2025 Offseason Season Thread Vol. 3

[MiamiLoyal926]

So we’re just assuming Dame suffers a freak injury in Miami where he tears his Achilles because that’s what happened in Milwaukee? Honestly if you get Dame and he Jimmy and Bam get you a championship last year, as unfortunate as it would be, I don’t think many of us would be regretting the move at all even if he tore his Achilles here. Bam and Jimmy were on the cusp as it was, dame is exactly what that build was missing. KD too. Can you imagine someone beating us with KD plugged in on that 2023 team? I sure as hell can’t.

We can’t assume the more likely outcome of an injury occurring (which actually did occur for the other team), but to make your point, you can assume the less likely outcome of it resulting in a title (which did not occur for the other team)!? How can anyone have a good faith discussion like this, when you are allowed to speculate in extremes and whataboutisms, but others are not, even if our whataboutisms are much less extreme, based on evidence, and closer to real outcomes…

[Shewasfly]

I wonder if in all this Micky Arison starts considering selling the team too. Maybe the 10b deal for the Lakers has him licking his chops to get out before a true rebuild is forced on him and income declines.

From what I understand Nick has actually assumed most of the executive decision making responsibilities. He's still a fairly young guy as far as executives go, they'll probably keep it in the family for a while.

Nicky or Micky, doesn't really matter. 10b is 10b lol. My point being that this team is potentially headed for some troubling times. Especially if our core of Bam and Herro suck as much as everyone says, yet we refuse to sell high on them. They might not have the appetite to stick around for the lottery seasons to get back to being a competitive org.

Obviously the Heat are nowhere near the value of the Lakers, but a good price tag could make them think about it. And it'd be very interesting to see how the org as a whole might change as a result.

[SoFlaKingReal]

I called him a nepo baby. I didn't characterize the fact that he was a nepo baby as an explicit issue. I called attention to Nick Arison as someone who is literally in charge of all basketball ops but escapes scrutiny on here. Sorry if you're a big fan of his and took that personally, but I think it's worth consideration.

Talking about Spo having a father that was part of an entirely separate organization which surely helped him get an entry level position in the NBA is a weird detour in attempting to turn my post into some sort of study on nepo babies being inherently unqualified as a whole. What the hell is going on here?

I wouldn't know Nick Arison if he walked past me.

I just think we are running out of fingers to point before we get to him lol

So just nitpicking improper interpretations of my post for sport. Got it.

About time!

[3ammy3uck3ts]

So we’re just assuming Dame suffers a freak injury in Miami where he tears his Achilles because that’s what happened in Milwaukee? Honestly if you get Dame and he Jimmy and Bam get you a championship last year, as unfortunate as it would be, I don’t think many of us would be regretting the move at all even if he tore his Achilles here. Bam and Jimmy were on the cusp as it was, dame is exactly what that build was missing. KD too. Can you imagine someone beating us with KD plugged in on that 2023 team? I sure as hell can’t.

We can’t assume the more likely outcome of an injury occurring (which actually did occur for the other team), but to make your point, you can assume the less likely outcome of it resulting in a title (which did not occur for the other team)!? How can anyone have a good faith discussion like this, when you are allowed to speculate in extremes and whataboutisms, but others are not, even if our whataboutisms are much less extreme, based on evidence, and closer to real outcomes…

I have evidence that suggests we could’ve beat the Celtics with a Dame/Jimmy/Bam big 3

[Bishop45]

I think I can be talked into RJ Barrett if we can get a point guard and get Wiggins off this team

[MiamiLoyal926]

So we’re just assuming Dame suffers a freak injury in Miami where he tears his Achilles because that’s what happened in Milwaukee? Honestly if you get Dame and he Jimmy and Bam get you a championship last year, as unfortunate as it would be, I don’t think many of us would be regretting the move at all even if he tore his Achilles here. Bam and Jimmy were on the cusp as it was, dame is exactly what that build was missing. KD too. Can you imagine someone beating us with KD plugged in on that 2023 team? I sure as hell can’t.

We can’t assume the more likely outcome of an injury occurring (which actually did occur for the other team), but to make your point, you can assume the less likely outcome of it resulting in a title (which did not occur for the other team)!? How can anyone have a good faith discussion like this, when you are allowed to speculate in extremes and whataboutisms, but others are not, even if our whataboutisms are much less extreme, based on evidence, and closer to real outcomes…

I have evidence that suggests we could’ve beat the Celtics with a Dame/Jimmy/Bam big 3

Really!?! Call me intrigued! Would love to see this as I always love to be convinced of differing points of view. It broadens my own perspective!

