Game 22: Heat vs Cavs 12/8/2024 6:00PM ET

[Kobewade11]

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Dru has been a nice revelation, bouncing back from an injury. Much maligned for getting one of the two way deals but he’s proving the coaches and decision makers see more than fans.

[fishfuego.]

Dru is on a 2 way, Herros on a near max for him!!! Dru has played to his contract already, Herro has to show he’s here to stay, you’ve seen how this goes the last 5 years!

THIS!

Herro was supposed to become this years ago. Instead, every season, injuries derailed him. He's an incredibly frustrating player. I'm encouraged, but I was encouraged last year too, and then he missed a crap ton of games and sucked when he came back. Stay healthy and keep balling when it matters the most. Then he'll earn my apology,

Dru Smith is a borderline prospect whose work ethic off the court is turning him into a real NBA player, There is a massive difference.

THIS AGAIN! Herro showed promise right off the bat then fizzled out with his play and constant injuries. He obviously had his critics myself included and not to mention the entire trade market at his salary, but he's looking good! I've been heaping praise on him so far this year and have been impressed with everything from his maturity and professionalism off the court to his greatly improved play and ability to maintain it for A STRETCH!

He's still only just about to turn 25 and even us critics have always known he's had this skillset. It's just would he ever manage to reach his potential as a scorer? Which to justify the money required improved shot IQ and general availability. Additionally he's seemingly improved as a playmaker and even tries to at least commit to giving effort and being better defensively.

Most of us doubters main issue was could he get to this point in time for Jimmy's timeline and that's not really wrong. We tried to contend but he wasn't ready to support Jimmy as a scorer yet when he needed him either both efficiency or health wise. Even attitude wise. He's super young that's ok but we paid him to be there, Riley can't decide if we are looking to the youth or giving Jimmy our all while he's here. It's a bit late now, but damn it's nice to see!

He's a young scorer that had injury and efficiency issues plus forced into too much playmaking leading to many TOs and sucked at defense while making 30M. Those are facts but he's now turned all that around for a stretch and I hope to all that is holy it's the new him with nothing but an upward trajectory from here! Last thing I want to see is an improved ability to get to the line and finish through contact inside. He's made great strides, but is only one more big injury or cold stretch away from having his main past issues resurface again fast. But I hope he manages to do this right through the playoffs! Time to trade Jimmy imo not him anymore lol.

All these concerns you mentioned here were real in many of us, and I’m glad that as a Heat fan you are able to recognize when something good is transpiring. To not give props to one of our own player when things are going well for such player, only shows that some have other agendas besides the Heat agenda, and it’s ok, to each its own.

Me personally, I would love for all these players to start playing to their capabilities at the same time, and most importantly, sustain it.

I’m here personally for the team

[KingDavid]

Big props to Herro playing his best ball and to Dru Smith. I've talked my share of trash about them. Glad to see them well on their way to shutting me the hell up; playoffs.

[ZoStrong]

Mans ready to sign the Dru Smith form after 2 games but won't sign Tyler's after 20 odd?

Make it make sense 3ammy!

Dru is on a 2 way, Herros on a near max for him!!! Dru has played to his contract already, Herro has to show he’s here to stay, you’ve seen how this goes the last 5 years!

THIS!

Herro was supposed to become this years ago. Instead, every season, injuries derailed him. He's an incredibly frustrating player. I'm encouraged, but I was encouraged last year too, and then he missed a crap ton of games and sucked when he came back. Stay healthy and keep balling when it matters the most. Then he'll earn my apology,

Dru Smith is a borderline prospect whose work ethic off the court is turning him into a real NBA player, There is a massive difference.

