2023 Heat Season Thread - Let me dream edition

[greg4012]

I hate that Strus and Gabe faded at the end, I hate it for them....but if there is a silver lining....with any luck it is enough tarnish on them the the Heat dont Duncan Robinson them.....

I also and very happy Duncan returned to looking like he belongs in the NBA....cant justify his price tag, but at least when it was put up or shut-up time he looked like he belongs in the NBA....


I wonder if we have crossed that bridge on small ball, Joker has be so-so on defense, but you cant play him off the court.....so could this be the end of small ball?

I would kill for some 2022 Yurt at the 5. I really hope they bring in a real center.

It was never inherently about small ball. It was about space ball. Playing the whole court effectively because advantage can be gained on any part of the game in the playoffs.

I don’t think your average 7 footer will get the leniency of Jokics whistle, but he survives with (1) a team built to help him survive on defense and (2) an elite level bbiq and hand eye coordination. With big man in the playoffs it’s all about how multifaceted you can be on each side of the ball.

I feel like Drummond should be available for vet min. I wonder what he’s got left in the tank as a backup center

[contract]

We really pining for Yurt?

[gom]

Jokic's size is a good part of his game, but the part of his game that broke us was his intelligent, precise passing. This is hyper Boris Diaw picking us apart, whether it's MPJ on the rim, Gordon wide open in the corner, KCP shooting a 3, Braun, Brown, or Murray, he finds them. It's brilliant basketball. Drummond isn't going to help.

[Daffy]

Jokic's size is a good part of his game, but the part of his game that broke us was his intelligent, precise passing. This is hyper Boris Diaw picking us apart, whether it's MPJ on the rim, Gordon wide open in the corner, KCP shooting a 3, Braun, Brown, or Murray, he finds them. It's brilliant basketball. Drummond isn't going to help.

Not hyper Diaw. He's just a bigger Luka.

[Daffy]

I hate that Strus and Gabe faded at the end, I hate it for them....but if there is a silver lining....with any luck it is enough tarnish on them the the Heat dont Duncan Robinson them.....

I also and very happy Duncan returned to looking like he belongs in the NBA....cant justify his price tag, but at least when it was put up or shut-up time he looked like he belongs in the NBA....


I wonder if we have crossed that bridge on small ball, Joker has be so-so on defense, but you cant play him off the court.....so could this be the end of small ball?

I would kill for some 2022 Yurt at the 5. I really hope they bring in a real center.

It was never inherently about small ball. It was about space ball. Playing the whole court effectively because advantage can be gained on any part of the game in the playoffs.

I don’t think your average 7 footer will get the leniency of Jokics whistle, but he survives with (1) a team built to help him survive on defense and (2) an elite level bbiq and hand eye coordination. With big man in the playoffs it’s all about how multifaceted you can be on each side of the ball.

I feel like Drummond should be available for vet min. I wonder what he’s got left in the tank as a backup center

Trust me. You don't want Drummond. Better off bringing back Whiteside.

[dean456]

Read on Twitter

Lillard made it clear in his interview. He'd like to win in Portland. He wants Portland to make the moves to bring a competitive team to Portland and if they can't then he will have to have the conversation about what's next for him.

But if they think the solution is trading for Ayton who has tanked PHX's playoff chances the last two seasons with his terrible attitude and non team first mentality then good luck to them.

I think you will probably see Portland fail to put a team together and ultimately Lillard will be on the move. His team has missed the playoffs the last two years and were a first round exit the two years prior. He's not looking to do that again.

[IceColdCubano]

As long as we keep making these deep playoff runs with this core no significant changes will happen to the team. Only small ones, perhaps simply retaining the talent you have or replacing a backup role with a more seasoned productive veteran. Unfortunately this playoff run was great for us but will not trigger the operations executives from making major moves or make big swings at possible trades.

[IceColdCubano]

Read on Twitter

Lillard made it clear in his interview. He'd like to win in Portland. He wants Portland to make the moves to bring a competitive team to Portland and if they can't then he will have to have the conversation about what's next for him.

But if they think the solution is trading for Ayton who has tanked PHX's playoff chances the last two seasons with his terrible attitude and non team first mentality then good luck to them.

