2025 Miami Heat Regular Season Thread

[Crazy-Canuck]

I could’ve swore Wiggins was 6’8 for some reason lol, he’s only 6’6? 7 foot wingspan is elite though

Problem is that he weighs as much as herro yet is expected to defend 4s and 5s. Its why he probably got hurt. He can switch onto 4s, but cant be a dull time 4. Its also why I suggested trading him away if Powell is the defacto SF.

[3ammy3uck3ts]

I could’ve swore Wiggins was 6’8 for some reason lol, he’s only 6’6? 7 foot wingspan is elite though

Problem is that he weighs as much as herro yet is expected to defend 4s and 5s. Its why he probably got hurt. He can switch onto 4s, but cant be a dull time 4. Its also why I suggested trading him away if Powell is the defacto SF.

He might be out of here for LeBron or GIannis at some point

[3ammy3uck3ts]

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Hardest schedule in the East, plethora of injuries to key guys, 3rd seed.

[greg4012]

Yeah, def rtg is really poor to grade an individual players defense. Its like looking at boxscore points to determine offense.

For defense, I like to use shot contests, deflections, and contested defensive rebounds. And the eye test. I like to watch off ball stuff. Any defender worth his salt is going to grade well there within the team context.

Imo, dru is a better defender than mitchell.

Another thing that I've noticed is that herro is giving more effort on that end.

Powell otoh is a mess.

Powell has been rock solid when playing guard on defense in Miamis system this season. Funny you mention prioritizing looking at defensive hustle metrics then contend that Powell is a mess, when hes second on the team to only Dru Smith in deflections, has a very strong steal rate of 1.9%, has an excellent defensive loose ball recovery percentage, has a positive DBPM on the season, and I haven't seen him being a liability in onball defense.

Can you expand as to how you think he has been a mess this season?

I agree that Smith may be a better overall defender than Mitchell.

DRTG has some value for individual players on defense when you add proper layers of context.

For me, hes got the attention span of a beagle. If his man and ball is in front of him, he's fine. When his man doesnt have the ball, his eyes are still on the ball. If you watch, he'll give up a few open looks a game just by losing his man. Its why he needs guys like wiggins and bam, those guys cover ground and try to get out to shooters. Imo, most don't notice and think it was their cover, but more often then not they just react faster and just get to help spots.

Back to powell, the inability to track his man also leaks into him giving up offensive rebounds. I dont mean the weird carom types. I mean the ones where his man goes straight to rebounding position while Powell just watches the shot and loses his man.

And considering the bulk of defense in the nba is team defense, I consider him a mess. If Davion is primary poa, his job as the sf is to switch and cover 1 through 4. The SF is kinda like the perimeter protector on defense. Thats also why I would put him on opposing point guards. It minimizes his weakness and plays to his strengths and it also allows wiggins, bam, and ware track the ball in help. Then hide herro.

I appreciate and value off ball/team defense alot more than on ball, so that sways my outlook.

I agree that Norm is better onball than offball defensively and can sometimes lose track when offball. I do think he's been better this season in Miami (hence being among team leaders in deflections, is pushing around his career high in DRB%, a plus in DBPM and has a DRTG right in line with Miami's team DRTG).

But more importantly, that's why I think it's paramount that Norm does not log minutes as a de-facto SF. I know i'm a broken record, but Norm should get all his minutes at Guard. When he runs with Herro (also at G), Norm can take on more POA duty fighting thru screens (Herro's weakness) on the better guard and Herro can play passing lanes and be more aggressive while "hiding" on less of an onball threat hopefully. Rest of both of their minutes will be at SG with a real deal POA PG defender in Dru/Davion.

I need to see it on the court, but i think it works to optimize the lineup.

[TroubleS0me]

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[Crazy-Canuck]

I could’ve swore Wiggins was 6’8 for some reason lol, he’s only 6’6? 7 foot wingspan is elite though

Problem is that he weighs as much as herro yet is expected to defend 4s and 5s. Its why he probably got hurt. He can switch onto 4s, but cant be a dull time 4. Its also why I suggested trading him away if Powell is the defacto SF.

