2025 Miami Heat Regular Season Thread

[DayofMourning]

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Bam for Sabonis!!

Jesus. They dont know which direction they wanna go.

Shocking that trading their star PG and building the Bulls West didn’t work out for them lol.

We can talk about backseat GMing on the forum all day but I doubt many on here would do what the Kings did and I’m fairly confident no one here would trade a 26 year old Luka coming off a finals trip for an older injury prone AD

100

So bad. Build thru the draft and strike in FA.

Dont cobble together a bunch of big names and cross your fingers.

And def dont trade a top 5 offensive player.

[3ammy3uck3ts]

Another Fontecchio? lol. So According to you Fon could replace Herro if given more minutes? He'll average over 5 assists with a higher than a 2 to 1 TO ratio? He will be a closer just like Herro and he will also be able to create his own offense and set up others like all those allie opps we are accustomed to see with Herro and Bam. Ohhh and he'll also be able to get to the Freethrow line and rebound just like Herro. Gotcha.

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Context matters though. Felt like every game we had was a chest hurt game - how many clutch possessions are in this table per player?

Our offense last year was also terrible, and end of game possessions often ended with late clock Herro isos that generally are a no bueno.

I’m keen to see Tyler in the flow of this offense. It’s open, everyone eats, and he’s a big time shot maker. Say what you want about Herro, but he’s hit a number of huge shots for us over the years down the stretch. He isn’t afraid of the moment.

Context does matter but we only pick and choose when we want to use it! He’s definitely hit some big shots, acting like he’s just going to come in and dominate the clutch just because though is a little short sighted from the OP. We need to see it play out before we just start acting like he’s an elite closer

[greg4012]

There's clearly more to fit then just how they can operate together in a free flowing fast paced offensive scheme during the regular season. I do expect the offense to continue to look good with them both out there. Herro definitely adds firepower, that's not the problem. However to be real contenders I think we still need either a playmaking starting caliber PG or a true number 1 goto star instead of relying on 2 scorers that play the same position and largely fill the same role.

What happens in the playoffs when the game slows down, teams are game planning for each other, and play is a lot more match up based? Can we advance the ball against full court pressure without a true ballhandler late in a close game? Will we have the playmaking to score in the halfcourt? Or will it regress into a costly turnover fest? And how does Norm or Herro defend against other actual speedy PGs? These are very real potential/likely problems and it gets stupid to act like they are nothing to even have a conversation about.

I just want to say one thing. The way Norm, Herro (last year), Bam and Wiggins and even Jaquez has been scoring i think it more than makes up for having a true go to scorer. Also Powell has shown his offense might really be something special. As a PG Davion hasn't been bad against full court pressure either.

Yes the offense is looking great! I'm super pumped with how Powell has looked and how JJJ has played especially. And Bam's 3ball seems to finally really be there! However I still think that when you need those big buckets in clutch spots over the course of a playoff run it's invaluable to have that elite guy. Think about how many big shots Haliburton hit for the Pacers last year for instance. Even though they had a high scoring fast paced team it still came down to their superstar winning them games multiple times in the end. Maybe Powell and Herro can take turns being that guy we'll see.

The thing with Davion is that he'll likely only be in the game when one of Tyler or Norm aren't, so he won't be in there as part of a closing lineup...ballhandling and playmaking will probably fall to Herro and that's where my concern lies. Or Spo goes small with all 3 and then that's a whole other set of concerns. And defesively the Norm/Herro backcourt is just a whole other matter I really don't see working well. I'll gladly be wrong on all this though.

With health, I anticipate a strong closing lineup to emerge with:

Bam
Wiggins
Jaquez
Powell
Herro

Versatile af with Bam and Wiggins anchoring defensive versatility.

Herro and Powell pairing will always require a thoughtful approach to personnel groupings to cover on defense. I like the idea of maximizing time with both Bam and Wiggins on the floor with that pairing (about 16 minutes per game together).

[Tim_Hardawayy]

I love that we're playing well, and not to be too much of a debbie downer, but this is more of an overall statement about the NBA as a whole, does anyone feel like the league is turning more and more into a loose pickup style in the regular season (ie meaningless)? I didn't forget last year's playoffs, and the difference is night and day.

Now as NBA fans we've long known since the days of Shaq and even before that, that some players and even whole teams change it up for the playoffs. But the difference has never been this stark. It just feels like we're going to be one of those really good regular season teams, that folds like a lawn chair when defenses get serious and guys have to create in the halfcourt.

I dunno, hate being the pessimist, but just an observation. And no, this isn't a commentary on any individual player.

[eddieheatfan]

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Context matters though. Felt like every game we had was a chest hurt game - how many clutch possessions are in this table per player?

Our offense last year was also terrible, and end of game possessions often ended with late clock Herro isos that generally are a no bueno.

