2025 Offseason Season Thread Vol. 1

[insfo]

2:50 Prime Shaq would destroy everyone in this era lol Made it look easy against Zo

Bam would bottle up Prime Shaq.

More like Bam would be handing Prime Shaq bottles of Gatorade on the bench. Bam would be like KG. In at PF and hiding from the monsters playing C.

Nah, Shaq would have signed with the Heat earlier wanting to play with everyone's best bud. If he hadn't, then I agree with unowen that he'd have had to retire early than face our franchise cornerstone

[batterybro42]

Throwback of two titans. Who would have thought in real time they’d be teammates one day

Watch on YouTube

On another note, I see some parallels (in terms of ceiling) between that Timmy/Zo build and where we are currently. Although the former were far better regular season performers, 5 consecutive top 3 finishes and could never get over the hump.

2:50 Prime Shaq would destroy everyone in this era lol Made it look easy against Zo

Bam would bottle up Prime Shaq.

lol absolutely not, he would be out of the game after 10 minutes of floor time with fouls or give up 30. Teams used to have to carry a freakishly large person on their rosters back in that time to simply throw out there as fodder to Shaq.

Teams today would likely be able to craft sometype of post front to make things difficult on him, but it would be at great expense. A player like Shaq would still completely dominate today’s game in this era if such a player existed. Just imagine what he could have done with today’s floor spacing with 4 shooters where you couldn’t collapse in without leaving somebody wide open or send yourself into a scrambling rotation. Not a big in the league today that could hold him.

With as much as teams switch today imagine him getting switched onto somebody’s 3 let alone a guard. They would have file criminal charges.

The crazy part about it is the peak of his game was relatively short, he was rarely at full power because he didn’t want to work all that hard on his body or game. That was simply a brute force of nature. Him and Wilt stand alone in that regard.

[dshearn]

Throwback of two titans. Who would have thought in real time they’d be teammates one day

Watch on YouTube

On another note, I see some parallels (in terms of ceiling) between that Timmy/Zo build and where we are currently. Although the former were far better regular season performers, 5 consecutive top 3 finishes and could never get over the hump.

2:50 Prime Shaq would destroy everyone in this era lol Made it look easy against Zo

There is no one you can point to as an example of peak Shaq except peak Shaq.

He was a one of a kind monster.

[dshearn]

Throwback of two titans. Who would have thought in real time they’d be teammates one day

Watch on YouTube

On another note, I see some parallels (in terms of ceiling) between that Timmy/Zo build and where we are currently. Although the former were far better regular season performers, 5 consecutive top 3 finishes and could never get over the hump.

2:50 Prime Shaq would destroy everyone in this era lol Made it look easy against Zo

There is no one you can point to as an example of peak Shaq except peak Shaq.

He was a one of a kind monster.

When you have to change how the court is built, and change the rules of the game to deal with one dude… it kinda speaks for itself…

Shaq in the 3 point spacing game is just comical to think about… he would be unstoppable

[DayofMourning]

Shaq would probly avg 50 and 25 in this era of 6'7" power players who he outweighed by 75 lbs.

[oreon]

Read on Twitter

#m

Congrats Terry Rozier on making 1st team. And ya'll complain that Heat get snubbed from awards

[3ammy3uck3ts]

I’ll never understand the hate for one of the Heats franchise best but the insane glazing of the white kid who’s done little to nothing in a Heat jersey when it matters most.

[Hallstar]

I’ll never understand the hate for one of the Heats franchise best but the insane glazing of the white kid who’s done little to nothing in a Heat jersey when it matters most.

Tyler Herro can't guard Shaq either. We know. You know what we don't know? Bam's actual trade value. He isn't valued for his offense like that. He wasn't an all-star. he's been getting "snubbed" for dpoy and now has missed the all NBA defensive team entirely, so where exactly is one of the Heat's franchise best rated in the league?

Go ahead without mentioning Herro.

[insfo]

Read on Twitter

#m

Congrats Terry Rozier on making 1st team. And ya'll complain that Heat get snubbed from awards

Rozier + 4 others Heat fans/twitter wanted to trade for within the last year

[3ammy3uck3ts]

I’ll never understand the hate for one of the Heats franchise best but the insane glazing of the white kid who’s done little to nothing in a Heat jersey when it matters most.

Tyler Herro can't guard Shaq either. We know. You know what we don't know? Bam's actual trade value. He isn't valued for his offense like that. He wasn't an all-star. he's been getting "snubbed" for dpoy and now has missed the all NBA defensive team entirely, so where exactly is one of the Heat's franchise best rated in the league?

Go ahead without mentioning Herro.

The highest on the team, by far. That was easy.

What is Tyler valued for? Just curious because offensively Bam has been superior when the playoffs come around and that’s without going into defense where Bam is in the highest tier and Tyler is in one of the lowest of not the lowest.

