Find someone who loves as much as the Miami Heat organization loves Dru Smith.
In case you may have missed it, the Heat signed Smith to a three-year, $7.9 million deal on Saturday — one day after freeing up another roster spot in the Haywood Highsmith trade. Smith, who will turn 28 in December, has suffered two consecutive season-ending knee injuries and has played just 38 career games since making his debut in 2022.
Miami has waived and subsequently signed Smith, an undrafted free agent in 2021, several times. He’s a very good point-of-attack defender and has developed as an offensive player. But he’s still raw and, once again, has played just 38 — yes, THIRTY-EIGHT — games with a lengthy injury history after three NBA seasons.
The Heat have an overabundance of guards in the mix, so I’m not sure where Smith fits — barring a trade. But it’s quite funny — and objectively heartwarming, from Smith’s perspective — how much this organization adores him.
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I read that Dru is way ahead of schedule with his rehab and has already been playing some one on one. Article also said he should be playing 5 on 5 very soon. Very good news.
Here is the link…
https://www.si.com/nba/heat/miami-heat-s-dru-smith-ahead-of-schedule-close-to-playing-5-on-5-01k2zg953pcx
great news who starts dav or dru.prob dav making more $$
I think the plan is for Herro to start at PG, Powell SG, Wiggins SF, Bam PF and Ware C.
That would likely leave Mitchell PG, Larsson SF, Jaquez SF, Jovic PF and Fontecchio or Goldin C as second unit rotation, with Smith in reserve.
I think the reason Heat got rid of Highsmith was not only to get under the luxury tax limit but to also give Jaquez, Jovic, Larsson and Johnson the opportunity to fight for a rotation position and possibly a future starting spot.
herros not a pg.he has score first mentality.thats his dna need either dru or dav in there to guard the brunsons maxeys of the world.herros best role would be as a sixth man to limit his minutes so hes fresh for the playoffs.he either gets hurt or worn down every year.when his legs are fresh he is very hard to guard..with your lineup theres no punch off the bench.
Last year, it was Ware needs to start from day 1. I said it’s not gonna happen and you gave me a ton of pushback. Of course, Ware didn’t start from day 1. Like many felt, I don’t think they should’ve waited 40 games to get him in there.
I agree with you that Herro is not a point guard. But do you really think that he is not going to start? Once again, I will have to say that’s not gonna happen.As we have seen from different sources, the likely lineup will be Herro, Powell, Wiggins, Bam, and Ware. The only way I see Herro not starting at the beginning of the season is if he is hurt or traded. However, I would agree that if the Heat are ahead in the 4th quarter, it would be best to have Dru, Davion, Wiggins, Bam, and Ware out there.
gotta limit his minutes keep him fresh and healthy for playoffs.lots games past year spo went to bench in first qtr bye bye lead who was coming off bench any good rc,herros perfect guy come off bench to give us offense when powell and bam take a breather.whos gonna guard the pgs between powell and herro?
Look, I agree that moving Herro back to sixth man is a decent idea. But as my handle implies, I try to be realistic. Herro is not starting the season coming off the bench. With a glut of guards, they can rest him more than in the past.
Great to see Wiggins taking everything in stride and working out in Miami over the summer. He’s a good two-way player and just may surprise some people this year.
https://heatnation.com/rumors/report-andrew-wiggins-has-had-great-summer-with-heat/
no surprises hes a
good player above average.
very soft.very inconsistent
as rc has pointed out he scored 40 last year.you never know which wiggy you will get
i know on most nights ty bam norm gonna be around 20
In his earlier years with the Minnesota Timberwolves, Andrew Wiggins was often criticized for inconsistent defensive effort and was sometimes perceived as a “soft” defender. However, after being traded to the Golden State Warriors, he dedicated himself to improving on that end of the court.
Wiggins’ defensive transformation with the Warriors
Powell scored around 20 because of injuries on Clippers. He may not get as many opportunities on Heat. I think Bam, Powell and Wiggins are good for about 18 points each. Herro should be good for 22-25. Any more and Miami will be ahead of the game.
hes a good 4th option only problem with the heat dont have a #1 option closer.if u could have added kd and given up wiggy jovic jjj id think we could have won the east
Kissing a quitter’s @$$ and hiring a disloyal mercenary are not the way I would go. But, hey, we are all entitled to our opinions.
why were we in two nba finals and almost 3 please quit the hate.he made us relevant for 4 years.hes done more for the heat than bam and playoff tyler combined..sure it ended bad u can blame him or pat just as easy.a phenomenal playoff player for us hats off jim thanks for almost getting me to meet rc big and30 on bisc blvd in july.im not counting on this roster for any meetings on bisc blvd.a certified ss u were thanks for that quitter u were fun to watch your skills were off the charts
That was yesterday. I’m more concerned about tomorrow. Quit glamorizing him. I don’t care how great you think he was…he’s still a selfish quitter and that’s how I and most Heat fans will always remember him. He flushed his legacy in Miami down the toilet. His jersey will never be up in the rafters and his number will never be retired.
how bout lebrons exit .kds exits.kawhis exit.hardens exits wades exit.things go south quite a bit yes jimmy handled it the worse but steph dramond and kerr didnt give a crape.thats the business side of sports.the man was the miami heat when he was here.we have to acknowledge his greatness before things went south.