Years ago?
Herro is 24 yrs old now and was a 13th pick. Expecting him to be one of the best guards at 20, 21 w a mid first round pick is out of touch w the reality.
It takes time to develop, especially w guards w limited physical gifts. Look at Curry's early years. Injuries derailed him too. And Curry was a much higher pick. Lower the unrealistic expectations a little n let him develop.
Now, Bam is 27 and a half. He's got more of an urgency to improve or he's gonna plateau. I expected another level after the Olympics but so far disappointing

[BBallFreak]

Dru is on a 2 way, Herros on a near max for him!!! Dru has played to his contract already, Herro has to show he’s here to stay, you’ve seen how this goes the last 5 years!

THIS!

Herro was supposed to become this years ago. Instead, every season, injuries derailed him. He's an incredibly frustrating player. I'm encouraged, but I was encouraged last year too, and then he missed a crap ton of games and sucked when he came back. Stay healthy and keep balling when it matters the most. Then he'll earn my apology,

Dru Smith is a borderline prospect whose work ethic off the court is turning him into a real NBA player, There is a massive difference.

Years ago?
Herro is 24 yrs old now and was a 13th pick. Expecting him to be one of the best guards at 20, 21 w a mid first round pick is out of touch w the reality.
It takes time to develop, especially w guards w limited physical gifts. Look at Curry's early years. Injuries derailed him too. And Curry was a much higher pick. Lower the unrealistic expectations a little n let him develop.
Now, Bam is 27 and a half. He's got more of an urgency to improve or he's gonna plateau. I expected another level after the Olympics but so far disappointing

This is his 6th season and he's making a fortune. You pay someone near max money based on something they did in their rookie season, you expect them to deliver. Otherwise, they are, innately, disappointing. Six seasons should be enough to say he's not supposed to collapse in the post season. You mention Steph being derailed by injuries. Wrong. Guy played in 74 or more games every year but one until he was 28 years old. Tyler's never played in 70 games! And his injuries ALWAYS cost us in the playoffs! We have every right to be disappointed and for you to say otherwise is, quite frankly, obnoxious. Opportunity cost is a thing. To this point, he hasn't lived up to his contract so we have the right to wonder if that money could be better spent, elsewhere.

[SerialChiller]

THIS!

Herro was supposed to become this years ago. Instead, every season, injuries derailed him. He's an incredibly frustrating player. I'm encouraged, but I was encouraged last year too, and then he missed a crap ton of games and sucked when he came back. Stay healthy and keep balling when it matters the most. Then he'll earn my apology,

Dru Smith is a borderline prospect whose work ethic off the court is turning him into a real NBA player, There is a massive difference.

THIS AGAIN! Herro showed promise right off the bat then fizzled out with his play and constant injuries. He obviously had his critics myself included and not to mention the entire trade market at his salary, but he's looking good! I've been heaping praise on him so far this year and have been impressed with everything from his maturity and professionalism off the court to his greatly improved play and ability to maintain it for A STRETCH!

He's still only just about to turn 25 and even us critics have always known he's had this skillset. It's just would he ever manage to reach his potential as a scorer? Which to justify the money required improved shot IQ and general availability. Additionally he's seemingly improved as a playmaker and even tries to at least commit to giving effort and being better defensively.

Most of us doubters main issue was could he get to this point in time for Jimmy's timeline and that's not really wrong. We tried to contend but he wasn't ready to support Jimmy as a scorer yet when he needed him either both efficiency or health wise. Even attitude wise. He's super young that's ok but we paid him to be there, Riley can't decide if we are looking to the youth or giving Jimmy our all while he's here. It's a bit late now, but damn it's nice to see!

He's a young scorer that had injury and efficiency issues plus forced into too much playmaking leading to many TOs and sucked at defense while making 30M. Those are facts but he's now turned all that around for a stretch and I hope to all that is holy it's the new him with nothing but an upward trajectory from here! Last thing I want to see is an improved ability to get to the line and finish through contact inside. He's made great strides, but is only one more big injury or cold stretch away from having his main past issues resurface again fast. But I hope he manages to do this right through the playoffs! Time to trade Jimmy imo not him anymore lol.

All these concerns you mentioned here were real in many of us, and I’m glad that as a Heat fan you are able to recognize when something good is transpiring. To not give props to one of our own player when things are going well for such player, only shows that some have other agendas besides the Heat agenda, and it’s ok, to each its own.

