2025 Regular Season Thread Vol. 4

[3ammy3uck3ts]

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[Daffy]

I'm getting greedy. The more I think about it Trae Young with Bam and Ware down low would be amazing. The defense with him and Herro would be poor though.

[BadMofoPimp]

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If Miami is getting Middleton & Portis, it could be their expirings that would be traded for a star in the offseason or next season, but it could also be Duncan or Rozier's expirings (assuming both make it thru this trade). Lots of optionality.

$80M in expirings, 3-4 1sts, and the young guys. We might be adding Fox and another all star this summer lol

Do you really think Middleton or Portis will not take their player option?

[3ammy3uck3ts]

If Miami is getting Middleton & Portis, it could be their expirings that would be traded for a star in the offseason or next season, but it could also be Duncan or Rozier's expirings (assuming both make it thru this trade). Lots of optionality.

$80M in expirings, 3-4 1sts, and the young guys. We might be adding Fox and another all star this summer lol

Do you really think Middleton or Portis will not take their player option?

Portis may not but that’s what I’m getting at, this summer when they opt in the become expirings along with Duncan and Terry

[greg4012]

I see your point but if you have been watching Ware play and understand the gravity he commands in the paint as a lob threat, you do not want him outside the paint. I think it will soon become an accepted comparison between him and Wemby. What I do not want to see is Ware playing like Wemby. He does not need to be camped out at the 3 point line, his gravity inside and his ability to finish lobs or put backs is where his focus should be, because he can be elite at that.

I do not see the fit working with Bam as the paint guy, and Ware as the outside threat. The way that fit works to me is with Bam being able to be a perimeter playmaker, and being able to shoot at a good clip from the corner to elbow extended. The Ware PNR is currently the best action we have on offense.

I do want him outside the paint and inside the paint. This is the modern NBA. I want my perimeter players to benefit from both vertical and court spacing.

It's a waste to have a big solely in the paint in the modern NBA if they can do more. 3>2. Added benefit of driving lanes for others to up their efficiency when the rim protector is dragged out of the paint.

That's the beauty of the fits between Bam, Ware, and Jovic.

Wemby is currently shooting 9 3PA per game (13 per 100 possessions). That's absurd and I agree that it is a misuse of his talent. That doesn't mean Wemby would be best served not shooting 3s at all.

Wemby also has a handle, which is more of a contrast in style of play than the CLE frontcourt dialogue.

As stated, Ware is currently shooting 3s at a rate slightly greater than Mobley. That works well.

Balance and versatility are key for modern playoff basketball.

Bam doesn't need to be on the perimeter to playmake. He def can tho and 5-out spacing is a boon for offense when it works. Bam obviously playmakes from the perimeter and top of key, but IMO he is often at his best when around the elbows--that way he has the whole court at his disposal. When projecting Bam in this new age on offense, think Draymond.

You want Ware shooting threes off PNR actions as a counter, in transition as a trailer, and occasionally spot up looks off iso sets. What you don't want him doing is playing off the ball and off the action as a driver/catch and shoot guy, which is the role Bam would have to fill if he is not the primary screener in offensive actions. You need a shooter in that spot, and I think it would be outrageous to have Ware not be the primary screener moving forward.

I want Ware doing all of the above. Why wouldn't I want a 40% 3PT shooter providing spacing as one facet of his role? I promise you Bam is a superior screener to Ware. Ware has greater vertical spacing and should absolutely have a healthy dose of on-ball screening work, but the NBA is FAR from binary.

It sounds absolutely lethal to me to have some possessions with Bam screening for a ballhandler and rolling with the option to (1) take a lane to the basket; (2) playmake off the short roll (including finding a 40% 3pt shooting Ware in the corner OR in the dunker spot crashing for a lob); or (3) take a mismatch into isolation. Miami's offense absolutely needs to have multiple trigger points to be dynamic. That's 100% playing to everyone's strengths.

I also see possessions where Bam is the ballhandler in a 2-man game with Ware. There will also be at least half the game where Ware will be on hte floor without Bam and will absolutely be the primary screener.

You do realize that you've continued to put out reasons why it won't work and those reasons have been objectively refuted, then you ignore them and proceed to list the next thing. What is it really?

[3ammy3uck3ts]

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Can we get this show on the road?! The longer Jimmy is here the longer we play uninspired basketball while he risks injury.

