2023 Heat Season Thread - Let me dream edition

[AirP.]

Good read for all, but especially for any who still don't get it:

https://www.theringer.com/nba/2023/6/7/23752048/bam-adebayo-miami-heat-2023-nba-finals

Adebayo’s role doesn’t call for him to rack up many blocks or deflections. Instead, Miami asks him to be a fast-moving brick wall that gets in the way of drives before they develop, bothers rather than blocks shots, and deters passes. He is often the solid back-line safety who allows the rest of his teammates to blitz, gamble, and freestyle.

Adebayo has the impossible task of slowing down the two-time MVP while also switching onto shifty guards like Jamal Murray and anchoring Miami’s zone, which held the Nuggets to 0.875 points per direct chance in Game 2, according to Second Spectrum. On offense, Adebayo has always had a knack for the little things—a screen assist here, a hockey assist there—but in two games, he’s looking for the basket as much as he’s looking for his teammates. He leads Miami in touches (87.5), points per game (23.5), field goal attempts per game (19.5), and rebounds per game (11).

This is why I been with the mindset that Bam was worth the max contract even if his offense doesn't get any better. He stabilizes the defense like an elite scorer can stabilize an offense. Unlike most shot blocking bigs, you can run your offense through him if you need to and he's never getting played off the court.

If Bam adds a legit open 3pt shot or/and adds better play in the low post where he can really punish teams for putting a small on him, he'll be an incredible option for a coach in the playoffs.

[AirP.]

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[Kobewade11]

Oh boy

[SA37]

It's official: Lillard to Miami for Herro

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[greg4012]

https://sdpn.ca/2023/06/05/duncan-robinson-the-art-of-active-participation/

Very proud of Duncan for how he has bounced back from a tough couple years. He's having fun playing again and he's letting his work shine through on the big stage

[IceColdCubano]

It's official: Lillard to Miami for Herro

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We need to let this dream go, Dame is staying in Portland or getting traded to a team with actual assets for a franchise looking to rebuild.

[oreon]

It's official: Lillard to Miami for Herro

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If we win, then Nah. I'll stuck with the young core and let them develop. Don't fix if its not broken. If we don't then, go all in for Dame.

[SA37]

Apparently we need to retitle the Thread to Let me dream....or not edition

[IceColdCubano]

Apparently we need to retitle the Thread to Let me dream....or not edition

Agreed!!!

[KingDavid]

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The future is so bright

So I know Tyler would be on the way out if we trade for Dame. At the rate Gabe is going, we might not be able to afford him & Strus. Fml I want to keep this group though. They've impressed and frankly, humbled the ever living **** out of me. Wish Herro were able to play and add to it. I wouldn't be upset if we kept Herro and sought out other ways to upgrade. Herro isn't a Dame-level player, but we need a PG if Gabe chooses too move on. Who would have to move other than Herro if Gabe and Strus walk to afford Dame's contract?

Can our offer compete with the Nets' offerings?

A Dame/Bam p&r with Jimmy off the ball in space...

[KingDavid]

It's official: Lillard to Miami for Herro

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We need to let this dream go, Dame is staying in Portland or getting traded to a team with actual assets for a franchise looking to rebuild.

Herro is a big asset though, no?

[QUIZ]

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The future is so bright

I'm gonna quote this in the other thread to not derail this one because I have some salary questions. Apparently he prefers us or the Nets over the Knicks from the title of an article on Yahoo.

Aaaaaaaaand I just saw your post above mine after I posted this.

I think Herro + Duncan for Lillard works salary wise. Also think Herro + Lowry for Lillard and filler also works.

Actually don’t think Dame’s value will be unreasonably high. He’s turning 33 and the one team with a ton of assets who would typically be in on a player like this (the Knicks) already has a small point guard. Again this is an offseason convo and it really comes down to whether Lillard and the Trailblazers want to part ways. If they do then we should jump on it. If not, we move on as defending champs

[KingDavid]

Good read for all, but especially for any who still don't get it:

https://www.theringer.com/nba/2023/6/7/23752048/bam-adebayo-miami-heat-2023-nba-finals

Adebayo’s role doesn’t call for him to rack up many blocks or deflections. Instead, Miami asks him to be a fast-moving brick wall that gets in the way of drives before they develop, bothers rather than blocks shots, and deters passes. He is often the solid back-line safety who allows the rest of his teammates to blitz, gamble, and freestyle.