Lebron left Miami 2 trophies. Quitter didn’t leave jack s*** other than bad memories.
The team keeps improving, albeit more incrementally than many would prefer. A healthy Dru and a backup center (Kai?, or better?) would move us up to the 44-45 win range, clearly better than last years team. We then, in my estimation, would be just one trade away from having a real shot. That said, the trade would have to be from an area of surplus, I.e. not Bam, Wiggins, Mitchell, Powell, Ware, or Smith, and would have to bring back a quality two way PF. All the players doing well in the Euro Basket could be considered and packaged with a pick to get someone. Thats what we should do to really get back into the mix.
as always id wait for the 20 game mark. i fell short last season i had them at 44-48 Ws when they were i think .500 after 20 games. well, we did not anticipate Butler drama so who knows. i hope fo is right with Dru
The refreshing voice of reason!
biased voice of reason lol
ei RC can’t wait to see that LGH comment of yours…this is a looooong off season haha!
long off season means early playoff exits.with the quitter when he was giving max playoff effort we were going to finals or ecf.i thank u quitter for your excellent playoff bball with a mediocre roster.just wish it would have ended differently.i remember u riding horse in dt miami .going to the tennis matches really loving so fla than riley and u had a beef.he should have payed u and kissed your ars u were the miami heat for about 4 years.i thank u for your excellence quitter
Like a marriage that ends badly with the children suffering. Your good times together as a couple are soon forgotten. What lingers is the bad taste in your mouth from the turbulent, disruptive heartless way it ended.
Why should Riley an co pay and kiss the butt of someone who quit on them for 1 1/2 seasons? In the world I’ve lived in, FIRST you work hard, THEN you deserve to get paid.
he got us to the finals couple years with a mediocre roster.he was that good in the real season,i believe jimmy was mad at pat for not getting him a big to go versus joker and ad.the image of bam squaring up on the joker was laughable.and sad for heat fans
If Butler was all that HE would have recruited a ss buddy to come to Miami. Oh, I forgot. He did. Kyle Lowry. Butler shot his wad on that dude. He is probably the one who suggested Riley bring in Rozier too. It’s all on him. He wanted out and sabotaged the team in order to force his way out. F#$% him. It was good for a while until he decided to quit on his teammates. What an @$$hole@!
wade got jimmy here jimmy failed to land anybody here def true.his job is to score points win games especially playoff games which he did as good as anybody for the heat not named wade or james
Still not worth kissing his ass or anyone else’s. Winning isn’t important enough to give up your pride and dignity. FTS! Jus sayin.
just keep your best player happy.that is a must. most great players have that diva attitude.theyre cocky have lots $$ thats the modern day athlete.rileys to old school
You can’t let the inmates run the asylum! They are well paid hired help, nothing more. Riley wouldn’t be much of a man if he had to leave his testicles on the table every time James, Wade or quitter walked in the room. That’s the problem with our country. Too many spineless people afraid to stand up to the shot caller(s).
LeBron never quit. Wade never quit. Bosh got upset because he wanted to play even though he had a life threatening condition. Those are the type of players you try to keep happy. Not a player who disrespects the organization, teammates, and fans by not showing up to work.
i believe things started to go south when pat didnt get him enough help for a ring.the guy single handedly got us to two finals but just didnt get enough help to get us that ring.reason why lebron came here for jewelry good job d wade.he just wants to win a ring and realized it wasnt happening akea.sure he was a complete ahole but on the court for that short period he was the third best player in heat history.he was so happy to be here wtf happened.gsw surely didnt care about his behavior.sports is about winning sun its not like he was arrested .jimmys a very intelligent guy.very well spoken.something set him off nobody really knows but him.btw this is a players league and they call the shots for the most part.keep em happy theyre all primadonas welcome to 2025 nba
I am not taking anything away from Butler in the first few years. He was one of the best postseason players during that period. But “nobody really knows but him”? Sorry, but just about everyone knows. It went downhill when he didn’t get the extension, pure and simple. He was missing 25% of every season he played here. We all know best ability is availability. Riley challenged him to commit to playing more regular season games. Instead of working harder, he pouted and quit.