Me personally, I would love for all these players to start playing to their capabilities at the same time, and most importantly, sustain it.

I’m here personally for the team

100% I want them all to do well! I just become negative when it comes to the team's lack of a clear direction and Spo's weird eccentricities but usually not towards the players themselves. Herro got hate because we were supposedly trying to win now while straddling the fence of also looking towards developing the next generation of young talent. We shouldn't of been doing both because that results in ultimate success at neither and that's my gripe. Pick a lane, commit and go for it that's what I want either way. I want any player in a Heat jersey to succeed no matter what however, unless we ever get Harden lol.

[SerialChiller]

Dru is on a 2 way, Herros on a near max for him!!! Dru has played to his contract already, Herro has to show he’s here to stay, you’ve seen how this goes the last 5 years!

THIS!

Herro was supposed to become this years ago. Instead, every season, injuries derailed him. He's an incredibly frustrating player. I'm encouraged, but I was encouraged last year too, and then he missed a crap ton of games and sucked when he came back. Stay healthy and keep balling when it matters the most. Then he'll earn my apology,

Dru Smith is a borderline prospect whose work ethic off the court is turning him into a real NBA player, There is a massive difference.

Years ago?
Herro is 24 yrs old now and was a 13th pick. Expecting him to be one of the best guards at 20, 21 w a mid first round pick is out of touch w the reality.
It takes time to develop, especially w guards w limited physical gifts. Look at Curry's early years. Injuries derailed him too. And Curry was a much higher pick. Lower the unrealistic expectations a little n let him develop.
Now, Bam is 27 and a half. He's got more of an urgency to improve or he's gonna plateau. I expected another level after the Olympics but so far disappointing

Riley and Spo put him in a position and role where he was expected to be one of the best guards. He even self proclaimed stuff like that as well. Sure it's not realistic in most cases to expect, but we were just going by the franchises expectations..."we have enough!" Jimmy needed a secondary scorer, they paid him the money to be that before he was ready to be it. So he bore the weight of those expectations because they put it on him. If they weren't half trying to win with Butler and half trying to develop youth then it would be different.

And I fully agree with Bam...he's a target for criticism now with his underwhelming start to this season. We all know he does plenty of non statsheet stuff, but this was finally looking like a big step up season for him after the olymipics and no dice so far.

[ZoStrong]

THIS!

Herro was supposed to become this years ago. Instead, every season, injuries derailed him. He's an incredibly frustrating player. I'm encouraged, but I was encouraged last year too, and then he missed a crap ton of games and sucked when he came back. Stay healthy and keep balling when it matters the most. Then he'll earn my apology,

Dru Smith is a borderline prospect whose work ethic off the court is turning him into a real NBA player, There is a massive difference.

Years ago?
Herro is 24 yrs old now and was a 13th pick. Expecting him to be one of the best guards at 20, 21 w a mid first round pick is out of touch w the reality.
It takes time to develop, especially w guards w limited physical gifts. Look at Curry's early years. Injuries derailed him too. And Curry was a much higher pick. Lower the unrealistic expectations a little n let him develop.
Now, Bam is 27 and a half. He's got more of an urgency to improve or he's gonna plateau. I expected another level after the Olympics but so far disappointing

This is his 6th season and he's making a fortune. You pay someone near max money based on something they did in their rookie season, you expect them to deliver. Otherwise, they are, innately, disappointing. Six seasons should be enough to say he's not supposed to collapse in the post season. You mention Steph being derailed by injuries. Wrong. Guy played in 74 or more games every year but one until he was 28 years old. Tyler's never played in 70 games! And his injuries ALWAYS cost us in the playoffs! We have every right to be disappointed and for you to say otherwise is, quite frankly, obnoxious. Opportunity cost is a thing. To this point, he hasn't lived up to his contract so we have the right to wonder if that money could be better spent, elsewhere.

