The Miami Heat’s most recent loss to the Boston Celtics felt like an all-too-common occurrence.
Miami surrendered 147 points, their second time allowing 147 or more over the last week, on 58.3 percent shooting with 21 made Celtic threes. Once prided on its defensive fortitude, the Heat displayed an episodic collapse on that end of the floor, loosely defending the 3-point line and looking hopeless against a well-spaced Celtics attack.
They’ve lost their identity, evidently leading to everything else crumbling at the worst time of the season. At this point, we know where the Heat are destined — and that’s to their fourth-straight play-in.
It would be one thing if head coach Erik Spoelstra was relying on the team’s youth and they were failing. But he’s not. In fact, he’s treading in the opposite direction, shrinking his rotation to seven players as the regular season winds down.
And that’s not the way this cataclysmic finish should be managed.
The ship is sinking with players who aren’t providing results:
Let’s preface by saying that Spoelstra has forgotten more about basketball than I will ever know. He’s one of the league’s top innovators, tacticians and motivators.
There’s only so much impact a coach can have in today’s player empowerment era. He hasn’t necessarily been helped out by his front office, but he also hasn’t done himself a ton of favors; Spoelstra isn’t absolved from criticism when looking at the bigger picture.
And the big picture is that this team isn’t going anywhere. What’s typically been an abnormality — an undisciplined team lacking so much attention-to-detail, especially defensively — under Spoelstra has turned into the norm the last few weeks. Yet, the longtime head coach is doubling — or even tripling — down on his rotation.
For the second-straight game, Spoelstra largely relied on the aforementioned seven-game rotation. That will likely expand to eight when Norman Powell is healthy, but as the kids say these days, Spoelstra’s “lost the plot.”
At this juncture, the Heat should be prioritizing their future, not moving away from it. If Kasparas Jakucionis is healthy, he should be playing; if Nikola Jovic is available, regardless of how turbulent this season’s been for him, he should be playing; Kel’el Ware, regardless of how frustratingly inconsistent his motor is, should be playing (more); heck, even Myron Gardner and Keshad Johnson should be getting more burn.
Miami’s defense has given up 128.6 points per 100 possessions over the last two weeks with a defensive rating of at least 130.0 in seven of its last nine games.
Yes, we know the Heat want to win games. But they’re not; their current formula isn’t working. That’s not to say they should bench, say, Bam Adebayo. They shouldn’t. But it’s time to try something else, especially since this season’s a lost cause. And it’s time to give others chances, especially since none of it can possibly be worse than what we’re already seeing.
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- These 3 Heat players should not be on the team next season
- Giannis Antetokounmpo once again flirts with idea of being in Miami ahead of Bucks uncertainty
- Did another mediocre Heat season hold Jaime Jaquez Jr. back from earning Sixth Man of the Year?
- Heat star reinforces belief that Kel’el Ware will be ‘great’
- Bam Adebayo reveals that LaMelo Ball didn’t apologize about tripping incident
- Bam Adebayo receives one vote for coveted award
- Jaime Jaquez Jr. named finalist for Sixth Man of the Year award
Toronto, Sixers, Magic, Charlotte, and Hawks all won tonight.
When it rains it pours. If this year’s continued medicocrity doesn’t light a fire under somebody’s butt, I don’t know what will.
Another night where the play-in teams all won. Our chances of getting the fifth seed are gone. The sixth seed is now highly unlikely also, but there is still a very low percentage chance. It’s pretty much the play-in for us and likely will require two wins to get the eighth seed. We are going to be packing for the summer sooner than we wish. All in all, it’s been a disappointing season where we never had enough.
Change is needed this off-season to somehow have a more talented 2026-27 team. Some help may come via the draft, but that can be expected to impact the team later, not sooner. More immediate help must come while addressing the expiring contracts this summer. We probably will not be able to keep every player we currently have and may even face the possibility of more talent going out than coming in. There is a lot of things to be concerned about as our foundation seems less solid than desirable and our future direction not as well defined as would be ideal. I hope I am wrong but I am finding it hard to envision things getting much better in the near future.
It may be necessary to take a longer range approach even if it isn’t the preferred route.
Have some faith, friend. I will give you one of several scenarios that would actually be feasible. If there’s a draftee you don’t know, take a few moments to look at some game film.
