. But while I have not seen much of Bronny this summer, from what I’ve seen and heard, he’s been looking a lot better. So maybe patience is really a virtue. This kid turned 19 5 weeks ago. Like you said, he looks pretty overwhelmed. But as I’ve stated before, making a judgement about a player in 1 week, 1 month, or even 1 year, is potentially fool’s gold.
Bronny had a trash game yesterday and looked pretty brutal.
Also, not to make excuse for KJ, but man are those Cali games coma inducing. I think we could see some better stats in Vegas when there is more sizzle, which brings upt he energy level of everyone. Even Ware was going through the motions those first two games, so same goes for him.
And now we do have to wait at least a year because patience is indeed indicated with Kaspar. But, the descriptions of this great athlete who surprisingly fell to the Heat at twenty, also comes into question. If Kaspar wasn’t so young, I would say this is not the kind of early results a player of this type of hype would likely achieve. But, at nineteen years old, we must forgive. Still, an auspicious start for this player, no doubt.
I went against the grain and got a lot of flack for questioning this pick. I am also getting dissed for wanting less “one way” players, saying 3-4 is what we should have, not 6. I also called for trading Ty, a player I love, because his contract is wrong for us. I will take the Heat because I love this team. I can take it.
Go Heat!
“I am also getting dissed for wanting less “one way” players, saying 3-4 is what we should have, not 6. I also called for trading Ty, a player I love, because his contract is wrong for us. I will take the Heat because I love this team. I can take it.“
You aren’t alone in this my friend, we can have our opinions just like anyone else around here. No team has won with that many w/o superstars/mvp type high level stars. Majority of the picks and one way players we have are complimentary pieces of the same player (Herro) has been this way since he was drafted here, just different sizes but ultimately the same players……jjj more college experienced herro, jovic euro herro/taller/inexperienced herro, larsson Swedish herro only diff is nationality, the new kid see jovic/larsson again same player honestly
This is a very fair take on this issue, and I fully agree we need that spark of a solid A or A+ player. The team hasn’t had a leading player since the first 2 or 3 years of Butler.
Pacers went from contender to maybe middle of the pack or even tank mode. I read Jokic waiting for next year to sign another contract. Hmmm…..🤔🙄😉
I thought the same thing on Joker. Hmm. Interesting.
Gotta be honest, I don’t see Wiggins as an attractive trade asset. But sure, I’d love to see the Heat spin Wiggins, Rozier, an expiring contract, and a couple picks into a Pascal Siakam level player.