[Joey Bada]

So we’re just assuming Dame suffers a freak injury in Miami where he tears his Achilles because that’s what happened in Milwaukee? Honestly if you get Dame and he Jimmy and Bam get you a championship last year, as unfortunate as it would be, I don’t think many of us would be regretting the move at all even if he tore his Achilles here. Bam and Jimmy were on the cusp as it was, dame is exactly what that build was missing. KD too. Can you imagine someone beating us with KD plugged in on that 2023 team? I sure as hell can’t.

Didn’t Lillard get hurt last year in the playoffs, too?

Certain members of the fanbase absolutely love bringing up Herros injuries, imagine trading half the team and future picks for Lillard and him getting hurt.

[3ammy3uck3ts]

So we’re just assuming Dame suffers a freak injury in Miami where he tears his Achilles because that’s what happened in Milwaukee? Honestly if you get Dame and he Jimmy and Bam get you a championship last year, as unfortunate as it would be, I don’t think many of us would be regretting the move at all even if he tore his Achilles here. Bam and Jimmy were on the cusp as it was, dame is exactly what that build was missing. KD too. Can you imagine someone beating us with KD plugged in on that 2023 team? I sure as hell can’t.

Didn’t Lillard get hurt last year in the playoffs, too?

Certain members of the fanbase absolutely love bringing up Herros injuries, imagine trading half the team and future picks for Lillard and him getting hurt.

We probably would’ve ran our best player out of town and went 37-45 or something after that happened!!

[EMC5466]

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[3ammy3uck3ts]

Can anyone give me legitimate reasons why it benefits Bam to stay in Miami? What about for the Heat to keep Bam around any longer? Seriously, what is the point from either side?

So we can attract his friends to come play? Nope, that doesn’t work. When we have that happen we’re too delusional in our own like Herro Jovic apparently Highsmith and Jaime too, potentially Ware but we’ll see how he trends. Are we planning on building a contender while refusing to trade any picks and like 5 of our current players? That’s not going to happen. So instead we just let another year go by to waste while being delusional and thinking we’re going to bend opposing teams over and take their best players while Bam continues to get older and loses trade value. It makes no sense for either side, Bam wants to win but the organization doesn’t. Trade him while he still has immense value and jump start the rebuild. Unless they pull a rabbit out of their hat this summer it’s just another wasted year, we’re not building another contender as long as Riley is at the helm.

[SA37]

He's saying don't overpay for old assets

If we had a crippled Dame and an extended give effort 30 games a year Jimmy, Bam would probably be looking for the door right now.

Injuries happen. They happen to players of all ages, including Tatum (27) and Haliburton (25).

The "old" asset in question is a FAR superior player to anyone on Miami's roster.

Difference is that at age 25 & 27, there is still time to allow them to recover and potentially return to an impactful role… so trading away assets for a younger player gives you more years of potential return on investment than an almost end of career player, no matter how good they were and may still be for the next few years.

Depends on how you value the "assets" you're giving up. As I've said previously, none of Miami's young players were worth passing on Durant for. That doesn't mean I was advocating for giving up every asset to get Durant, but you do have to give to get.

I don't blame the Heat's FO if the reports are correct that it basically offered a package along the lines of what it gave up for Butler.

But this blanket idea of "we give assets and it wasn't worth it because our acquisition got hurt" is something you can only get with hindsight. You have to take some risk. Remember when Orlando gave Grant Hill $100M and Hill was chronically injured? Sure, that didn't work out for Orlando, but the move was correct in the moment.

[twix2500]

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This one is too easy. Been pounding the table on Wiggins to the Lakers for a while now.

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[MorbidHEAT]

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When I said pick a direction, that isn't quite what I meant. lol

Herro and Bam should be the help for the true number 1 option, not the other way around.

[3ammy3uck3ts]

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When I said pick a direction, that isn't quite what I meant. lol

Herro and Bam should be the help for the true number 1 option, not the other way around.

Well you can’t get that because we’re not allowed to trade Bam Herro Jovic ware Jaime Highsmith any picks (unless for Terry Rozier) or Duncan

[Kobewade11]

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When I said pick a direction, that isn't quite what I meant. lol

Herro and Bam should be the help for the true number 1 option, not the other way around.

Nobody is lining up to send their #1 for either guy though. We could package both for that superstar caliber player but a number 1 option without the quality supporting pieces is going nowhere.

[greg4012]

Can anyone give me legitimate reasons why it benefits Bam to stay in Miami? What about for the Heat to keep Bam around any longer? Seriously, what is the point from either side?