Mitchell pg
Alexander-Walker sg
Nate Ament sf 6’ 10”
Bam pf
Ware c
Second Unit
Kas pg
Pelle sg
Jaquez sf
open pf
Flory Bidunga 6’ 9” exceptionally athletic rebounder, shot blocker defender, lob threat
Reserves
Dru
Gardner
Keshad
Jovic
This assumes Simone, Rozier, Herro, Powell, and Wiggins have moved on. Should be a pretty good team. Have to see what we get in trades for the 4 above.
It’s feasible it could end up something like that. That’s an ok team, has potential. Losing the guys we are losing in your scenario hurts us some. Still seems pretty mid, at least in the short term, but maybe the new guys develop. I do like the tall front line, à la the Cavaliers, and a few other teams. That approach seems to often work around the league and may be a good way to use what we have and augment it.
Like I said on the draft article. Mia needs talent not need in the draft. If anyone of those pgs are available Mia should and better draft them
It pushes the team in a younger, more athletic direction, but you’re right, it still is not elite. As hhhf4l indicates, if someone like Philon is available, that may be the best way to go. My point is, if things are done correctly, there wouldn’t have to be years of misery.
alexander walker from the hawks?didnt atl get him from minn.is he a fa.how bout nate thurmond?or archibald now were talking
NAW is a free agent.
jjj sis gonna be playing for natl champ sunday go ucla.
I saw an article that indicated that Jaime was the only Heat player
who called Butler the day he told media he no longer found joy in playing basketball. The only one.
That was nice of him and, of course, they did commercials together, but after how poorly he treated his teammates by quitting on them, I’m not surprised that nobody reached out to him. I also remember that when we played the Warriors, he walked off the court without greeting any of them.
I agree. I was just pointing out what kind of teammate Jaquez is.
jimmy wanted one teammate to look that cheap shot artist in denver eye to eye and semi shut him down.bam was about as effective as i would have been.what a joke captain was in that series.during the playoff runs jimmy was a top 5 player dam he really turned it on.he was so fun to watch pick and choose when to take over games,beautiful to watch.now we have to watch who take over games.herro took over that game few games ago beautiful thing to watch.that was the first time ive seen a player take over heat game,versus a good team in a long long time..we call that in the biz a go to guy dont have one need one asap.need a go to gm also
jimmy was just really mad at pat same with lebron and even wade for few years hmmm ,battle of the egos pat always has to win.like to see him go against you .gl pat that might be your toughest challenge
Butler was mad because Riley didn’t give him the extension he wanted and didn’t deserve. Wade had a more legitimate reason when he didn’t get the money he deserved. Other than personality clash, LeBron had no reason to be mad. And, for the record, all 3 had the best years of their careers with our Miami Heat.
i no longer find the joy in watching heat basketball but im a so fla sports addict thanks for nothing jimmy only if pat could have gotten u a legit center
non signing of precious at that low price wtf is wrong with u riley gtfoh.the main problem now is mickey will never fire pat pat will never fire spobot.i wish i had billion $ to buy team first move imake one minute after i buy team is fire patspo,i would hire sunman from miami as gm.rc head of personnel and cap management.,coaches decision up to sunman sun who would u choose.rc who u letting go
Being originally from Arizona (SunMan) I like this guy. He’s a proven winner.
Thomas Lloyd (born December 21, 1974) is an American college basketball coach who is the current head coach at the University of Arizona of the Big 12 Conference. His 148 wins in the first five seasons and 61 wins in the first two seasons are the most for any head coach in NCAA Division I history.
az in final 4 like it u think hed want to live in miami miami not for everybody .im sick of so fla to tell u the truth .use to be beautiful place now its the hew york of the south
San Diego area is laid back and has mild weather.
Tommy Lloyd agrees to new 5-year deal with Arizonaoh well
Yup. U of A is Proactive. Didn’t procrastinate like some some folks.
