2023 Heat Season Thread - Let me dream edition

[3ammy3uck3ts]

Bodied.

[Kobewade11]

No thats inexcusable. If the front office thinks it has something special in Butler and Bam, you move heaven and earth to get them better players. If the front office doesnt think Butler and Bam are special then they do nothing and wait for a buy out. At the end of the day it will be a ring or bust with this team this year.

What heaven and earth pieces did we have to move?

And btw how did you go from saying we were going to get swept in the first round to it now being ring or bust?

[Kobewade11]

I get supporting this FO up till 2015, they did an incredible job but since then it's been middle of the road for this team except for not paying Wade where he went to Miami and sold Butler on Miami's no tank environment. Butler was a gift to a franchise that he committed in his first 5 minutes of the meeting, he was sold by Wade before the meeting. You can try to lie to yourself that the FO has really tried to build around Butler, but they haven't and probably threw away 1-2 championships (after these playoffs) because of it.

I give you credit for not making it about “and Bam”. There are no guaranteed championships, short of Kevin Durant there is no player out there I’m saying if we got them we were guaranteed to win 1 or 2 championships. If we were healthy I thought we had enough to win in the bubble. You guys can marinate on the shoulda woulda coulda’s, we’re a win away from yet another conference finals appearance. I get that some here are just player fans but (try to) enjoy it.

[Bishop45]

Watch on YouTube

[Beenie]

Nuggets would be a terrible matchup.

Anyone else, Mia can compete against and potentially win.

[Kobewade11]

Nuggets would be a terrible matchup.

Anyone else, Mia can compete against and potentially win.

Nuggets or LA both would be tough, AD is a nightmare matchup for Bam. Even in the East I think Boston might be too tough but we'll see what happens if we can pack up NY.

[3ammy3uck3ts]

IF we make the finals I’d say our best chance to win would be:

1. Suns
2. Lakers
3. Nuggets

Suns are Booker and KD with no one else basically other than Shamet going off on wide open 3s in the 4th last game. If 1 or both of those guys go cold I think it’s over.

Lakers are very well balanced but still forget to run through AD as much as they should.

Nuggets I may be giving too much credit, they seem to be Jokic or bust. Murray will give you 32 but he’ll take 29 shots to get it, I’ll live with that.

I think we’re getting the bubble conference finals again this year

[3ammy3uck3ts]

We played the nuggets well in Denver but let it slip away in the last minute or 2. That was a game Jimmy didn’t try too.

Lost by 4 in Miami.

[AirP.]

I get supporting this FO up till 2015, they did an incredible job but since then it's been middle of the road for this team except for not paying Wade where he went to Miami and sold Butler on Miami's no tank environment. Butler was a gift to a franchise that he committed in his first 5 minutes of the meeting, he was sold by Wade before the meeting. You can try to lie to yourself that the FO has really tried to build around Butler, but they haven't and probably threw away 1-2 championships (after these playoffs) because of it.

I give you credit for not making it about “and Bam”. There are no guaranteed championships, short of Kevin Durant there is no player out there I’m saying if we got them we were guaranteed to win 1 or 2 championships. If we were healthy I thought we had enough to win in the bubble. You guys can marinate on the shoulda woulda coulda’s, we’re a win away from yet another conference finals appearance. I get that some here are just player fans but (try to) enjoy it.

I've been saying this for 3 straight years... so the shoulda woulda coulda's are just things I and some other people have been saying BEFORE the FO did nothing. This isn't a hindsight thing, this is why aren't you building onto this roster thing before seasons had started.

The FO has made a number of bad moves without bringing talent in, extending Bam early took away his small cap hold for 2021 which meant they had to do a sign and trade sending out their latest 1st round pick instead of just signing him into cap space (they would have declined Dragic's and Leonard's team options). Sending out a 2nd to get rid of Dedmon? There are reasons why this team doesn't have many assets, the FO keep having to send assets out to correct bad signings and Robinson's horrendous deal is still on the books for 2 more years.

It could be worse; Minnesota finally makes the playoffs after 14 years and they want the coach out because the offense isn't built around Towns and the coach looks angry and cusses during games.

[Kobewade11]

I've been saying this for 3 straight years... so the shoulda woulda coulda's are just things I and some other people have been saying BEFORE the FO did nothing. This isn't a hindsight thing, this is why aren't you building onto this roster thing before seasons had started.