He might be out of here for LeBron or GIannis at some point

Wiggins+powell+ware +maybe picks works salary wise first bron. I think the lakers consider it, much better fit for Luka/reeves.

Mitchell +herro+jaime+bron+bam

I'm not sure they'd win many games, but it would be fun.

[MadD23]

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Lebron confirming what a few of us in here believe and no one can question his IQ. No reason for Herro not to fit our system and having the slower paced plays ready to go when needed is definitely a plus for this team.

[Lennyzinho]

Problem is that he weighs as much as herro yet is expected to defend 4s and 5s. Its why he probably got hurt. He can switch onto 4s, but cant be a dull time 4. Its also why I suggested trading him away if Powell is the defacto SF.

He might be out of here for LeBron or GIannis at some point

Wiggins+powell+ware +maybe picks works salary wise first bron. I think the lakers consider it, much better fit for Luka/reeves.

Mitchell +herro+jaime+bron+bam

I'm not sure they'd win many games, but it would be fun.

MAYBE i send that package for Giannis. But there's absolutely no way I offer more than wiggins + rozier expiring if/when league gets their shtt together and some future 2nd round picks for Lebron. Dude is retiring or maybe has one more left in the tank if he comes here and loves it and wants to give it another shot. I'm not giving up future assets for a half season rental, as good as lebron still might be.

Ware to me is untouchable. 7ft walmart wemby, shooting 3's, incredibly important on the boards (going to make another post where I touch more on this), on the 2nd year of his rookie contract in current cba. players like that are worth gold. I'd only even consider sending out Ware if it meant getting giannis or ant.

[HeatFanLifer]

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Hardest schedule in the East, plethora of injuries to key guys, 3rd seed.

The thing is with those strength of schedule reports, if you are a good team then your schedule automatically looks easier. For example, if you are a top four team then your strength of schedule looks weaker since you only play 3 of those top 4 teams. Plus if you are a top 4 team, you beat a lot of teams that otherwise might have a better record. OKC and Detroit being at the bottom of the strength of schedule chart kinda proves the point.

[greg4012]

Problem is that he weighs as much as herro yet is expected to defend 4s and 5s. Its why he probably got hurt. He can switch onto 4s, but cant be a dull time 4. Its also why I suggested trading him away if Powell is the defacto SF.

He might be out of here for LeBron or GIannis at some point

Wiggins+powell+ware +maybe picks works salary wise first bron. I think the lakers consider it, much better fit for Luka/reeves.

Mitchell +herro+jaime+bron+bam

I'm not sure they'd win many games, but it would be fun.

The Lakers don't just consider that, they hold a weeklong praise dance to celebrate that another team gave them free upgrades to make them real contenders and also provide long-term solutions for the Luka build that they have no other path to obtain with a 41-year old Lebron on an expiring contract.

Translation: no way Jose--that's awful for Miami and a bailout for LA.

[Lennyzinho]

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So I listened to this podcast this morning and it had some very interesting things. They touched on the heat alot since Lowe likes them and the van gundy connection of course, etc. I'll mention what stuck out to me the most, for those that don't like listening to these in the background.

1) houston is first in offensive rating, LAST in 3 pt shooting rate. they get 40% FORTY!! of their missed shots back via offensive rebounds with steven adams sengun durant thompson lineup (huge). Detroit is 28th in 3 pt shooting, 8th in offense rating (also rebounds via duren, tobias, cade). talked about how NBA teams are going bigger, going for rebounds and extra possessions and turnovers.

2) they both love ware, talked up powell, mentioned him leaving as a big reason why clippers are imploding when last year they were winning plenty even with kawhi out of the lineup. lowe very clearly said, with ware gotta play him, and then you stagger powell herro so always one of them on the court. why is it so obvious for everyone except spo? (i know it's only been like 1-2 games but... why even try something that's NOT that first?)

3) both said the hawks are better without trae. (shocking for some here, i know...) they said they shoot better, move the ball better, defend and rebound better without him in the lineup. not that trae isn't good but small guards just aren't that valuable and nba is going bigger. aka davion needs to go to bench

the rest was MVP talk for the most part. van gundy also attributed his wealth and nice house to wade lmao. and then said taking stanley johnson over devin booker and donovan mitchell is why he's on podcasts and not coaching.