[Hoops3355]

If Jovic is legit ready for that and Bam is going to play the backup center minutes I’m not sure there’s a need for Collins who will need a bulk load of minutes himself. I think Spo likes the 3 man power rotation

You still have to account for the long season and needing good depth. One injury to any of those guys in the front court and it becomes a death knell. Case in point Jovic getting hurt and terrible losing streak.

I think what 3ammy is speaking to is the idea that Spo doesn’t typically play 3 bigs at the same time, so the reps Niko needs would get in the way of what Collins could theoretically provide. I think there’s a middle ground, because Collins doesn’t need the ball to be effective.

Both he and Ware are finishers. That leaves plenty of reps for Niko and Bam for that matter.

I think having a 4 man group of Bam/Ware/Collins/Niko would be a very good thing over the course of a season, and in the playoffs.

The 3 Big lineup was setback by Jovic got hurt. Knowing Spo he'd probably had seen enough to stash it away for the playoffs at the time which is why it was limited anyways. Brady has a couple of good threads on it but here's one from the game against the Hawks in Jan.

Read on Twitter

Collins would be interesting but man he's got some tendencies that Spo will hate. I don't see us spending assets on him. He looked like he'd gotten past his jacked up finger issue for real so he's still got some value which is higher than the FO wants to send out for filling the position. Maybe via draft or FA.

[MHeat0279]

2:50 Prime Shaq would destroy everyone in this era lol Made it look easy against Zo

Bam would bottle up Prime Shaq.

lol absolutely not, he would be out of the game after 10 minutes of floor time with fouls or give up 30. Teams used to have to carry a freakishly large person on their rosters back in that time to simply throw out there as fodder to Shaq.

Teams today would likely be able to craft sometype of post front to make things difficult on him, but it would be at great expense. A player like Shaq would still completely dominate today’s game in this era if such a player existed. Just imagine what he could have done with today’s floor spacing with 4 shooters where you couldn’t collapse in without leaving somebody wide open or send yourself into a scrambling rotation. Not a big in the league today that could hold him.

With as much as teams switch today imagine him getting switched onto somebody’s 3 let alone a guard. They would have file criminal charges.

The crazy part about it is the peak of his game was relatively short, he was rarely at full power because he didn’t want to work all that hard on his body or game. That was simply a brute force of nature. Him and Wilt stand alone in that regard.

Remember years ago a game Lakers vs Heat, he moved Zo down in the post like a fragile leaf, Zo was a strong and peak condition guy but Shaq was a brute of nature.

[joeshred]

im just throwing off names here, can we get Lauri Markkanen instead of Durant? How was he when on the Cavs triple tower? Will he move the needle?

[NightWatch]

Do Heat even wanted Anthony Edward? is he even good? he couldn't do anything against OKC

[VaDe255]

I’ll never understand the hate for one of the Heats franchise best but the insane glazing of the white kid who’s done little to nothing in a Heat jersey when it matters most.

Tyler Herro can't guard Shaq either. We know. You know what we don't know? Bam's actual trade value. He isn't valued for his offense like that. He wasn't an all-star. he's been getting "snubbed" for dpoy and now has missed the all NBA defensive team entirely, so where exactly is one of the Heat's franchise best rated in the league?

Go ahead without mentioning Herro.

The highest on the team, by far. That was easy.

What is Tyler valued for? Just curious because offensively Bam has been superior when the playoffs come around and that’s without going into defense where Bam is in the highest tier and Tyler is in one of the lowest of not the lowest.

I don't know what makes you think that Bam is that great playoff performer, the last 9 games when he was asked to help carry the team:

20ppg / 10reb / 4 asts on 2.2 TOVs
52% TS / 27% usage / 0 win shares / -0.4 DBPM

Where is this playoff riser impact you are talking about? He's got the green light when the whole defense is focused on Herro.

Yeah, it's different when you are a 3&D rim running big with playmaking chops, like he was earlier in his career and everything is created for him.

He can't carry the offense and his defensive impact isn't great either.
I heard it too often now that Bam can anchor any defense... he can't and we saw it in the Cavs series.

Herro was abysmal in the last 9 playoff games, but that is not exusing Bam, who for some reason is not held to the same standard as Herro is.

I don't think there is much point in trashing either player for having a team that was totally outmatched in talent.

[Kobewade11]

Why does talking about Bam, either in jest or legitimate criticism, always lead to somebody bringing up Herro? those two arent at odds with each other in any way

[batterybro42]

Bam would bottle up Prime Shaq.

lol absolutely not, he would be out of the game after 10 minutes of floor time with fouls or give up 30. Teams used to have to carry a freakishly large person on their rosters back in that time to simply throw out there as fodder to Shaq.

Teams today would likely be able to craft sometype of post front to make things difficult on him, but it would be at great expense. A player like Shaq would still completely dominate today’s game in this era if such a player existed. Just imagine what he could have done with today’s floor spacing with 4 shooters where you couldn’t collapse in without leaving somebody wide open or send yourself into a scrambling rotation. Not a big in the league today that could hold him.

With as much as teams switch today imagine him getting switched onto somebody’s 3 let alone a guard. They would have file criminal charges.