Look, like it or not, everyone who's above average player now makes Herro money in the league. It's nowhere close to the max at 30m when guys are getting over 40m, 50m per. 60m isn't far away.

Stephen got a low lvl first extension because of his durability issues w his ankle if u remember. 4 yr 44m or something close to it.

And I'm only comparing the physical attributes, obviously Curry will go on as the one of top 10 all time in the history book. Tyler will be lucky to be in top 150 probably.

Both were and are good shooters (one clearly better, ofc) but weren't physically gifted (skinny, short arms, etc) n dealt w injuries. (Again, just because Curry played more games doesn't mean he did not. And got a low offer extension because of it)

And Heat didn't give him that contract because he's all that. That was pretty much the going rate and you hold on to your asset w a going rate offer and deal him later for a better asset. That's the asset management in the league.

And who said I'm not disappointed. He's been injured in crucial times. Tough luck. Him going for the ball on the floor and breaking a hand, I hate it, but I'm blaming him for the hustle. Just not a durable player. I like to see him play better and stay healthy so maybe we can use him to get a more durable n talented star. If not, him staying healthy for the entire season is nice as well.

[ZoStrong]

THIS!

Herro was supposed to become this years ago. Instead, every season, injuries derailed him. He's an incredibly frustrating player. I'm encouraged, but I was encouraged last year too, and then he missed a crap ton of games and sucked when he came back. Stay healthy and keep balling when it matters the most. Then he'll earn my apology,

Dru Smith is a borderline prospect whose work ethic off the court is turning him into a real NBA player, There is a massive difference.

Years ago?
Herro is 24 yrs old now and was a 13th pick. Expecting him to be one of the best guards at 20, 21 w a mid first round pick is out of touch w the reality.
It takes time to develop, especially w guards w limited physical gifts. Look at Curry's early years. Injuries derailed him too. And Curry was a much higher pick. Lower the unrealistic expectations a little n let him develop.
Now, Bam is 27 and a half. He's got more of an urgency to improve or he's gonna plateau. I expected another level after the Olympics but so far disappointing

Riley and Spo put him in a position and role where he was expected to be one of the best guards. He even self proclaimed stuff like that as well. Sure it's not realistic in most cases to expect, but we were just going by the franchises expectations..."we have enough!" Jimmy needed a secondary scorer, they paid him the money to be that before he was ready to be it. So he bore the weight of those expectations because they put it on him. If they weren't half trying to win with Butler and half trying to develop youth then it would be different.

And I fully agree with Bam...he's a target for criticism now with his underwhelming start to this season. We all know he does plenty of non statsheet stuff, but this was finally looking like a big step up season for him after the olymipics and no dice so far.

Ya, heard many times, that "We have enough" comments. But what are gonna say? " We need more!", lol. Whatever they think inside, publicly that's the PR n also the mentality you gotta have as a warrior in this highly competitive n physical sport.

And, Bam is crucial for this current Heat's success, yes. Just his defensive presence alone. But I really thought he was gonna be a strong Robin on a championship team. It's his passive and unsureness that bothers me more than anything. But we shall see. This year n maybe next, if he doesn't make a leap, he's what he is. A perennial DPOY candidate and a 3rd/4th option on offense on a real contender. I still think he can do better.

[Shewasfly]

Dru is on a 2 way, Herros on a near max for him!!! Dru has played to his contract already, Herro has to show he’s here to stay, you’ve seen how this goes the last 5 years!

THIS!

Herro was supposed to become this years ago. Instead, every season, injuries derailed him. He's an incredibly frustrating player. I'm encouraged, but I was encouraged last year too, and then he missed a crap ton of games and sucked when he came back. Stay healthy and keep balling when it matters the most. Then he'll earn my apology,

Dru Smith is a borderline prospect whose work ethic off the court is turning him into a real NBA player, There is a massive difference.