best ability is ability.mad dog was wrong.his ability is currently not on roster.his bb iq was off the charts.ahtleticism power speed was jordanesque.had the same build as mj .yeah it ended bad real bad thats to bad cause he was a heckuva playoff player
He is/was a very good player, but I never felt, and still don’t, that he was at the same level of Jordan’s, Kobe’s, Lebron’s, and other elite A+ players. And, unfortunately, he has a reputation of burning bridges wherever he goes. Let’s see how the next 2 years go in GS, especially if they’re not going far in the playoffs, and if he starts showing up with his Micky Mouse or emo hairstyles.
def level below mj lebron kobe.burning bridges i believe becuase he didnt get a ring pat failed to get him his batman.kobe had shaq.lebron had wade.mj had scotty
Yes, but he didn’t just burn bridges here.
Things started well enough, but in the end, he followed the same pattern of starting well and ending poorly. That was his pattern with every team he was on. Butler missed 25% of the games, on average, every season with the Heat. If any employee misses that much time and then expects a raise, most people would call him crazy.
No doubt Bam and Butler needed more help in that finals. Jokic was unstoppable against every team during that period, but Bam had a decent series. His season average was 20/9. In the 5 games, he averaged 22/12.
Per game-
26/13
21/9
22/17
20/11
20/12
jokic did what ever he wanted to bam looked like a midget next to him.should have gotten a valuconis nurkic vucevic to at least come eye to eye with jokic.bams cryptonite is size hes intimidated by good bigs embid eats his lunch to. bams lack of sizet cost us prob 2 rings and 2 meetings with u..if bam was 7 ft tall i would have met u by now rc.
Couldn’t. Money was being wasted on quitter’s buddy, Lowry.
give me a 7foot ic.they grow them on trees in good old serbia
trade for an icOR that rough european dude that cheap shotted kawhi in the landing zone KNOCKED kawhi out forgot his name he was on MILLION TEAMS.just needed some big bulky ic for the joker pats fault jimmy was pissed at pat over that.
jokic killed us with his passing .he just looked right over little bam and said son u to small to bother my vision and passing lanes,could have renamed joker nikola stockton for that series.
Dude is the best player in the world, period! Nothing much anyone else has been able to do against him. I’m just happy they made it to the NBA Finals. Prior to the 2022-2023 NBA season, the Miami Heat’s preseason odds to make the NBA Finals were +1600. This translates to roughly a 6% implied probability. Jus sayin.
rudy gobertic.was avail
Did you see what T’Wolves gave up to get him? The Timberwolves sent the Jazz a package including Malik Beasley, Patrick Beverley, Walker Kessler, Leandro Bolmaro, Jarred Vanderbilt, and four first-round picks (2023, 2025, and 2027 unprotected, a 2026 pick swap, and a 2029 top-five protected pick). Dude scores 12 points a game.
BTW, Kessler averaged 11.1 PPG and 12.2 RPG last year. Higher RPG than Gobert.
hes 8ft tall joker wouldnt boy him like he does to bam
believe only have one ring rc
Yeah, it’s not as if Bam was bad, it was just that Jokic was superior in skills and size that left us (and just about everyone else in the league) at a disadvantage.
if bam could have played him tougher i would have met u by now rileys fault not getting a 7 footer
We had 7 footers. Unfortunately, their names were Zeller, Dedmon, Yurtseven, and Bryant
yurtsiete the best of that motley crue.never given fair chance here.remember when bam got hurt he looked very good.bam came back the end of seven,era.just needed be given pt .thought he had potential to be an every night rotation player
If that were true, he wouldn’t be out of the league nearly 2 years. His best year was with the Heat in 2021 at 5.3/5.3. He was even unable to do much for his Greek team, averaging 9/4. He was given chances and he didn’t capitalize.
looked ok to me.big hands .decent shot,nice form great rebounder.once his mitts touched the ball it was his no bam bobbles.just needed a chance .gotta have coach believes in him none have dudes got ability to be at least a backup
I liked him. I was on the bandwagon. But his accomplishments (or lack thereof) tell more about his potential than anything you or I may have believed. He had the chance, he didn’t pan out, and he’s not even lighting it up on the Greek team either, which is probably similar to G League level.
Turkish?
I got the below info from wiki and google, so I just assumed it was correct.
Panathinaikos B.C. is a professional basketball team based in Athens, Greece.
That’s the same team Kendrick Nunn plays for in the Greek League. I thought players represented their home countries in FIBA Tournament.
when quitter was here believe deadman was main backup.should have used him versus joker at least he has a shot to defend joker just cause of his size .bam has no shot just cause of size rc
Deadman walking. Another one out of NBA. DeWayne last played for the Ontario Clippers in the G League during the 2023-2024 season.