I’m keen to see Tyler in the flow of this offense. It’s open, everyone eats, and he’s a big time shot maker. Say what you want about Herro, but he’s hit a number of huge shots for us over the years down the stretch. He isn’t afraid of the moment.

Context does matter but we only pick and choose when we want to use it! He’s definitely hit some big shots, acting like he’s just going to come in and dominate the clutch just because though is a little short sighted from the OP. We need to see it play out before we just start acting like he’s an elite closer

[3ammy3uck3ts]

I love that we're playing well, and not to be too much of a debbie downer, but this is more of an overall statement about the NBA as a whole, does anyone feel like the league is turning more and more into a loose pickup style in the regular season (ie meaningless)? I didn't forget last year's playoffs, and the difference is night and day.

Now as NBA fans we've long known since the days of Shaq and even before that, that some players and even whole teams change it up for the playoffs. But the difference has never been this stark. It just feels like we're going to be one of those really good regular season teams, that folds like a lawn chair when defenses get serious and guys have to create in the halfcourt.

I dunno, hate being the pessimist, but just an observation. And no, this isn't a commentary on any individual player.

Until we have a legitimate star like top 10 player in the league we’re not a real threat to win it all regardless of what we look like in the regular season imo. At some point your SGA is going to have to be SGA (or in recent case for us Jimmy) and that’s likely going to be the difference between winning it all or not. Thunder were cooked until he led a crazy comeback in game 4 of the finals.

[3ammy3uck3ts]

An all star level PG almost seems like a must to win it all as well. Excluding LeBron led teams you’d have to go as far back as the 2011 Mavs off the top of my head to find the last championship without one and even they had Kidd, he was just an old very solid vet at that point though

[SA37]

Spoiler:

I still don't understand the fit conversation with Herro and Powell. With this offensive scheme they fit even more than expected as far as I'm concerned. We need a lot of bodies to keep guys fresh and uninjured. Having the option to stagger Herro and Powell's minutes throughout the game as well as finish and start with them will be huge. No weakness in our offense at that point. Not having a true PG isn't ideal but truthfully we don't have that now. Dru kinda is, but even he isn't starting. We are going to ball handle by committee and that's just what it is.

As far as defense, I think Herro knows he has to improve there. We will see what happens and what he's worked on to not be as much of a liability. But I'm also tired of that being the primary talking point for him with nothing positive said when he was clearly our best player and had a great year last year. Especially while the same folks salivate over players like bum ass Garland and Nembhard and even Bradley Beal and Lilliard last year. At a point it just gets stupid and a detriment to having intelligent discussion about the team.

Yeah, I am also optimistic Herro will adapt to the offense and make Miami more of a threat because he's just such a good shooter. While his role in recent seasons has been to be the primary ball-handler/creator, I don't think he's like some players in the league that need to be ball-dominant to be effective.

It's a small sample, but Miami is scoring 125ppg so far this year (tops in the L). Only Powell is over 20ppg (Adebayo is at 19.9, tbf); Miami has only had 3 games with a player with 30< in a game (Adebayo and Jaquez had 31 in a loss to the Spurs and Lakers, respectively, and Powell had 33 last night). Miami needs Herro to integrate, not dominate.

To be even more fair Edrice was at like 22-23 before the injury in the first quarter nuked his numbers. We’re definitely scoring by committee though, everyone is adding their piece, it’s been a really solid balance. Everyone just taking their opportunities where they come within the flow of the offense and no one is really dominating the ball

This is a good point that I had forgotten to take into consideration w/ regards to Bam's averages.

[Tim_Hardawayy]

An all star level PG almost seems like a must to win it all as well. Excluding LeBron led teams you’d have to go as far back as the 2011 Mavs off the top of my head to find the last championship without one and even they had Kidd, he was just an old very solid vet at that point though

I think its about having a guy who can create, I mean do you really consider Stephen Curry a pure point guard? He was nothing special in terms of shot creation until he himself started having to be guarded 40 feet from the basket, which opened up everything for his teammates.

Now let's go through the rest... Lowry, really? Kyrie Irving more of a combo guard than a pure point, but OK. Lakers had an old Rondo. Bucks had Jrue Holiday but we all know that team ran through Giannis. Then Curry again, then you have Jamal Murray but obviously Joker was the real "point guard"... Celtics who were the Tatum/Brown show. And now OKC, who again, you can argue whether SGA is a point or shooting guard.

The only real common denominator is a true go to guy. Point guard, not so much. But a guy who can be your offensive hub that can both create for himself, and others.

[3ammy3uck3ts]

An all star level PG almost seems like a must to win it all as well. Excluding LeBron led teams you’d have to go as far back as the 2011 Mavs off the top of my head to find the last championship without one and even they had Kidd, he was just an old very solid vet at that point though

I think its about having a guy who can create, I mean do you really consider Stephen Curry a pure point guard? He was nothing special in terms of shot creation until he himself started having to be guarded 40 feet from the basket, which opened up everything for his teammates.