I would explore a s&t for Powell to get something in return. I actually would have done that at the trade deadline (straight trade). I would explore the market for Herro (not for Bamba). Stuck with Jovic, so can’t let him go. Rozier and Simone are off the books. It gets tricky from there. So, 4 players possibly gone and 2 draft picks coming in leaves 2 openings. Draft a pf/c and pg. Not much on the fa market except possibly Alexander-Walker, still young enough to fit a timeline.
do u give up bam jjj ty for greek and portis mr gm
It would be a good deal for the Heat, but I wouldn’t do it. I want to build a team that will be competitive for years, not just 1 or 2. So I guess I’m fired before I even get the job.
if u came to me and refused that deal yes i would fire u as gm.wembys just starting.you gonna beat a wemby team with the rag tags you currently have .you have a chance to get a top 5 player still best player in east please if u still want that job u do that deal yesterday.theres not one guy in the nba even wemby that can guard the greek..id say rc please watch more film and report back to me in a few days
Queda is a journeyman who has been around since 2021. Why couldn’t Riley find a player like him as a back-up PF?
when your as accomplished as riley at his age.your best friend owns carnival cruise line your guaranted employment even after drafting precious and winslow would u be watching lots film and strategizing trades fa and the draft or cruising the world and having your assistant gm (rc)do all the work.what would u guess the % of life time rileys putting into the gm job.i can guarantee u like tylers d kills us every night that sunman from miami puts in more time.than the octogenrian,if the sunman lived in miami id personally pick his sunnyars and drop him off at 601 bisc blvd and take him to mickeys office with thousands of trade proposals over da years and ideas this brilliant heat fan has had over the years.i think mickey would be impressed the amount of time my personal choice for gm has put into making the mediocre heat better .can sun and rc co exist and work together is the 64mil$ id be asking myself.rc s ego might get in the way sun he thinks hes always right.lol
SM and I would make a great team. We have many similar points of view and are collaborative by nature. The problem we might have is working with you.
i pay well to those who would get me a ring u would be started on minimum salary suns a proven commodity
I quit
let me fire u u can get unemployment
Thanks heat, but I’m past my prime. I still have ideas and opinions and am glad to offer my thoughts. I’m sure you, RC and I could brainstorm and come up with solutions, with the help of Bout30, Manila and others.
Seriously, Pat Riley needs to retire and Arison needs to hire a next generation GM with a vision who isn’t afraid to clean house, take a step back and rebuild from the ground up. Countless NBA teams have done it. It just takes a willingness to put your ego on the shelf and withstand the hits that will be coming from fans and the media for a couple of lean years, until the team’s course can be redirected.
Miami has a good young supporting cast with potential. What it needs is a true alpha leader and a clutch scorer (who is hopefully at least an average defender). The team can also use a good back-up PF to rotate with Bam and Ware.
By this summer, the team’s four 30+ year old players may be off the books, including:
In addition, Miami has 2 draft picks in 2026 (a late lottery to mid first rounder and a mid to late second rounder) that can help the rebuilding process. A good PF and a good PG with growth potential would be great. If Miami can work out a sign & trade or two for the expiring contracts, it may be able to pick up a couple of additional second rounders, at least.
Before the 2027 trade deadline, every effort should be made to trade Herro and Jovic. Unless something drastic changes, I don’t see either of them having long term futures in Miami. Furthermore, all other Heat players are also expendable if the right trade opportunities come along.
Decisions need to be made regarding extensions for several players to be effective in 2026-2027 & 2027-2028, including:
The core I would like to see Miami retain beyond 2026-2027, in addition to any players obtained via trade, free agency, G League, the draft as well as the pool of undrafted players, includes:
Here’s a few players Miami may consider drafting with this year’s 1st and 2nd round picks.
More to follow…
alpha leader and clutch scorer what team besides a few could not use that.thats not happening sun to many bad moves have crippled us.rc and the hater are correct tear it down completely like okc spurs minn get your ss thru the draft with a high pick and then build it up again.we need the next d wade not the next bam adebayo..first guy that goes is bam,keep ware couldnt get much for him keep a few more youngens for the future time to hit the reset button.
As you know, I’ve been writing much the same, with a few differences. As you note, the first round pick will be 12-14 if they miss the playoffs and 15-17 if they make the playoffs. Either Philon or Yaxel would be an excellent addition. As for the second round, our pick will actually be relatively early, #41. I really like Bidunga a lot if he’s still available, super athletic rebounder, shot blocker, defender. But there are choices there that can fill a much needed backup position. JT Toppin (no relation to the NBA Toppins) unfortunately tore his Achilles and will be out for much of next season. As for trades, I again say it will be nearly impossible to trade Jovic without a sweetener, and we don’t want to do that.
I would definitely give Alexander-walker a shot. Still 27 and still getting better as evident from this season. He’s 3&d, also sga cousin, so he got good genes. Kinda reminds of another pair of cousins lowkey, Carter, and T-mac. He could be our new sg, if we let walk/trade herro,and/or powell.