The FO has made a number of bad moves without bringing talent in, extending Bam early took away his small cap hold for 2021 which meant they had to do a sign and trade sending out their latest 1st round pick instead of just signing him into cap space (they would have declined Dragic's and Leonard's team options). Sending out a 2nd to get rid of Dedmon? There are reasons why this team doesn't have many assets, the FO keep having to send assets out to correct bad signings and Robinson's horrendous deal is still on the books for 2 more years.

There's a lot of moves I wished we would have made that we didn't. Hell, some of the moves I wanted us to make probably wouldn't have panned out for this group anyway. That's why I''m not working in anyone's front office, I dont have all the answers. I'm just focused on the now and enjoying the way we're playing.

I'm not going to dissect everything you said because in all honesty we've all read it before and sometimes responding just leads to a chain reaction with other people jumping in, but there is some nuance around the Bam extension. Remember the narrative when Wade left is this team doesn't take care of their guys. Making Bam wait a year would have only added fuel to that fire. So its damned if you do, damned if you don't. Hopefully we can leave it at that.

[AirP.]

I've been saying this for 3 straight years... so the shoulda woulda coulda's are just things I and some other people have been saying BEFORE the FO did nothing. This isn't a hindsight thing, this is why aren't you building onto this roster thing before seasons had started.

The FO has made a number of bad moves without bringing talent in, extending Bam early took away his small cap hold for 2021 which meant they had to do a sign and trade sending out their latest 1st round pick instead of just signing him into cap space (they would have declined Dragic's and Leonard's team options). Sending out a 2nd to get rid of Dedmon? There are reasons why this team doesn't have many assets, the FO keep having to send assets out to correct bad signings and Robinson's horrendous deal is still on the books for 2 more years.

There's a lot of moves I wished we would have made that we didn't. Hell, some of the moves I wanted us to make probably wouldn't have panned out for this group anyway. That's why I''m not working in anyone's front office, I dont have all the answers. I'm just focused on the now and enjoying the way we're playing.

I get that thought process but at some point things have to change for the future, nothing can be done now but watching this success (at some level) should push the FO more towards going all in (but hasn't in recent history) instead of trying to go forward with 2 timelines (winning now, great players later). Even the GS Warriors tried doing 2 timelines and all it did was weaken their current roster and their future is nowhere near as bright as they thought it was before they used their draft assets on high draft picks. They just punted on the guy they drafted #2 overall vs moving that pick for a very good to great player for their playoff runs.

[Kobewade11]

I get that thought process but at some point things have to change for the future, nothing can be done now but watching this success (at some level) should push the FO more towards going all in (but hasn't in recent history) instead of trying to go forward with 2 timelines (winning now, great players later). Even the GS Warriors tried doing 2 timelines and all it did was weaken their current roster and their future is nowhere near as bright as they thought it was before they used their draft assets on high draft picks. They just punted on the guy they drafted #2 overall vs moving that pick for a very good to great player for their playoff runs.

Not that it matters now but I'm curious, what was the all-in move for AirP this year? Not going back several years, but this past offseason or at whatever point in the regular season..what was your all-in trade? incoming and outgoing pieces

[3ammy3uck3ts]

Read on Twitter

In the Wade jacket

[heatlejuice]

Watch on YouTube

[greg4012]

My nightmare is the league pushing for a bubble 2.0 finals to help Lebron prove it was legit by winning his 5th ring at our expense. That would be so disgusting.

The only issue is that their FO worked on making the Laker roster strong as possible for LeBron and AD, Miami's FO didn't do anything but got a gift in Love forcing his way out. Who knows what would have happened last playoffs had the FO added a solid PF behind Tucker just in case.... which they needed. Had this FO really went all in after being gifted Butler in 2019 it's quite possible after this season Miami could have had 1 if not 2 championships with Butler and Bam the 2 top players.

Cool it baby. Enjoy the ride.

[greg4012]

Westbrook is a 40 mil expiring contract, that clearly had value. One front office went out of its way to correct its mistake, one front office doubled down in trying to be cheap. If our front office had just a fraction of belief the way some of us do with Butler and Bam they would have clearly made other moves. Actions speak louder than words.

They tried to make other moves and didnt have the assets for their targets. So they held serve and picked up a couple of guys on the buyout market, who btw have helped the team. They had a greater belief in their guys than most of you and so far they look to be right.