Now let's go through the rest... Lowry, really? Kyrie Irving more of a combo guard than a pure point, but OK. Lakers had an old Rondo. Bucks had Jrue Holiday but we all know that team ran through Giannis. Then Curry again, then you have Jamal Murray but obviously Joker was the real "point guard"... Celtics who were the Tatum/Brown show. And now OKC, who again, you can argue whether SGA is a point or shooting guard.

The only real common denominator is a true go to guy. Point guard, not so much. But a guy who can be your offensive hub that can both create for himself, and others.

Fair enough, I wasn’t including LeBron led teams for the same reason you pretty much gave for the nuggets and Jokic. I do think they’re absolutely important though, Lowry was big for that Raptors team for sure. Holiday for the Bucks, Murray as well so maybe not the necessity I was pointing to but they’re definitely important and can ease things up. The top 10 or so guy I stated in my prior post is absolutely a necessity though, you’re not winning a championship without that. I’m still weary about our playmaking in a playoff setting but maybe that comes with the elite player, if we were to ever get one.

[3ammy3uck3ts]

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Mavs fire sale probably coming with AD and Kyrie. They honestly should probably try to pair Flagg with one of these studs in the top 3 of the next class. That’s 2 great building blocks for the future

[Enso]

AD and Bam together is redundant and eats up too much cap space.

[3ammy3uck3ts]

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Bam being on the court is integral to our rebounding which also directly ties to our defense. We’re really going to have a top 5 or so defense and offense at full strength if everything continues to flow well with the addition of Tyler.

[3ammy3uck3ts]

AD and Bam together is redundant and eats up too much cap space.

Hard pass for me due to ADs age and injury history but if not for that they’d absolutely be a dominant duo on both ends. I’m not really willing to take the risk on older injury prone guys like AD and now maybe even Kyrie. This group is a star away from legitimately contending, we need to get the right guy and hopefully that guy has longer than a 2-3 year shelf life of being elite

[MadD23]

Another Fontecchio? lol. So According to you Fon could replace Herro if given more minutes? He'll average over 5 assists with a higher than a 2 to 1 TO ratio? He will be a closer just like Herro and he will also be able to create his own offense and set up others like all those allie opps we are accustomed to see with Herro and Bam. Ohhh and he'll also be able to get to the Freethrow line and rebound just like Herro. Gotcha.

Read on Twitter

Context matters though. Felt like every game we had was a chest hurt game - how many clutch possessions are in this table per player?

Our offense last year was also terrible, and end of game possessions often ended with late clock Herro isos that generally are a no bueno.

I’m keen to see Tyler in the flow of this offense. It’s open, everyone eats, and he’s a big time shot maker. Say what you want about Herro, but he’s hit a number of huge shots for us over the years down the stretch. He isn’t afraid of the moment.

Correct. How do you explain to a hater that last season Herro was forced into a destined to fail role, on a terrible team without a super star in a half court (slow) offense that required for him to be a scoring savior every single night for the team to have a chance at winning. So it's only natural he had to force shots at the end of games for the team to have a chance. With the lack of spacing it's only natural for his effectiveness during those moments to take a hit. Despite all of that, at only 24/25 years old, he made his first all star and was the best scorer on our team by far. Herro on a better team , with this new and faster offensive style next to Powell, will play with a different type of space and that will make the game easier for him and he will make the game easier for everyone else. Haters are going to hate, they are more worried about being right than anything else. EGO is a bxxxx.

[3ammy3uck3ts]

Read on Twitter

Context matters though. Felt like every game we had was a chest hurt game - how many clutch possessions are in this table per player?

Our offense last year was also terrible, and end of game possessions often ended with late clock Herro isos that generally are a no bueno.

I’m keen to see Tyler in the flow of this offense. It’s open, everyone eats, and he’s a big time shot maker. Say what you want about Herro, but he’s hit a number of huge shots for us over the years down the stretch. He isn’t afraid of the moment.

Correct. How do you explain to a hater that last season Herro was forced into a destined to fail role, on a terrible team without a super star in a half court (slow) offense that required for him to be a scoring savior every single night for the team to have a chance at winning. So it's only natural he had to force shots at the end of games for the team to have a chance. With the lack of spacing it's only natural for his effectiveness during those moments to take a hit. Despite all of that, at only 24/25 years old, he made his first all star and was the best scorer on our team by far. Herro on a better team , with this new and faster offensive style next to Powell, will play with a different type of space and that will make the game easier for him and he will make the game easier for everyone else. Haters are going to hate, they are more worried about being right than anything else. EGO is a bxxxx.