I think you will probably see Portland fail to put a team together and ultimately Lillard will be on the move. His team has missed the playoffs the last two years and were a first round exit the two years prior. He's not looking to do that again.

Portland has assets we dont posses, they have the ability to build a team around Dame. It comes down to if thats what they want. Risk losing those assets now or keep growing them in a rebuild thats undoubably coming for them in the next 2-3 years when Dame is out of his productive prime. Which is what I think their headed in their mindset, lets start the rebuild now and use Dame to get more assets while he has value. Unfortunately they tried to teder that line of rebuilding while staying competative enough to satisfy Dame and its not working.

[Daffy]

As long as we keep making these deep playoff runs with this core no significant changes will happen to the team. Only small ones, perhaps simply retaining the talent you have or replacing a backup role with a more seasoned productive veteran. Unfortunately this playoff run was great for us but will not trigger the operations executives from making major moves or make big swings at possible trades.

I actually see it differently. At some point someone in charge has to say "These guys need to extra punch to seal the victory". No matter how you look at this Denver series there isn't really a small fix that you can confidently say would've put us over the top. I think management knows this, but it takes two to dance. I think they want to make that move but either assets were limited or players had their minds focused on their destinations.

[greg4012]

Read on Twitter

Lillard made it clear in his interview. He'd like to win in Portland. He wants Portland to make the moves to bring a competitive team to Portland and if they can't then he will have to have the conversation about what's next for him.

But if they think the solution is trading for Ayton who has tanked PHX's playoff chances the last two seasons with his terrible attitude and non team first mentality then good luck to them.

I think you will probably see Portland fail to put a team together and ultimately Lillard will be on the move. His team has missed the playoffs the last two years and were a first round exit the two years prior. He's not looking to do that again.

Portland has assets we dont posses, they have the ability to build a team around Dame. It comes down to if thats what they want. Risk losing those assets now or keep growing them in a rebuild thats undoubably coming for them in the next 2-3 years when Dame is out of his productive prime. Which is what I think their headed in their mindset, lets start the rebuild now and use Dame to get more assets while he has value. Unfortunately they tried to teder that line of rebuilding while staying competative enough to satisfy Dame and its not working.

Ownership doesn’t care about competing, just making money off the team. Any moves they make to contend now will just result in a middling team. But I think Dame and Portland are both OK with that. It’s the wrong move to try to reach the mountain top, but I’m not sure anyone that is involved there and matters cares.

[MettaWorldPanda]

Read on Twitter

Lillard made it clear in his interview. He'd like to win in Portland. He wants Portland to make the moves to bring a competitive team to Portland and if they can't then he will have to have the conversation about what's next for him.

But if they think the solution is trading for Ayton who has tanked PHX's playoff chances the last two seasons with his terrible attitude and non team first mentality then good luck to them.

I think you will probably see Portland fail to put a team together and ultimately Lillard will be on the move. His team has missed the playoffs the last two years and were a first round exit the two years prior. He's not looking to do that again.

I think they end up getting Siakim here soon.

[MettaWorldPanda]

Oladipo’s 10 mil is going to be pure dead weight on our cap next year. Wonder if they end up waiving and stretching his contract. This team is not touching the second level punitive tax apron.

[MettaWorldPanda]

We are currently just 3.8 million away from the super tax apron with 9 players currently on the roster. Includes Oladipo who is most likely out for year giving 8 total players on the roster. Highsmith has a 1.9 non guaranteed that they can get off from. Once Oladipo opts in it does make sense to waive and stretch him giving us some breathing room away from the super tax apron line.

[dean456]

Portland aren't really in that good a position.

Even if they renounce all their current FA's including
Jerami Grant
Cam Reddish
Nassir Little
Justice Winslow
Mattise Thybulle

They would only have 12mil in cap space to spend on FA's so they not going to be a cap spending team.

Then as far as tradable players they have,
Simons 24.1mil
Nurkic 16.8mil
Kevin Knox 3mil

Picks they have
2x 2023 FRP (#3 and #23)
0x 2024 FRPs
1x 2025 FRP
1x 2026 FRP
1x 2027 FRP
1x 2028 FRP
1x 2029 FRP

Which means they can only trade 1x 2023 pick, their 2026 and their 2028

Assuming they resign Grant for around 25-30mil and try trade Nurkic, Simons and a pick for Siakam they would have something like 112-117mil committed to Lillard, Siakam and Grant and 15mil committed to 3 other players that are non contributors. Leaving them roughly 30mil under the tax line to either re-sign their FAs with bird rights or use MLE and Bi Annual.