THIS AGAIN! Herro showed promise right off the bat then fizzled out with his play and constant injuries. He obviously had his critics myself included and not to mention the entire trade market at his salary, but he's looking good! I've been heaping praise on him so far this year and have been impressed with everything from his maturity and professionalism off the court to his greatly improved play and ability to maintain it for A STRETCH!

He's still only just about to turn 25 and even us critics have always known he's had this skillset. It's just would he ever manage to reach his potential as a scorer? Which to justify the money required improved shot IQ and general availability. Additionally he's seemingly improved as a playmaker and even tries to at least commit to giving effort and being better defensively.

Most of us doubters main issue was could he get to this point in time for Jimmy's timeline and that's not really wrong. We tried to contend but he wasn't ready to support Jimmy as a scorer yet when he needed him either both efficiency or health wise. Even attitude wise. He's super young that's ok but we paid him to be there, Riley can't decide if we are looking to the youth or giving Jimmy our all while he's here. It's a bit late now, but damn it's nice to see!

He's a young scorer that had injury and efficiency issues plus forced into too much playmaking leading to many TOs and sucked at defense while making 30M. Those are facts but he's now turned all that around for a stretch and I hope to all that is holy it's the new him with nothing but an upward trajectory from here! Last thing I want to see is an improved ability to get to the line and finish through contact inside. He's made great strides, but is only one more big injury or cold stretch away from having his main past issues resurface again fast. But I hope he manages to do this right through the playoffs! Time to trade Jimmy imo not him anymore lol.

The bold just tells me you never had any faith in Bam, because why was this Tyler's expectation in your mind and not Bam's? How can the franchise cornerstone have zero expectations compared to the bum everybody wanted to get rid of? Makes no sense.

Honestly the only thing that's really separated Tyler efficiency wise from other volume scorers that others laud over in previous years is his ability to get to the line. Part of that he can control, but part of it he can't. You kind of just have to rely on 'those on high' deciding he's worth giving the calls they give other similar players. He's getting them now, and definitely playing 1000x smarter which helps a ton. We shall see what happens the rest of the season, but a lot of people seem to expect a lot from Tyler while not regarding him well as a player, which makes it clearly impossible for them to ever truly feel satisfied with his production outside of perfection (which clearly isn't sustainable).

[SerialChiller]

THIS!

Herro was supposed to become this years ago. Instead, every season, injuries derailed him. He's an incredibly frustrating player. I'm encouraged, but I was encouraged last year too, and then he missed a crap ton of games and sucked when he came back. Stay healthy and keep balling when it matters the most. Then he'll earn my apology,

Dru Smith is a borderline prospect whose work ethic off the court is turning him into a real NBA player, There is a massive difference.

THIS AGAIN! Herro showed promise right off the bat then fizzled out with his play and constant injuries. He obviously had his critics myself included and not to mention the entire trade market at his salary, but he's looking good! I've been heaping praise on him so far this year and have been impressed with everything from his maturity and professionalism off the court to his greatly improved play and ability to maintain it for A STRETCH!

He's still only just about to turn 25 and even us critics have always known he's had this skillset. It's just would he ever manage to reach his potential as a scorer? Which to justify the money required improved shot IQ and general availability. Additionally he's seemingly improved as a playmaker and even tries to at least commit to giving effort and being better defensively.

Most of us doubters main issue was could he get to this point in time for Jimmy's timeline and that's not really wrong. We tried to contend but he wasn't ready to support Jimmy as a scorer yet when he needed him either both efficiency or health wise. Even attitude wise. He's super young that's ok but we paid him to be there, Riley can't decide if we are looking to the youth or giving Jimmy our all while he's here. It's a bit late now, but damn it's nice to see!

He's a young scorer that had injury and efficiency issues plus forced into too much playmaking leading to many TOs and sucked at defense while making 30M. Those are facts but he's now turned all that around for a stretch and I hope to all that is holy it's the new him with nothing but an upward trajectory from here! Last thing I want to see is an improved ability to get to the line and finish through contact inside. He's made great strides, but is only one more big injury or cold stretch away from having his main past issues resurface again fast. But I hope he manages to do this right through the playoffs! Time to trade Jimmy imo not him anymore lol.