[DayofMourning]

PHX looking like some suckers tbh. They went to the Finals then said lets blow it up. Now they wanna pay diva Butler $50 mil a year for 3 years. Good luck is all I say.

From the Suns board:

We had one of the best situations in the NBA, but then our owner got impatient and we traded it away for an aging superstar who has no interest in being a leader and has a terrible attitude. We went from having the best wing situation possible for potentially 10 years in Book / Mikal and traded it for 3 years of KD. We have now mortgaged every vauable pick imagineable to continue to doulbe down over and over.

I like Jimmy Butler. He's a good player. But he's old and on the decline. I expect we end up with Butler one way or another. But when we don't win a title and end up with 2 35+ year old guys making $100M between them in KD and Jimmy after Ishbia resigns him, with no decent picks fr a god damned decade, I won't be able to root for this BS anymore.

If the Suns don't find a way to make this work, I'm moving on. To blow up a team in the western conference finals so you can get a shiny new toy who happens to be an egomaniac spending half his day making burner accounts to defend himself to fans, I just won't ever get past it.

I absolutely hate what Ishbia did in giving up what he did for KD, and I loathe KD's lack of responsibility to this team in the wake of it. KD has played well, but he refuses to lead and until he does we will suffer like this.

Trading all those picks plus Mikal and Cam was always astonishingly stupid. Nobody was beating the offer of just those picks, and we could always get KD in the offseason. There was no need for it. It was unnecessarily wreckless. I get Ishbia means well and is spending his own money and doing nice things for the community but he needs to stay the **** out of basketball operations. Stop listening to Isiah Thomas and fire James Jones who has **** sucked his entire time here. Get a real exec. Pay whatever it costs to get somebody elite and stay out of the way

I feel for their fans. I cant imagine watching everything fall apart like that.

They had such hope.

[eddieheatfan]

how long this will drag on i wonder

[SoFlaKingReal]

PHX looking like some suckers tbh. They went to the Finals then said lets blow it up. Now they wanna pay diva Butler $50 mil a year for 3 years. Good luck is all I say.

From the Suns board:

We had one of the best situations in the NBA, but then our owner got impatient and we traded it away for an aging superstar who has no interest in being a leader and has a terrible attitude. We went from having the best wing situation possible for potentially 10 years in Book / Mikal and traded it for 3 years of KD. We have now mortgaged every vauable pick imagineable to continue to doulbe down over and over.

I like Jimmy Butler. He's a good player. But he's old and on the decline. I expect we end up with Butler one way or another. But when we don't win a title and end up with 2 35+ year old guys making $100M between them in KD and Jimmy after Ishbia resigns him, with no decent picks fr a god damned decade, I won't be able to root for this BS anymore.

If the Suns don't find a way to make this work, I'm moving on. To blow up a team in the western conference finals so you can get a shiny new toy who happens to be an egomaniac spending half his day making burner accounts to defend himself to fans, I just won't ever get past it.

I absolutely hate what Ishbia did in giving up what he did for KD, and I loathe KD's lack of responsibility to this team in the wake of it. KD has played well, but he refuses to lead and until he does we will suffer like this.

Trading all those picks plus Mikal and Cam was always astonishingly stupid. Nobody was beating the offer of just those picks, and we could always get KD in the offseason. There was no need for it. It was unnecessarily wreckless. I get Ishbia means well and is spending his own money and doing nice things for the community but he needs to stay the **** out of basketball operations. Stop listening to Isiah Thomas and fire James Jones who has **** sucked his entire time here. Get a real exec. Pay whatever it costs to get somebody elite and stay out of the way

I feel for their fans. I cant imagine watching everything fall apart like that.

They had such hope.

Are we not going through a similar situation? Two finals appearances last five years and now facing the abyss.

[twix2500]

I'm getting to the point where I'd rather die with Larsson then watch more Rozier.

throw the kid into the fire - he's an immediate defensive upgrade and I trust his BB IQ more then Terry's, he just need reps.

I actually believe he is the point guard of the future for the Heat. He has very good vision, sees the play develop and knows how to manipulate the offense.

[MiamiLoyal926]

PHX looking like some suckers tbh. They went to the Finals then said lets blow it up. Now they wanna pay diva Butler $50 mil a year for 3 years. Good luck is all I say.

From the Suns board:

We had one of the best situations in the NBA, but then our owner got impatient and we traded it away for an aging superstar who has no interest in being a leader and has a terrible attitude. We went from having the best wing situation possible for potentially 10 years in Book / Mikal and traded it for 3 years of KD. We have now mortgaged every vauable pick imagineable to continue to doulbe down over and over.