To me there's no shot they making the moves required to make Portland competitive next season. Writing is on the wall and Lillard likely knows he's on the way out. He just trying to save face by saying we going to try make it work in Portland.

[eddieheatfan]

As long as we keep making these deep playoff runs with this core no significant changes will happen to the team. Only small ones, perhaps simply retaining the talent you have or replacing a backup role with a more seasoned productive veteran. Unfortunately this playoff run was great for us but will not trigger the operations executives from making major moves or make big swings at possible trades.

so you think that they are going to run it back2back if so i can expect even fewer wins next season. i dont think this team will handle losing the finals to denver well. everyone not on their prime will be older or damaged goods.

thus i disagree, i think changes are forthcoming, i could be dead wrong. i just think that FO realizes that this team has hit their ceiling

maybe though is just my wishful thinking talking here

[dean456]

Brooklyn have the best assets to provide Portland for Lillard as they have all the expiring money they need and like 8 tradable FRPs.

Now whether Lillard thinks he can compete with Mikal Bridges, Nick Claxton, Ben Simmons, Finney Smith, Cam Thomas and possibly re-signing Cam Johnson with little else after that as apposed to playing with Jimmy and Bam is up to him. But I'd say he'd be leaning Miami first, He did name us and Bam as his boy first after all.

[dean456]

As far as real options for Lillard in the East I feel like the list is Miami, Brooklyn and maybe Atlanta.

Philly, Cleveland and Milwaukee don't have the assets.

I wouldn't imagine NYK trading Brunson after just signing him and those two together makes no sense.

Dame has now said publicly that he has no interest in going to Boston.

Hawks might be a possibility moving Young and picks for him but they can only trade 2023, 1x 2024 and 2029 and not sure ATL are on Lillard's radar.

[Flash4thewin]

As long as we keep making these deep playoff runs with this core no significant changes will happen to the team. Only small ones, perhaps simply retaining the talent you have or replacing a backup role with a more seasoned productive veteran. Unfortunately this playoff run was great for us but will not trigger the operations executives from making major moves or make big swings at possible trades.

so you think that they are going to run it back2back if so i can expect even fewer wins next season. i dont think this team will handle losing the finals to denver well. everyone not on their prime will be older or damaged goods.

thus i disagree, i think changes are forthcoming, i could be dead wrong. i just think that FO realizes that this team has hit their ceiling

maybe though is just my wishful thinking talking here

This is basically what year 3 of 4 where all we have done is bring it back minus a player.

At a certain point reality sorta kicks in. We made the final and were sure the team would make moves to put us on top, we let our starting pf leave. We made the eastern finals and again we let a starter go. Last year again we made the eastern finals and again let a starter go. Stop me if im repeating myself here

Actions always speak louder than words. If our front office ever had any real inclination that we are a contender or close to one, they would have made moves, they didnt.

[Spacely]

If Portland thinks Ayton and Grant are gonna get them past the first round then they got delusion issues. They might not even make the play-in with how competitive the west is. They need another star, so they either trade the pieces they have to help or be stuck in mediocrity.

[3ammy3uck3ts]

PJ Tucker absolutely could’ve helped on slowing down Gordon and possibly Jokic at times. Even Murray as we saw him with the clamps on Trae last year. That alone could’ve been the difference in being down 1-3 or tied 2-2 which in return could’ve been the difference in a championship or not.

Oh well tho, it is what it is. Majority of us knew this season was ending without a championship when we were clear as day a move or 2 away from being legit contenders after last seasons playoffs. Now let’s pray the Dame stuff works out because that’ll attract very solid vets that want to come and guys like Bam will improve this summer again as well. That’s when we’ll win the championship.

Does Lopez take a cheap deal for another ring next to Jimmy Bam and Dame? Is it even more likely if Middleton leaves? We just need to get in a room with vets like these if/when we acquire dame