Don’t forget Leonard.
Shhh, don’t want to rile (no pun intended) up Emily.
Niko, Powell and Larsson are looking good in FIBA pre-tournament friendly games.
https://www.yardbarker.com/nba/articles/miami_heats_nikola_jovic_continues_strong_showing_in_leadup_to_eurobasket/s1_16619_42597832
Fontecchio has also looked good in Italy’s two FIBA friendly games dropping 21 & 19 points. I have a strong feeling Miami will be keeping him to help replace Robinson’s 3 point shooting (rather than stretching & releasing him as previously speculated).
I always thought stretching him was a bad, or at least premature, idea.
didnt know u were a maseus rc
and Powell was also a bit sick as per the story.
That was a strange decision.
The Heat needs this type of player, a pure playmaker, which is also a solid defender and not that bad offensive player.
He is the best ball handler in the team, no doubt about that, but we need such player in starting lineup, not sitting on the bench. If that so, who will not start.
Herro, Powell, Wiggins?
Is a lineup Herro, Dru, Powell, Ware and Bam our starting lineup?
Good question. I am as high on Dru and his ball handling skills as you seem to be. But, he may not have to start to be useful. There is a chance he doesn’t provide enough offense to start, that remains to be seen. Whatever role he takes, however he is used, he will help us for as long as he remains healthy.
With Herro and Powell starting, there should be enough offense, if there is good ball distribution, provided by Dru.
Wiggins, Nico, Mitchell, with one of Bam or Ware playing could be a solid bench unit.
With JJJ, Pelle, Simone, even Rosier and KJ waiting for a chance.
I think that we have too many good but not great players.
I have a feeling Mitchell, Jaquez, Jovic, Larsson, Fontecchio and possibly Johnson may have bigger years than anticipated.
If Ware, Bam, Herro, Wiggins and Powell have just slightly better years than last year, Miami may be both entertaining to watch and very competitive. I would still like to see the Heat add a quality combo PF/C to rotate with Bam and Ware.
Those first 23 games are brutal! A “baptism of fire” that will reveal just how much grit, talent and determination the team has and how competitive it can/will be.
Seven of the team’s first eight games are against playoff contending teams and six of the eight are on the road. Those games are as follows:
Oct 23 @ Orlando
Oct 24 @ Memphis
Oct 26 New York
Oct 28 Charlotte
Oct 30 @San Antonio
Nov 02 @ Lakers
Nov 03 @ Clippers
Nov 05 @ Denver
After a two game break against lottery teams Charlotte and Portland, the
Heat then confronts an extremely difficult 13 game stretch against playoff caliber teams between Nov. 10 and Dec. 5. Those games are as follows:
Nov 10 Cleveland
Nov 12 Cleveland
Nov 14 @ New York
Nov 17 New York
Nov 19 Golden State
Nov 21 @ Chicago
Nov 23 @Philadelphia
Nov 24 Dallas
Nov 26 Milwaukee
Nov 29 Detroit
Dec 01 Clippers
Dec 03 @ Dallas
Dec 05 @ Orlando
These 23 games may either make or break the 2025-2026 season. Riley will know well before the trade deadline whether the team needs a little tweaking, a significant trade/upgrade or an entire makeover/rebuild/re-tooling. My gut tells me the team may surprise everyone and hold their own. Time will tell.
GO HEAT!!!
Btw, if Rozier comes out of the gate “”ballin” that adds a whole new dynamic to the team’s depth. At minimum, it will help improve his marketability in a 1:1 trade or as part of a larger trade.
I think it’s better this way honestly
they could go 3-20 or 15-8 that stretch. but hoping they end up #6 still…getting tired of the play-in
We know the answer to that question team nor the player has the balls to do so….and yes I’m talking about herro. Better served coming off the bench, especially in the playoffs where teams can’t hunt him on “defense”
Maybe.
But Powell and Dru are not bad defenders, Bam is a good one, as sometimes Ware.
Every team has defensive liability player starting, except maybe OKC.
In crunch time, Miami can use Mitchell, Smith, Wiggins, Bam and maybe Johnson to clamp down on the defensive end and work Herro, Ware, Jovic, Larsson, Jaquez or Fontecchio in there depending whether more offense or defense is needed.
With big leads late in games, Miami now has the defenders to substantially reduce the number of blown games made by last year’s team. If Herro’s defense doesn’t improve, he has to sit at crunch time, unless Powell, Wiggins and Bam are productive in late game situations. Using Mitchell and Dru as point of attack guards late in games would be awesome.