Powell’s contract expires this year. He will likely walk or be part of a sign & trade agreement. Herro is owed one more year at $33M. He ain’t walking anywhere unless it’s via trade.
In other news, Precious Achiuwa had 28 points and 19 rebounds (11 offensive) in the Kings 123-115 win over the Raptors in Toronto. Sacramento was playing without Murray, Sabonis, La Vine and Hunter.
hope rc read this niko jovics stats 17 mins 7pts 37% 27% 3 rebs
what’s to hope for? Precious is on a nice run lately. You called him a bust when he was here initially. Sorry you don’t understand how the cap works, but it was move off him or Keshad. If they got rid of Keshad, you’d be bitching about that. They wanted to sign Dru and he (Precious) was on a minimum contract.
Keshod couldn’t fill in ther rotation nearly as well as Precious, as he’s not tall enough. The thought when Precious got cut was that Precious was not that good of a player, which was clearly a talent evaluation mistake. If it really was a situation where it was either Keshod or Precious, they should have shipped Keshod out.
exactly precious is exactly what we needed size wise and even talent wise.never said he was bust,if they thought he was good they would have done something else.to keep him.just bad talent evaluation by an old washed up gm
You absolutely said he was a bust and was not upset in any way shape or form when he was traded. He averaged 5ppg in Miami. In subsequent years, he averaged 9, 9, 8, 8, and 7ppg. He has a career average of 6 rpg. Talent evaluation indeed.
how many minutes did dumbot give him a game left that out
The Heat obviously realized they needed more front court help. If Riley wasn’t going to bring in another PF, why did he release Precious? Like several of his other decisions of late, it makes no sense.
Sometimes the loyalty issue gets in the way. The Heat had a soft spot for Dru after working through catastrophic injuries twice. To sign him, the released or traded Precious for a second round pick we’d never receive. I have been advocating for a backup big man for a long time. I still am, whether it be in this draft or open market. There is no doubt that not having a decent backup big has hurt the team. And most of us disliked the staggering of the centers from the beginning.
The younger version of Pat Riley would never have left the team’s flank exposed like that. He has definitely lost a few steps along the way.
Certainly no argument from me on that
bam is not a center he has the build of pf ask ud
I agree he is a pf who can play center depending on matchups.
He could play PF when paired with Ware and C when paired with a back-up PF and when small ball was occasionally required.
oh this spo small ball is so old like riley.every position we are shorter at that is heat culture,to be shorter is better our new slogan.
not sure why dumbot doesnt give vlad and kj a look last 5 games.are team would look alot different
thought it was salary cap related .how but dum related
Hold on. The talent evaluation at the time was he was a player without a job that could be had on the cheap. A player who had bounced around since we drafted him and had any number of DNPs. They saw Keshad EXACTLY as hfl always sees him – athletic, strong, a guy who can guard the opposing team’s best player. They figured they knew what Precious brought to the table, but didn’t know what they had in Keshad. Now we’re looking at pure revisionist history.
I don’t think Spo ever intended to use Johnson for any meaningful minutes and Jovic was/is unplayable.
Miami has needed and continues to need a back-up PF. Riley apparently didn’t think so after prematurely deciding to pay Jovic to fill that role. That decision has probably cost the Heat a few games.
Without a suitable back-up PF valuable time that could have been used to develop Ware’s defense has instead been wasted. Ware was left on an island alone (with the second unit) and expected to do what Bam does defensively. Ware is not Bam and is still young. Centers generally take the longest to develop. It is unfair to expect him to play anywhere close to Bam so soon.
True. Good rebuttal. Sometimes we act like we knew things we didn’t in retrospect. And, they also didnt know that Jovic would not be able to fill Precious’s role. And after they gave him that salary they were going to give Niko every chance.
The big issue is whether we would be better served by a new GM. I think clearly we would be. I believe when it does finally happen everyone is going to be struck by how inadequate Riley was on several levels and how imnediately the improvement over him will be apparent.