Surely we didn’t have another star on the team near the top of the league in clutch scoring efficiency on several reps as well with all this being the case!

I hope you all are right about the dude, he’s been here for 7 years now and has been defended like he’s Michael Jordan majority of his tenure despite not contributing to winning much if at all while being here. It’s time he starts earning your praise and actually gives you some legitimate ground to stand on. We should be the favorites out of the east if he turns out the way some of you are talking

[Tim_Hardawayy]

he’s been here for 7 years now and has been defended like he’s Michael Jordan majority of his tenure

This is so disingenuous and I don't know why you do this. Saying he's not trash is defending him like he's Michael Jordan?

[MadD23]

Context matters though. Felt like every game we had was a chest hurt game - how many clutch possessions are in this table per player?

Our offense last year was also terrible, and end of game possessions often ended with late clock Herro isos that generally are a no bueno.

I’m keen to see Tyler in the flow of this offense. It’s open, everyone eats, and he’s a big time shot maker. Say what you want about Herro, but he’s hit a number of huge shots for us over the years down the stretch. He isn’t afraid of the moment.

Correct. How do you explain to a hater that last season Herro was forced into a destined to fail role, on a terrible team without a super star in a half court (slow) offense that required for him to be a scoring savior every single night for the team to have a chance at winning. So it's only natural he had to force shots at the end of games for the team to have a chance. With the lack of spacing it's only natural for his effectiveness during those moments to take a hit. Despite all of that, at only 24/25 years old, he made his first all star and was the best scorer on our team by far. Herro on a better team , with this new and faster offensive style next to Powell, will play with a different type of space and that will make the game easier for him and he will make the game easier for everyone else. Haters are going to hate, they are more worried about being right than anything else. EGO is a bxxxx.

Surely we didn’t have another star on the team near the top of the league in clutch scoring efficiency on several reps as well with all this being the case!

I hope you all are right about the dude, he’s been here for 7 years now and has been defended like he’s Michael Jordan majority of his tenure despite not contributing to winning much if at all while being here. It’s time he starts earning your praise and actually gives you some legitimate ground to stand on. We should be the favorites out of the east if he turns out the way some of you are talking

I defend Nico, I defend Wiggins as well because the impatient have cero objectivity. Not every player is going to be SGA, Steph, Mitchell, Tatum, Brunson, Giannis, etc. But both Bam and Herro are going to make this team way better than what it is right now. We can win now, but teams will eventually start to catch on to our style and without them, the fun we are experiencing in the present can turn on us real quick into a complete different reality.

[3ammy3uck3ts]

he’s been here for 7 years now and has been defended like he’s Michael Jordan majority of his tenure

This is so disingenuous and I don't know why you do this. Saying he's not trash is defending him like he's Michael Jordan?

Stop it Timmy, that’s not how those conversations go and it’s far more extreme than “he’s not trash”. I don’t think he’s trash, he’s just not the elite of the elite like many pretend and if he is, it’s time he starts proving it and proving it in the playoffs where it matters most. Any criticism or comparison of Herro and there’s 6-7 posters coming at you with pitch forks. On top of that the second we lose or the other team goes on a 8-0 run or something here comes the “oh yeah we really don’t need Herro do we guys” posts from a few of them, then we end up pulling out the W like last night. I just want him to back up the nonsense that comes with it all

[3ammy3uck3ts]

Correct. How do you explain to a hater that last season Herro was forced into a destined to fail role, on a terrible team without a super star in a half court (slow) offense that required for him to be a scoring savior every single night for the team to have a chance at winning. So it's only natural he had to force shots at the end of games for the team to have a chance. With the lack of spacing it's only natural for his effectiveness during those moments to take a hit. Despite all of that, at only 24/25 years old, he made his first all star and was the best scorer on our team by far. Herro on a better team , with this new and faster offensive style next to Powell, will play with a different type of space and that will make the game easier for him and he will make the game easier for everyone else. Haters are going to hate, they are more worried about being right than anything else. EGO is a bxxxx.

Surely we didn’t have another star on the team near the top of the league in clutch scoring efficiency on several reps as well with all this being the case!

I hope you all are right about the dude, he’s been here for 7 years now and has been defended like he’s Michael Jordan majority of his tenure despite not contributing to winning much if at all while being here. It’s time he starts earning your praise and actually gives you some legitimate ground to stand on. We should be the favorites out of the east if he turns out the way some of you are talking

I defend Nico, I defend Wiggins as well because the impatient have cero objectivity. Not every player is going to be SGA, Steph, Mitchell, Tatum, Brunson, Giannis, etc. But both Bam and Herro are going to make this team way better than what it is right now. We can win now, but teams will eventually start to catch on to our style and without them, the fun we are experiencing in the present can turn on us real quick into a complete different reality.

I hope you’re right man, I really do