The bold just tells me you never had any faith in Bam, because why was this Tyler's expectation in your mind and not Bam's? How can the franchise cornerstone have zero expectations compared to the bum everybody wanted to get rid of? Makes no sense.

Honestly the only thing that's really separated Tyler efficiency wise from other volume scorers that others laud over in previous years is his ability to get to the line. Part of that he can control, but part of it he can't. You kind of just have to rely on 'those on high' deciding he's worth giving the calls they give other similar players. He's getting them now, and definitely playing 1000x smarter which helps a ton. We shall see what happens the rest of the season, but a lot of people seem to expect a lot from Tyler while not regarding him well as a player, which makes it clearly impossible for them to ever truly feel satisfied with his production outside of perfection (which clearly isn't sustainable).

I had faith in Bam to be what he has always been, an all world defender who's an allstar anchoring one side of the floor but can't be counted on offensively. I never had faith in Bam/Tyler to be good enough quick enough to win during Jimmy's timeline without another star here. I have nothing bad to say about Herro this year he's been fantastic both on and off the court it's great to see!

[dolphinatik]

Bam is good on smaller players but I wouldn't consider him an all worlds defender. Centers and pf give him trouble. Honestly D Wade never had to play without defensive anchors and wouldn't have had the same career without the solid team construction around him. Our guards are often the last line of defense in this broken system. Bam is not Zo he might not even be PJ Brown. I like Bam but he should be doing more than he is. He is the best we have now. If I have to pick top heat centers and pfs I'm not sure Bam makes the list.

[NightWatch]

Big props to Herro playing his best ball and to Dru Smith. I've talked my share of trash about them. Glad to see them well on their way to shutting me the hell up; playoffs.

Yeah but Heat losing games without butler. Herro still couldn’t manufacture wins that he solely responsible for unless butler played.

[3ammy3uck3ts]

Bam is good on smaller players but I wouldn't consider him an all worlds defender. Centers and pf give him trouble. Honestly D Wade never had to play without defensive anchors and wouldn't have had the same career without the solid team construction around him. Our guards are often the last line of defense in this broken system. Bam is not Zo he might not even be PJ Brown. I like Bam but he should be doing more than he is. He is the best we have now. If I have to pick top heat centers and pfs I'm not sure Bam makes the list.

This is WILD

[dshearn]

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

Dru has been a nice revelation, bouncing back from an injury. Much maligned for getting one of the two way deals but he’s proving the coaches and decision makers see more than fans.

I love the Dru Smith kind of players....that is my leading cause of Joy watching the Heat. It is not all fringe type players, but those fringe guys that understand they have a 1 in a thousand shot at the NBA, and go 110% and really try to maximize their opportunity...they are fun to root for.

I thought Dru showed something last year in his limited opportunity, I get that he is replaceable, but in the meanwhile...it is fun to watch.

Whom ever the Heat hired that is finding all these guys, I really wish they could do this during the big 3 era. I know the 3 massive contracts era in the NBA is falling out of style....but damn dudes.....if there was ever a front office that could pull off building a bench from nothing...it is this Heat team.

[dshearn]

Bam is good on smaller players but I wouldn't consider him an all worlds defender. Centers and pf give him trouble. Honestly D Wade never had to play without defensive anchors and wouldn't have had the same career without the solid team construction around him. Our guards are often the last line of defense in this broken system. Bam is not Zo he might not even be PJ Brown. I like Bam but he should be doing more than he is. He is the best we have now. If I have to pick top heat centers and pfs I'm not sure Bam makes the list.

This is WILD

Yeah...I dunno....

Some dudes give him issues, some dudes give EVERYONE issues....Some other dudes, I think the Heat just pick their poison and want the ball to end up with a lessor skilled big, because it beats the alternative.

When Bam has to get a stop, more often then not...he makes scoring on him harder.