The crazy part about it is the peak of his game was relatively short, he was rarely at full power because he didn’t want to work all that hard on his body or game. That was simply a brute force of nature. Him and Wilt stand alone in that regard.

Remember years ago a game Lakers vs Heat, he moved Zo down in the post like a fragile leaf, Zo was a strong and peak condition guy but Shaq was a brute of nature.

Another big like Zo would get his by simply out hustling Shaq until Shaq decided to actually do something about it and then there would be no more scoring from that big anymore. If you never got to watch prime Shaq play full games night to night you really missed out on something special. He almost single handily changed roster construction for the rest of the league to simply deal with him alone.

Even when he was in Miami those first two seasons running on fumes he was still unbelievable in the way he changed the game. Casuals will look at the 06 finals and not realize that the Mavs were sending everything they had at Shaq to deny him the ball in the paint which opened Wade up to have the series that he did. There hasn’t been a player maybe ever that commanded that level of defensive attention, he could pass too.

[batterybro42]

Why does talking about Bam, either in jest or legitimate criticism, always lead to somebody bringing up Herro? those two arent at odds with each other in any way

A lot of people consider Herro to be a max guy which makes them uncomfortable, and they think they need to pick one or the other. The reality is Herro is not a max player in this CBA and will likely be resigned on an extension around his current value. At that price level he is an asset and somebody we should be celebrating. Herro will either be the piece that lands us the next big star, or he will be a valuable 3rd wheel to the next build. I was really pleased with the steps he made this year. If Miami can reasonably get him to agree to extension near 30 million they should do it, I am not sure that reality has set in on Herro's side yet but in time it will.

The reasonable approach from both sides would be to have Herro play out his current deal and then decide on extension after the fact, let him see if he can take the next leap and let the market determine his value. Miami can match any contract he is offered, and I don't see him going above the 33 mil he is due in 26-27 for several reasons. This does not make him a bad player, it just means he is not a top 15 talent in this league, which is what a max guy should be. Miami should have let the market decides Bams value too.

[3ammy3uck3ts]

Tyler Herro can't guard Shaq either. We know. You know what we don't know? Bam's actual trade value. He isn't valued for his offense like that. He wasn't an all-star. he's been getting "snubbed" for dpoy and now has missed the all NBA defensive team entirely, so where exactly is one of the Heat's franchise best rated in the league?

Go ahead without mentioning Herro.

The highest on the team, by far. That was easy.

What is Tyler valued for? Just curious because offensively Bam has been superior when the playoffs come around and that’s without going into defense where Bam is in the highest tier and Tyler is in one of the lowest of not the lowest.

I don't know what makes you think that Bam is that great playoff performer, the last 9 games when he was asked to help carry the team:

20ppg / 10reb / 4 asts on 2.2 TOVs
52% TS / 27% usage / 0 win shares / -0.4 DBPM

Where is this playoff riser impact you are talking about? He's got the green light when the whole defense is focused on Herro.

Yeah, it's different when you are a 3&D rim running big with playmaking chops, like he was earlier in his career and everything is created for him.

He can't carry the offense and his defensive impact isn't great either.
I heard it too often now that Bam can anchor any defense... he can't and we saw it in the Cavs series.

Herro was abysmal in the last 9 playoff games, but that is not exusing Bam, who for some reason is not held to the same standard as Herro is.

I don't think there is much point in trashing either player for having a team that was totally outmatched in talent.

I’m not even depicting Bam as some elite playoff riser on offense so you’re putting words into my mouth there but he has several key playoff moments that helped lead us to improbable runs. That’s the thing though, despite that he’s still been better offensively than Herro in the playoffs and one of them doesn’t play defense while the other is one of the best if not the best lol.

So a 4 game sample size showed you Bam can’t carry a defense compared to the countless other deep runs in which he did? How about the fact that we’re a top 10 defense every year regardless of league worst level defenders like Herro Terry Duncan etc surrounding him?

Bam has SEVERAL big playoff moments on both sides of the ball, you know that regardless of what the spreadsheet is telling you.

I was genuinely just curious. I get on here and the Herro brigade is **** on Bam, it’s been clear his Stan’s are the main ones who look to drag him down. I’m curious as to why that is considering Bam has been a major part in the franchises success over the last 6 years and Herro has done nothing when it mattered most. Like the dude has done nothing to warrant the clout he gets from the fanbase and each time he went down the team got noticeably better swapping him out with guys like Strus.

Herro is abysmal in the playoffs period, not just the last 9 games. His best playoff run came when he was a rookie coming off the bench, outside of that he’s been garbage and offensively and hunted defensively. You can’t win with Herro playing a massive role on your team in the playoffs, hes shown that for several years now. We have dudes having legit convos on if he’s the Steph Curry, it’s so crazy to me. It’s only fitting his best season came during the Heat worst season of his tenure.

[3ammy3uck3ts]

Do Heat even wanted Anthony Edward? is he even good? he couldn't do anything against OKC

Nah we’re way too good for Ant, #HeatCulture.