[3ammy3uck3ts]

He might be out of here for LeBron or GIannis at some point

Wiggins+powell+ware +maybe picks works salary wise first bron. I think the lakers consider it, much better fit for Luka/reeves.

Mitchell +herro+jaime+bron+bam

I'm not sure they'd win many games, but it would be fun.

MAYBE i send that package for Giannis. But there's absolutely no way I offer more than wiggins + rozier expiring if/when league gets their shtt together and some future 2nd round picks for Lebron. Dude is retiring or maybe has one more left in the tank if he comes here and loves it and wants to give it another shot. I'm not giving up future assets for a half season rental, as good as lebron still might be.

Ware to me is untouchable. 7ft walmart wemby, shooting 3's, incredibly important on the boards (going to make another post where I touch more on this), on the 2nd year of his rookie contract in current cba. players like that are worth gold. I'd only even consider sending out Ware if it meant getting giannis or ant.

Yeah that’s a massive overpay for LeBron who might have 1 season left after this one lol. That’s a giannis package, Herro/Ware salary filler any of the other young guys and picks

[3ammy3uck3ts]

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Yep as long as he sticks to his words of “idc if I have 2 points I just want to win” then he should have no problem fitting in, just going to take reps. Our offense is in training camp right now

[3ammy3uck3ts]

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Insanely elite scoring we’ve gotten from Norman this year, we need to keep that going

[3ammy3uck3ts]

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At this point for me, probably a no even for Terrys salary and a 2nd or something. Not sure he can keep up in this pace and I know for sure the ball is going to stick with him. If it were to happen I’d trust Spo to make it work but I don’t like it

[Shewasfly]

He might be out of here for LeBron or GIannis at some point

Wiggins+powell+ware +maybe picks works salary wise first bron. I think the lakers consider it, much better fit for Luka/reeves.

Mitchell +herro+jaime+bron+bam

I'm not sure they'd win many games, but it would be fun.

MAYBE i send that package for Giannis. But there's absolutely no way I offer more than wiggins + rozier expiring if/when league gets their shtt together and some future 2nd round picks for Lebron. Dude is retiring or maybe has one more left in the tank if he comes here and loves it and wants to give it another shot. I'm not giving up future assets for a half season rental, as good as lebron still might be.

Ware to me is untouchable. 7ft walmart wemby, shooting 3's, incredibly important on the boards (going to make another post where I touch more on this), on the 2nd year of his rookie contract in current cba. players like that are worth gold. I'd only even consider sending out Ware if it meant getting giannis or ant.

If there was ever a trade suggestion that showed a person was not an actual fan of the Miami Heat. I mean wtf lmao

I wouldn't give up a single thing of value in a LeBron trade. Not even Wiggins, and I've been incredibly loud about thinking he needs to go.

[3ammy3uck3ts]

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Insanely elite scoring we’ve gotten from Norman this year, we need to keep that going

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[3ammy3uck3ts]

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[Tim_Hardawayy]

If you think about it from the perspective that you are a Wiggins fan, and your goal is to get him to the team with Luka and take Ware with you, that trade makes PERFECT sense.

[Tim_Hardawayy]

3) both said the hawks are better without trae. (shocking for some here, i know...)

lol I could have told you this. The thing that infuriates me about the Herro hate here isn't that people think we can do better, we absolutely can, or that he has flaws, he totally does. Its the way people want to make lateral moves or even arguably downgrades for players with similar flaws, all because their games are flashier (Ja/Trae/Lamelo). There might be one other factor to it as well but I won't go there.

the rest was MVP talk for the most part. van gundy also attributed his wealth and nice house to wade lmao. and then said taking stanley johnson over devin booker and donovan mitchell is why he's on podcasts and not coaching.

That's pretty funny. Stan's a good guy, to be perfectly honest I think he deserved more of a chance to keep coaching Wade, but the Shaq/Zo lineups were not it, even with the NBA shifting back to 2 bigs more recently I still wouldn't play those two together.