Adebayo has the impossible task of slowing down the two-time MVP while also switching onto shifty guards like Jamal Murray and anchoring Miami’s zone, which held the Nuggets to 0.875 points per direct chance in Game 2, according to Second Spectrum. On offense, Adebayo has always had a knack for the little things—a screen assist here, a hockey assist there—but in two games, he’s looking for the basket as much as he’s looking for his teammates. He leads Miami in touches (87.5), points per game (23.5), field goal attempts per game (19.5), and rebounds per game (11).

This is why I been with the mindset that Bam was worth the max contract even if his offense doesn't get any better. He stabilizes the defense like an elite scorer can stabilize an offense. Unlike most shot blocking bigs, you can run your offense through him if you need to and he's never getting played off the court.

If Bam adds a legit open 3pt shot or/and adds better play in the low post where he can really punish teams for putting a small on him, he'll be an incredible option for a coach in the playoffs.

Bam's 3pt shot might make a an appearance next season. Maybe 2 a game, end of quarters? He can't hit them in a game at the rate his teammates do, so I'm pretty sure that's why we haven't seen much of it. But maybe between us & reddit Heat fans, we flood Bam's social media this off-season to inspire him to prep to shoot 3s? Idk.

[KingDavid]

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The future is so bright

I'm gonna quote this in the other thread to not derail this one because I have some salary questions. Apparently he prefers us or the Nets over the Knicks from the title of an article on Yahoo.

Aaaaaaaaand I just saw your post above mine after I posted this.

I think Herro + Duncan for Lillard works salary wise. Also think Herro + Lowry for Lillard and filler also works.

Actually don’t think Dame’s value will be unreasonably high. He’s turning 33 and the one team with a ton of assets who would typically be in on a player like this (the Knicks) already has a small point guard. Again this is an offseason convo and it really comes down to whether Lillard and the Trailblazers want to part ways. If they do then we should jump on it. If not, we move on as defending champs

I like this take. I thought he was 30 for some reason. 33? Yikes.

Damian Lillard signed a 4 year / $176,265,152 contract with the Portland Trail Blazers, including $176,265,152 guaranteed, and an annual average salary of $44,066,288. In 2023-24, Lillard will earn a base salary of $45,640,084, while carrying a cap hit of $45,640,084 and a dead cap value of $45,640,084.

That is a very large salary to pay when he's 36 and I already bitch about how we pay Lowry 30 mil for the little he gives us (that's before the playoffs. Now he's a good asset to control the bench offense and closing group in the playoffs and has hit some big time shots).

[QUIZ]

I'm gonna quote this in the other thread to not derail this one because I have some salary questions. Apparently he prefers us or the Nets over the Knicks from the title of an article on Yahoo.

Aaaaaaaaand I just saw your post above mine after I posted this.

I think Herro + Duncan for Lillard works salary wise. Also think Herro + Lowry for Lillard and filler also works.

Actually don’t think Dame’s value will be unreasonably high. He’s turning 33 and the one team with a ton of assets who would typically be in on a player like this (the Knicks) already has a small point guard. Again this is an offseason convo and it really comes down to whether Lillard and the Trailblazers want to part ways. If they do then we should jump on it. If not, we move on as defending champs

I like this take. I thought he was 30 for some reason. 33? Yikes.

Damian Lillard signed a 4 year / $176,265,152 contract with the Portland Trail Blazers, including $176,265,152 guaranteed, and an annual average salary of $44,066,288. In 2023-24, Lillard will earn a base salary of $45,640,084, while carrying a cap hit of $45,640,084 and a dead cap value of $45,640,084.

That is a very large salary to pay when he's 36 and I already bitch about how we pay Lowry 30 mil for the little he gives us (that's before the playoffs. Now he's a good asset to control the bench offense and closing group in the playoffs and has hit some big time shots).

This is why I think he’s a very attainable target IF he wants to leave Portland and if they want to trade him.

You should check out the bill Simmons podcast if you’re interested, they dive into it and consider possibilities. He is on a brutal contract, if you traded for him you’d basically be doing it to maximize the next year or two of Jimmy and the Heat core.

[IceColdCubano]

It's official: Lillard to Miami for Herro

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We need to let this dream go, Dame is staying in Portland or getting traded to a team with actual assets for a franchise looking to rebuild.

Herro is a big asset though, no?