And it’s not sacrilegious, on this holiday, to call out the current incarnation of our formerly beloved GM. I had to retire from my own profession because I wasn’t as good at it anymore due to age. It’s knowing yourself and doing what’s best for the people you service.
pat aint leaving til he wants heats a family biz
You are a very reasonable person. I try to be as well.
hes talented can shoot super athletic but spobot prefers players with big shnozolas.only way a big athletic player who won dunk contest has nice j looks like can play is if its a blowout how dum is that.at least kjs making good $$ or else hed be mad at spobot.he sees those nice cks clearing no complaints from the johnson household
keshods such a freaky athlete who can shoot it.but we got lots 65 67 guys precious was better for the team just based on size
And just last game you wanted him to guard Brown. Today you wish we had gotten rid of him. Give me a break.
no kj can guard brown he cant guard queda or vucevic too small its like asking bam to guard joker to small,at least a 7ft guy could look at joker eye to eye.id rather of had deadman on joker than little bam ,wiggy can guard brown btw pretty dam good
if there not going to use him let him go to another team and be the next jalen brown lol.
precious was a high pick talents there for whatever reason never got to showcase skills on a consistent basis.players ahead of him coaches decision.same sht with ware let ware play every friggin game from game 1 to now 35 mins a game u might have a beast by now.but pat gave shnazola lots $$ ahd to play him
So here’s the guy who thinks draft picks don’t matter. The same guy who was pointing out some high picks were ‘bustolas’ as he put it. AND ISN’T IT CONVENIENT NOW HOW NOBODY REMEMBERS HOW SOME RIPPED RILEY FOR CHOOSING PRECIOUS WHEN THE NEXT PICK WAS MAXEY?
Most of us agreed with the decision to draft Precious at the time. Even then, Miami was in need of a solid back-up PF. Who could have projected Maxey would turn into an all-star?
rc doesnt watch college games for the most part either do i so hes not a good source for college guys.reading other guys comments on the internet about the players not the way to go.eye test .i remember watching edey dominate in the tournament so i did want him,i never saw precious or maxey play either did rc.honestly was not upset about the pick rc so thats not true.i had never heard of either to be honest .so please stop with putting false sht out there.was he a bust here id say yes.but i believe his playing time was spotrasized here
I review information from many sources and look at a lot of game film focusing on that specific player. It’s a better way to form a truly objective opinion. It’s like news. If you only get your news from one source, it’s going to be distorted and biased.
I was ok with the precious pick, but maxey would of been reasonable cuz of pat’s Kentucky history. Also calipari was Kentucky’s best coach ever probably. Churning out talent like sga,booker,kat,AD,maxey,bam,cousins,John wall.
More excerpts. This is from allucanheat.
Heat deserve all the blame for backcourt experiment that has backfired
“The Tyler Herro and Norman Powell backcourt experiment has not only not worked for the Miami Heat, but it’s backfired in a big way. At this point, it’s been a disaster that will leave the Heat in a pretty difficult spot this offseason.
Whether they’re willing to admit it or not, they have no one but themselves to blame.”
“Refusing to trade Powell or Herro at the trade deadline could be a mistake that hurts this team for years to come.”
“If the Heat wants to keep Herro, they’ll likely lose Powell for nothing. At best, they’ll be able to sign and trade him for pennies on the dollar. If they re-sign Powell, they’ll be forced to trade Herro (for less than market value).
With Herro and the Powell in the rotation together, the Heat are just 6-12 on the season. On the season, they have a -1.5 plus/minus when they share the floor. They also have a -6.0 net rating per 100 possessions on the court together.
Add in the fact that they’re also both negative defenders at this point in their careers, and it’s easy to see how this situation has completely backfired for the Heat. The Herro-Powell offensive boost hasn’t outweighed their inconsistencies on the other end of the floor. And that’s snowballed into a huge problem for the Heat.
If no one is willing to admit it, the stats pretty much tell the entire story. While Herro and Powell may be good talents individually, and while they could make sense respectively for the Heat in their own roles, they don’t work together. And if Powell and Herro are going to be your second and third best players, that can’t be the case.
Miami will have several big decisions to make this summer, with one of the bigger ones revolving around Powell and Herro. However, no matter how it’s spun, the Heat’s inability to make this duo work, and their not selling on it at the right time, has only made life more difficult for them heading into the offseason. And they have no one to blame but themselves.”
if your that bad on defense you should not be allowed to play,norms ok herro not
They both would make good matadors. All they need are capes. Even Uncan made an effort and gradually improved a little over the years.
norms not a matador ty and unc in a league of their own.i dont see norm that bad to be honest,i think wares been worse defensively than norm because wares being used wrong.him and bam around basket is our best d with pelle jjj wiggy dav
I think Spo is a good coach, who clearly gets the most of out often mediocre players.