I like Jimmy Butler. He's a good player. But he's old and on the decline. I expect we end up with Butler one way or another. But when we don't win a title and end up with 2 35+ year old guys making $100M between them in KD and Jimmy after Ishbia resigns him, with no decent picks fr a god damned decade, I won't be able to root for this BS anymore.

If the Suns don't find a way to make this work, I'm moving on. To blow up a team in the western conference finals so you can get a shiny new toy who happens to be an egomaniac spending half his day making burner accounts to defend himself to fans, I just won't ever get past it.

I absolutely hate what Ishbia did in giving up what he did for KD, and I loathe KD's lack of responsibility to this team in the wake of it. KD has played well, but he refuses to lead and until he does we will suffer like this.

Trading all those picks plus Mikal and Cam was always astonishingly stupid. Nobody was beating the offer of just those picks, and we could always get KD in the offseason. There was no need for it. It was unnecessarily wreckless. I get Ishbia means well and is spending his own money and doing nice things for the community but he needs to stay the **** out of basketball operations. Stop listening to Isiah Thomas and fire James Jones who has **** sucked his entire time here. Get a real exec. Pay whatever it costs to get somebody elite and stay out of the way

I feel for their fans. I cant imagine watching everything fall apart like that.

They had such hope.

Goes to show you that going “all in” is not always that great of an idea. It has to be a balanced approach.

[greg4012]

I'm getting to the point where I'd rather die with Larsson then watch more Rozier.

throw the kid into the fire - he's an immediate defensive upgrade and I trust his BB IQ more then Terry's, he just need reps.

I actually believe he is the point guard of the future for the Heat. He has very good vision, sees the play develop and knows how to manipulate the offense.

I like his poise in the halfcourt and smaller ranges. He actually seems less comfortable bringing the ball up when pressed, but he has a lot of versatility. Will be interested to watch him develop for sure.

[DayofMourning]

From the Suns board:

I feel for their fans. I cant imagine watching everything fall apart like that.

They had such hope.

Are we not going through a similar situation? Two finals appearances last five years and now facing the abyss.

Does it feel like that to you? Really?

We are about to be out from under what would be a silly extension to give an NBA geriatric. Max extending a 36 year old? Thats lethal.

We about to have cap space, picks and a roster built to add a star to.

Thats muuuch better than being PHX who can have a big 3 that will win 50 percent of their games.

[3ammy3uck3ts]

I'm getting to the point where I'd rather die with Larsson then watch more Rozier.

throw the kid into the fire - he's an immediate defensive upgrade and I trust his BB IQ more then Terry's, he just need reps.

I actually believe he is the point guard of the future for the Heat. He has very good vision, sees the play develop and knows how to manipulate the offense.

He has never been and will never be a point guard but he has potential to be a nice off guard Swiss Army knife type of guy who can make plays occasionally

[3ammy3uck3ts]

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[MiamiLoyal926]

We are going to be a fun team to watch in the 2026 playoffs!

“Stay tuned”

[Seabass777]

Dream, yet not all that far-fetched 2025-2026 lineup/rotations:

PG: Fox / Dru Smith (health permitting) and/or Ball
SG: Herro / Alec Burks
SG/SF: Bruce Brown / Jaime
SF/PF: Jovic / Duncan / Highsmith
PF/C: Bam / Ware / Jovic

With Larsson and K Johnson developing between the seams… trying to outplay and take minutes from older “vet” players.

Small ball is dead. Ware is our new starter at the 5 and Bam is now a 4

[3ammy3uck3ts]

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[3ammy3uck3ts]

We are going to be a fun team to watch in the 2026 playoffs!

“Stay tuned”

If there’s one thing we’ll stay it’s tuned.

[MettaWorldPanda]

I'm getting to the point where I'd rather die with Larsson then watch more Rozier.

throw the kid into the fire - he's an immediate defensive upgrade and I trust his BB IQ more then Terry's, he just need reps.

I actually believe he is the point guard of the future for the Heat. He has very good vision, sees the play develop and knows how to manipulate the offense.

He has never been and will never be a point guard but he has potential to be a nice off guard Swiss Army knife type of guy who can make plays occasionally

Correct. Why we keep trying to force our young SF's into being PG's? Been seeing this with Jaime as well. These guys will never be on the PG level of a Young or Fox.