Yes and No, Anything is an asset, the keyword is it depends and to whom. First round picks are assets, but Miami's 1st rounders might as well be 2nd rounders because were a competitive team, so your getting late 1st rounders every single time. So they are slightly devalued in that sense compared to other teams, who have streaks of bad years even if they have Superstars on their team. Your gonna have to lump enough of them together to make it worth it, and then you also don't have as other teams. So quality and quantity is on the low end. You also factor Miami probably may not want to give them all up for a 2-3 window as Lillard is as old or older than Jimmy.

Now lets talk about Herro, is he valuable to Portland, I don't know that answer, could be, but surely there are better players for $30M a year. Are they getting best bang for their buck, maybe, maybe not. Perhaps a two players slightly worse than Herro with upside making half of Herro's contract is better for them. If Portland is re-building, who are they picking in the draft, and will that work with Herro on the team, is that your direction as a franchise. Those are questions they need to answer, also dollars don't match so youll need to send more money out, like whom Lowry, Duncan, Vincent, Caleb? Is Miami willing to part ways with positive assets, and or is Portland willing to take on negative ones, big questions there. Can Herro have enough fandom to put seats in an arena, maybe, he is out there in social media, far better known to casuals than our boy Bam. Can he score 25-30ppg is the main guy on a team with offense ran through him, maybe that could work, don't think its conductive to winning, which is what they would want to keep racking up good draft position in the next couple years. Is he injury prone, yes, Herro has a career as an injury prone player, very prone to getting injuries, will Portland want that gamble who knows.

Too many what ifs, with too much to have to go right, the package has to be bundled perfectly/tastefully and Miami has to decide if they win the championship this year that their willing to lose key pieces and future assets for a short window with Lillard who's making ridiculous amount of money.

[AirP.]

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[Kobewade11]

The problem Portland is going to run into is value for that draft pick. Someone like Jaylen Brown makes sense on paper, but Boston has been in the ECF the last two years why move your second best player for a pick? They should embrace the youth movement and take the best deals they can get for both Lillard and Grant. They did give Billups a 5 year deal though, and I’m sure that was with Lillard in mind. It’ll be interesting to see what direction they go.

[IceColdCubano]

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Talking about friends or family there, reading between the lines obviously some people only care about what you can do for them. When your on your lowest not even a text message about how your day is going.

[AirP.]

Now lets talk about Herro, is he valuable to Portland, I don't know that answer, could be, but surely there are better players for $30M a year. Are they getting best bang for their buck, maybe, maybe not. Perhaps a two players slightly worse than Herro with upside making half of Herro's contract is better for them. If Portland is re-building, who are they picking in the draft, and will that work with Herro on the team, is that your direction as a franchise. Those are questions they need to answer, also dollars don't match so youll need to send more money out, like whom Lowry, Duncan, Vincent, Caleb? Is Miami willing to part ways with positive assets, and or is Portland willing to take on negative ones, big questions there. Can Herro have enough fandom to put seats in an arena, maybe, he is out there in social media, far better known to casuals than our boy Bam. Can he score 25-30ppg is the main guy on a team with offense ran through him, maybe that could work, don't think its conductive to winning, which is what they would want to keep racking up good draft position in the next couple years. Is he injury prone, yes, Herro has a career as an injury prone player, very prone to getting injuries, will Portland want that gamble who knows.

Portland has 2 up and coming scorers at SG and SF with Simons and Sharpe, SG/SF isn't what they need, if they're moving Lillard, they're not only deciding to rebuild but they're probably expecting to get Scoot for their franchise PG, they're potentially good at 1-3 with young talent which would mean if Herro is the biggest single asset Miami is sending out, he's going to have to go to a 3rd team to get different types off assets for Portland unless they're moving Simons to a 3rd team. It's going to be very difficult to get the assets Portland wants for Lillard. Luckily it sounds like Lillard is now flirting with leaving Portland which may be because he sees that Portland needs to rebuild and he's not going to have a good chance to win a championship in Portland.

I'll keep putting this out there... Beal can nearly force his way to Miami since he has a no trade clause, so if they want to rebuild with assets they get from a Beal trade, they can only move him where he is willing to go, hence making Washington take less or not move him. I'm not a big Beal fan but he's a proven scorer and has dropped 30 a night in recent history and is a great 3pt shooter, he'd be a great 3rd star to go with Butler and Bam and he may have another 4-5 great years left since he's almost 30 now, not nearly 33 as Lillard is.