So we can attract his friends to come play? Nope, that doesn’t work. When we have that happen we’re too delusional in our own like Herro Jovic apparently Highsmith and Jaime too, potentially Ware but we’ll see how he trends. Are we planning on building a contender while refusing to trade any picks and like 5 of our current players? That’s not going to happen. So instead we just let another year go by to waste while being delusional and thinking we’re going to bend opposing teams over and take their best players while Bam continues to get older and loses trade value. It makes no sense for either side, Bam wants to win but the organization doesn’t. Trade him while he still has immense value and jump start the rebuild. Unless they pull a rabbit out of their hat this summer it’s just another wasted year, we’re not building another contender as long as Riley is at the helm.

Literally the only avenue that a case can be made to be grounded in realism (that I can identify) is pursuit of Luka in 2026 free agency. But that, in and of itself, seems like a Hail Mary at best. If Luka signs an extension with LA in August, then that is officially dead (granted, if he doesn't then game on).

Aside from Luka, the 2026 free agency options are scarce. Maybe De'Aaron Fox becomes available if SAS decides to lean into its 2 young guards (but they just gave away assets to acquire him and will likely just extend him). Then it's Trae Young tier and worse from there.

The hopes of trading for a disgruntled star are unrealistic for any star less than 10 years in the league that has a chance for a Supermax extension (financially incentivized to stay with their drafted team), and the pool of teams with massive draft capital ready to deploy for an actual in-prime Superstar means Miami can't compete. Dame and KD were the 2 best shots bc of circumstance that favored Miami and they both fell through.

Maybe I just am not seeing what other avenue makes sense for a quick turnaround for this core group over the next few years.

[MiamiLoyal926]

3ammy… where is the evidence? Even if its concepts of evidence, how do you feel so sure we would have won a championship with Dame? I am on the edge of my seat!

[Slot Machine]

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This one is too easy. Been pounding the table on Wiggins to the Lakers for a while now.

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A win-now piece equivalent to the value of Wiggins and the #20 overall pick will surely change the fortunes of a 37-win team.

[SoFlaKingReal]

Can anyone give me legitimate reasons why it benefits Bam to stay in Miami? What about for the Heat to keep Bam around any longer? Seriously, what is the point from either side?

So we can attract his friends to come play? Nope, that doesn’t work. When we have that happen we’re too delusional in our own like Herro Jovic apparently Highsmith and Jaime too, potentially Ware but we’ll see how he trends. Are we planning on building a contender while refusing to trade any picks and like 5 of our current players? That’s not going to happen. So instead we just let another year go by to waste while being delusional and thinking we’re going to bend opposing teams over and take their best players while Bam continues to get older and loses trade value. It makes no sense for either side, Bam wants to win but the organization doesn’t. Trade him while he still has immense value and jump start the rebuild. Unless they pull a rabbit out of their hat this summer it’s just another wasted year, we’re not building another contender as long as Riley is at the helm.

Spoiler:

[3ammy3uck3ts]

Can anyone give me legitimate reasons why it benefits Bam to stay in Miami? What about for the Heat to keep Bam around any longer? Seriously, what is the point from either side?

So we can attract his friends to come play? Nope, that doesn’t work. When we have that happen we’re too delusional in our own like Herro Jovic apparently Highsmith and Jaime too, potentially Ware but we’ll see how he trends. Are we planning on building a contender while refusing to trade any picks and like 5 of our current players? That’s not going to happen. So instead we just let another year go by to waste while being delusional and thinking we’re going to bend opposing teams over and take their best players while Bam continues to get older and loses trade value. It makes no sense for either side, Bam wants to win but the organization doesn’t. Trade him while he still has immense value and jump start the rebuild. Unless they pull a rabbit out of their hat this summer it’s just another wasted year, we’re not building another contender as long as Riley is at the helm.

Literally the only avenue that a case can be made to be grounded in realism (that I can identify) is pursuit of Luka in 2026 free agency. But that, in and of itself, seems like a Hail Mary at best. If Luka signs an extension with LA in August, then that is officially dead (granted, if he doesn't then game on).

Aside from Luka, the 2026 free agency options are scarce. Maybe De'Aaron Fox becomes available if SAS decides to lean into its 2 young guards (but they just gave away assets to acquire him and will likely just extend him). Then it's Trae Young tier and worse from there.

The hopes of trading for a disgruntled star are unrealistic for any star less than 10 years in the league that has a chance for a Supermax extension (financially incentivized to stay with their drafted team), and the pool of teams with massive draft capital ready to deploy for an actual in-prime Superstar means Miami can't compete. Dame and KD were the 2 best shots bc of circumstance that favored Miami and they both fell through.

Maybe I just am not seeing what other avenue makes sense for a quick turnaround for this core group over the next few years.

The options are VERY scarce like you say, I’d love Luka here and if that’s a possibility we need to go all in on it. All indications are he’s signing the extension but until pen is put to paper you never know.

It’s unfortunate it’s come to this but bad moves and delusion from the top have led us here.