I get supporting this FO up till 2015, they did an incredible job but since then it's been middle of the road for this team except for not paying Wade where he went to Miami and sold Butler on Miami's no tank environment. Butler was a gift to a franchise that he committed in his first 5 minutes of the meeting, he was sold by Wade before the meeting. You can try to lie to yourself that the FO has really tried to build around Butler, but they haven't and probably threw away 1-2 championships (after these playoffs) because of it.

Completely ignoring the carefully crafted, managed, and fostered environment that the front office and franchise has created which allows Butler to thrive is disingenuous at best (malicious at worst). Could they have done more and did they make mistakes? Absolutely. What org hasn't?

Are they one of the 3 best run front offices of the 21st century? Without question.

A lot of what Miami FO is dealing with is literally still hedging from never tanking after mortgaging the future to get the big 3, LeBron trying to burn the village on his way out, and prematurely losing Bosh.

Has the FO been too steadfast in holding out for the biggest possible fish? I think so. But, to act like it's a total failure when this franchise is literally one game away from being back in the conference finals for 3 of the past 4 years is naive. To act like the FO has tried to do nothing when they've been engaged on trying to net every possible big fish and falling short on assets in the inflated market is to actively want to take an antagonistic perspective IMO.

[AirP.]

I get that thought process but at some point things have to change for the future, nothing can be done now but watching this success (at some level) should push the FO more towards going all in (but hasn't in recent history) instead of trying to go forward with 2 timelines (winning now, great players later). Even the GS Warriors tried doing 2 timelines and all it did was weaken their current roster and their future is nowhere near as bright as they thought it was before they used their draft assets on high draft picks. They just punted on the guy they drafted #2 overall vs moving that pick for a very good to great player for their playoff runs.

Not that it matters now but I'm curious, what was the all-in move for AirP this year? Not going back several years, but this past offseason or at whatever point in the regular season..what was your all-in trade? incoming and outgoing pieces

I don't believe Miami needs another star to go with Butler and Bam, I think they need solid 3pt shooting, some size and defensive effort to give that duo a chance at a title. So, when I say go all in, it's about building the entire roster for championship runs, not to just acquire a star.

We don't know really what was available since they quit talking to everyone but Brooklyn hoping they'd get enough leverage from Durant to get him at a discount which why would Brooklyn do that with him under contract for years to come?

Don't think the owner wanted Kyrie so that's out the window, I don't think Dame was available or will be available this summer so not him.

Lots of little things to make the roster better or have a chance to make it better.

Don't extend Herro to make him a great value at his current contract to trade for a bigger player (I wouldn't trade Herro for just a solid role-player, to some teams he's Miami's best realistic asset they may move). If they extended him in order to trade him this summer vs having to S&T him I can understand that for this last year.

Don't draft a project with your 1st round pick when you quite possibly will have a hole at PF if your old PF gets more money elsewhere. Possibly move it in a package for a package to Charlotte or Washington for PJ Washington or Rui. I thought Spoelstra could have really utilized Rui better than Washington did. So far Rui has half as many 20+ point playoff games in 10 playoff games as Herro has had in 41 playoff games.

I would have inquired about Hield at a much smaller price than go after someone like Beal (although Beal is better), I'd possibly inquire on Turner also depending on if I could get both of them at somewhat of a discount. Hield is type of 3pt shooter you invest Robinson money since he has a better overall game and isn't as terrible on the defensive end (I'm not sure if there's anyone worse than Robinson at his size on defense).

Jump into the trade to get S.Bey.

Find out what it takes to get C.Woods since Dallas isn't really using him.

How many assets would it take get Houston to do a D.Robinson for E.Grodon?

The big all in move? I would have considered DeRozan. It would be very interesting to see Butler and DeRozan both hunting matchups and if not getting the right matchup swinging the ball to the other side to let the other one hunt for it. That's a nice what if... had Miami went all in and did 2 sign and trades to get Lowry from Toronto and DeRozan from San Antonio while letting Robinson walk.

[AirP.]

They tried to make other moves and didnt have the assets for their targets. So they held serve and picked up a couple of guys on the buyout market, who btw have helped the team. They had a greater belief in their guys than most of you and so far they look to be right.