But his reputation as a great coach is fully baked on a super team winning two titles.
Without Wade, LeBron and Bosh, his name would have been forgotten long ago, and the Heat would have churned through many other coaches.
Much like Riley, Spo is thriving only due to past accomplishments of other legends.
Blow this team up.
ZK, as you might have seen me write a number of times, the same is true for Jackson, Riley, Kerr, Pop, Auerbach, all of whom had some of the best players of the time on their teams. Spo having those 3 players should not be an indictment of what he has accomplished. LeBron won 2 rings here, but only 1 in Cleveland and 1 in LA with very good supporting casts. Doc had some absolutely excellent rosters and came up empty, with prime cp3, Blake, Jordan, Reddick, Crawford. Utah under Sloan had one of the best one two punches ever. It’s hard to win, even with great players.
when u have jordon and pippen no coach gonna beat that duo consistently.its a players league a coaches success is always based on ability of players.good for top 15 to be gifted big 3 and prime jimmy lucky guy
Thank you for proving my point!
every coach is a good coach with the big 3.every coach is mediocre coach with bam and ty
As I pointed out, that’s not always true. Some coaches won with great players on their team and some coaches did not win with great players on their team. Did you ever hear of Stockton and Malone?
ru familar with jordon pippen
True about Spo, he not a bad coach, but calling him the best coach in the nba, which some do, seems over the top.
I agree. There are a few young coaches that seem more innovative and less risk-adverse.
Following are excerpts from another excellent article in YARDBARKER.
The Heat are stuck in alternate reality while Celtics live their dream
“There’s no way it didn’t cross Micky and Nick Arison’s minds that they are living a pipe dream. It was even more poetic that the Boston Celtics, of all teams, were the ones to stain Pat Riley Court with the second-most points allowed this season.”
“The butt kicking they received at the hands of the Celtics on Wednesday is just what management needed to see. The Heat had multiple exploitable players in their rotation, and the Celtics had none.”
“Management was too afraid of living in the cellar to improve their prospects, but maybe another wasted year, which means Bam Adebayo is older and worth less in a trade, will make them wise up about their futile chances: as much as Adebayo has an all around game, he’s not a takeover player; Tyler Herro wouldn’t start on the last six championship teams because he’s a weak defender with short arms and skinny frame; And Andrew Wiggins plus Norman Powell, who hasn’t played the last three outings, are complimentary third pieces.”
“Eventually, someone has to tell management that they are making a fool out of coach Erik Spoelstra. No one in the organization gives the face publicly like him and he has to act like he believes in this team, which is no different than thinking C-students are going into the Ivy League.”
“He can’t turn water into wine every year, but imagine if he had an athletic roster comparable to Detroit, Oklahoma City or Boston’s. His talents wouldn’t be going to waste either.”
“Luckily for the Heat, this upcoming draft is deep and they’ll be able to find value at their pick, if they do their homework properly and don’t pick another Nikola Jović and Precious Achiuwa. Still, the path back to prosperity includes selecting the highest level talent, which could be harder since the NBA has talked about changing its lottery format.”
“At this point, it’s best if the Heat lose in the Play-In Tournament for a higher pick because until they get back to the top of the draft, they’ll be living in Boston’s shadow.”
Ha, I wrote something similar below.
Riley’s fear of failure has ensured Miami’s prolonged mediocrity. His ego just couldn’t accept what GMs understand is inevitable. Look where the Spurs or Pistons were a few years ago and where they are today. Several good moves by both teams.
Absolutely. OKC, Houston, Charlotte now turning the corner. This team has had good fans since the Miami Arena days. I think fans would be excited to see a new, young, dynamic player. This play-in year after year is something Dante could write about.
Groundhog Day meets the Twilight Zone.
It is the Heat after all, it’s an inferno down there.
More to follow.
Most national NBA writers have no idea what they’re talking about with the Bam-Ware lineup. The Heat are trying to win games, that’s the reason Ware (-0.6 in 1591 minutes this year) is not playing more minutes. The defense and defensive rebounding falls apart when he is on the court.