I get supporting this FO up till 2015, they did an incredible job but since then it's been middle of the road for this team except for not paying Wade where he went to Miami and sold Butler on Miami's no tank environment. Butler was a gift to a franchise that he committed in his first 5 minutes of the meeting, he was sold by Wade before the meeting. You can try to lie to yourself that the FO has really tried to build around Butler, but they haven't and probably threw away 1-2 championships (after these playoffs) because of it.

Completely ignoring the carefully crafted, managed, and fostered environment that the front office and franchise has created which allows Butler to thrive is disingenuous at best (malicious at worst).

Carefully crafted? Really? They carefully crafted in multiple years of going into the season and playoffs without legit starting PFs, the let Crowder go and didn't replace him (they did get over the hill Ariza) and Miami got swept in the playoffs. This year they let their starting PF once again walk without replacing him and they came in 7th in the East, only having a prayer answered in K.Love not only ask to be bought out and then sign with Miami has this worked. THEY LET STARTERS WALK WITHOUT REPLACING THEM. Nearly every other FO would have gotten someone. Not only did this FO have a good idea that Tucker would walk( or they should have known) they drafted a project PF with their 1st round pick. How is any of that helping Butler?

THEY WENT 7 GAMES IN THE ECF last year, watched their starting PF walk, their best player is 33 years old and said, no, we're good without a PF on the roster, luckily K.Love asked for a buyout to plug the huge hole in the Miami rotation at PF. Without that unexpected buyout, Miami wouldn't be playing now.

Could they have done more and did they make mistakes? Absolutely. What org hasn't?

Nearly every other franchise would have replaced their starting PF, not Miami, they're hoarding assets for that next big trade, they went to the finals and the ECF and was 100% fine letting their starting PF walk and not replace him.

Are they one of the 3 best run front offices of the 21st century? Without question.

Up till LeBron left maybe, since then Miami's only had real success because the FO refused to pay their franchise player D.Wade who went elsewhere and talked Butler into wanting to play in Miami and their environment, it had little to do with the FO other than not paying Wade to make him leave Miami.

They maxed Whiteside, gave sizable contracts to Waiters, J.Johnson, Robinson, Herro and soon to be Vincent, they matched T.Johnson and yet you think this has been a top organization since 2015... no sir, it's why you included the years before LeBron left to try to justify yourself.

A lot of what Miami FO is dealing with is literally still hedging from never tanking after mortgaging the future to get the big 3, LeBron trying to burn the village on his way out, and prematurely losing Bosh.

Noted but handing out horrible contracts isn't the way to fix the situation, nor is trying to undercut your franchise player and forcing him to sign elsewhere. How about quit sending out assets to fix bad contracts you handed out?

Has the FO been too steadfast in holding out for the biggest possible fish? I think so. But, to act like it's a total failure when this franchise is literally one game away from being back in the conference finals for 3 of the past 4 years is naive. To act like the FO has tried to do nothing when they've been engaged on trying to net every possible big fish and falling short on assets in the inflated market is to actively want to take an antagonistic perspective IMO.

The franchise is having success because of the player D.Wade sold on how Spoelstra runs the team, nothing more than that. Had Thibodeau been able to make the moves he wanted AND max out Butler he would have stayed in Minnesota with Thibs. Butler wanted a strucutred and tough team and Miami was one of the few ones left.


I am good with saying this FO may have done the best job in basketball for a 15 to 20 year stretch that ended around 2015, but since then it's not been good and have been lucky to have gifts drop into their lap. Just living in Miami is a huge bonus that a lot of team's can't offer and that has nothing to do with the FO.

I was lifelong Bulls fan, but finally recognized that wow, only because MJ dropped to Chicago in the draft and even going from #9 pick to #1 to get Rose was the only reason they could put together a good team. It's why I'm so critical of front offices now which is just an extension of the owner and what they want. Chicago fans actually paid money to put up advertisements to get rid of GarPax. Gar Foreman was just a bad person... someone should ask Butler about him and find out why betting on himself was so important to him.

[Rapaz]

Congrats to Bam for making the all-defensive first team.

Yeah, I saw they put him on the 2nd team, but I won’t recognize that bull chit.

[AirP.]

Congrats to Bam for making the all-defensive first team.

Yeah, I saw they put him on the 2nd team, but I won’t recognize that bull chit.

Just acknowledging that you posted this first.

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