In case you hadn’t noticed, the team has been falling apart for a few seasons. Ware is 21 and has much potential. He needs playing time to improve. He needs Bam patrolling the outside so he can be more effective inside. If Riley had traded for a good rotation PF, Miami could have had Ware sharing the front court duties with a PF at all times when he was on the floor. That didn’t happen.
I have the strong feeling Riley and Spo are hooked on “small ball” and don’t really want the 2 big starting unit to work. If that isn’t resolved, it will come back and bite them in the ass. I can see why Ware is frustrated and inconsistent.
How can Miami ever go through a rebuilding process with this bunch if they are unwilling to bite the bullet and take one step back in order to take 2 (or more) steps forward in the future? Mediocrity, like rebuilding, is a choice. Up until now, Miami has refused to consider the latter.
I think it’s the admirable focus on winning, but it results in Spo keeping younger players on a very short leash. Sometimes, as you noted, you have to bite the bullet and work hard to develop these young people in order to get out of the rut they’re in.
Sometimes you need to bite a bigger bullet in order to draft better quality young people to develop.
It’s not about small ball, but about having now a season worth of minutes showing that the two big lineup is positive because of Bam and that the Heat are losing in Ware’s minutes.
Bam on court 6.1, off court -2.9, net +9.0
Ware on court -0.6, off court +4.7, net -5.3
If the argument is to play Ware the last 5 games to deliberately lose those games and then lose the play in games, that’s not how tanking is done. Play in teams don’t deliberately play their worst players and try to lose competitive games at the end of the season to avoid the playoffs.
If the argument is to trade everyone this off season and start a multi year tank, Heat don’t control their draft pick in 2028 and would be sending an unprotected pick that year to Charlotte, so they can’t tank (and shouldn’t anyway)
Following are excerpts from an excellent article in YARDBARKER on one of the biggest things Spo is doing wrong.
The Heat Are Ignoring Their Best Fix And Its Costing Them
Kevin O’Connor and Tom Haberstroh on the HEAT’s Bam Adebayo–Kel’el Ware pairing:
“Back in February-Early March, We had talked about how the Bam Adebayo–Kel’el Ware frontcourt was starting to excel. But over this stretch, they’ve played 9 games together and only 68 minutes… I’m still a little bit surprised to not see those two out there more often, especially considering their defensive issues.”
Tom Haberstroh adds:
“Does Erik Spoelstra trust Kel’el Ware enough to give him those big-time minutes? Because he really hasn’t… Considering the talent offensively at least and the size, you would expect he’d be the guy they’re investing in next to Bam. They haven’t.”…
“The Heat need to just play Ware, he isn’t perfect, he has missed rotations, has offensive limitations, but that’s part of development, and Miami desperately needs to figure out what they have in him.
The Heat have no reason to be conservative. Even if Ware is making mistakes, you have to see what the Bam and Ware duo looks like and give them extended minutes and opportunites. Ware is still only 21 years old, he has plenty of time to figure this out and growth is not always linear.”
See full article at:
https://www.yardbarker.com/nba/articles/the_heat_are_ignoring_their_best_fix_and_its_costing_them/s1_16619_43680023
This yardbarker article and the one here by Matt are spot on! It’s nice that the team is trying to win games, but to what end? To most likely get embarrassed again?
Realistically, missing the playoffs will not greatly affect our draft pick. It will likely be 13-14, possibly even 12, and unlikely (but not impossible) to move up considering the slim odds. Making the playoffs would slot us between 15 and 17. But choosing higher undoubtedly gives the team more choices to choose a very good player who can move into the starting rotation next season. I am not suggesting the team lose on purpose, but focusing on youth like Ware, Kas, Gardner, Keshad, even Jovic, to see how they respond, is important.
There was a credible story that before the season ends, the Heat will release Rozier and sign one of our 2-way players or a G League player. Do they go with undersized Young, who can score and has high assists? Or Keels, a solidly built scorer? Or Vlad, with his size, scoring ability, but not super quick? How can they decide unless they’re given some real minutes? I’m in the camp that the young players, like Ware, should be playing more, not less.
I may disagree with what sports writers write, and they’re certainly not always right about an issue, but they have strong backgrounds in this business that I mostly respect.
Yup. It doesn’t matter what the team does in the next 5 games. Therefore, Spo should start Bam and Ware and have them play together as much as possible. If they need a break, he can insert Jovic a few minutes each half to give them both a rest. Who knows, Jovic may find his long lost mojo.