Miami Heat still not earning respect
MIAMI — In the wake of losing out on Damian Lillard, the offseason ended with a thud for the Miami Heat.
Then again, despite unparalleled Eastern Conference success the past four seasons, it’s not as if Erik Spoelstra’s team hadn’t already learned to remain grounded.
In 2020, the trip to the NBA Finals was dismissed as a bubble fraud, with that season concluded in the Disney World pandemic setting.
In 2021, that ridicule only grew, with the Heat swept out of the first round by the Milwaukee Bucks.
In 2022, the Heat’s No. 1 East seed was downplayed as perceived regular-season indifference by other contenders, even as the Heat eventually battled the Boston Celtics within one win (and one Jimmy Butler 3-point attempt) of the NBA Finals.
Then last season, even when advancing to the NBA Finals for the second time in four years, it became more about Giannis Antetokounmpo’s first-round injury and other chips that fell in the Heat’s favor along the way.
So here they stand again, at the intersection of doubt and skepticism, as they prepare for Tuesday’s opening of training camp in Boca Raton at Florida Atlantic University.
Questions? There are plenty.
Answers? We’re about to find out.
Q: Will it be chip firmly on shoulder?
A: More like fuel for the fire. Being dismissed after the bubble was one thing. Coming off a third trip to the Eastern Conference finals in the past four years and still being relegated to 2023-24 afterthought is another.
Butler basically has had a chip implanted on his shoulder since his NBA arrival. Bam Adebayo still is trying to make sense of why he is not the leading contender for Defensive Player of the Year. And Tyler Herro has to have taken issue by now of being annual trade chum.
Q: So pedal to the metal from the start of the season?
A: That is the flip side of the Heat’s recent success.
Last season’s run to the NBA Finals came after a 44-38 regular season that left the Heat in seventh place and ultimately as a No. 8 playoff seed. In 2020. when they also made the NBA Finals, it was with a fifth-place finish.
Spoelstra can coax and cajole all he wants, but the reality is that the Heat appreciate what can be done after a measured approach to the regular season, playing all four series last season as the road team.
Butler again will prioritize playoff preparedness. And Kyle Lowry certainly will take heed of how an abundance of early seasons minutes a year ago left him practically on fumes at the finish.
Q: Best-case scenario?
A: Adebayo shows continued growth, particularly on the offensive end. Herro takes a stand to prove he is a keeper. And Butler finds the right combination of regular-season contribution and Playoff Jimmy preparedness, perhaps caring enough about the NBA’s annual awards to actually appear in the required 65 games.
Q: Worse-case scenario?
A: The Heat shoot like they did during the regular season in 2022-23 instead of how they shot in the playoffs. That, more than any factor, accounted for the playoff turnaround. The Heat closed the regular season at .344 on 3-pointers, fourth worst in the league. They finished the playoffs at .380, best in the NBA.
Q: Does the best-case scenario also include some kid stuff?
A: Not necessarily, at least not if the regular-season goal is to chase wins and a high playoff seed. For the moment, let’s work from the framework of a possible starting lineup of Adebayo, Butler, Herro, Kevin Love and Caleb Martin. That would leave veteran options Lowry, Josh Richardson, Duncan Robinson and Thomas Bryant as the first four off the bench. At that point, you’re talking 10th man, at best, for one of the younger players.
Q: Which of the younger players could make a breakthrough?
A: The Heat drafted Jaime Jaquez Jr. as a ready-now prospect, so he likely would have the initial upper hand in regard. As a matter of perspective, at 22, Jaquez is 2 years, 4 months older than Heat 2022 first-round pick Nikola Jovic. But there also is the reality that the Heat’s veteran depth on the wing is stronger than the depth behind 35-year-old Love at power forward. So the opportunity could be there for Jovic.
Q: Where won’t the battles be in camp?
A: Based on where the Heat stand so hard up against the new NBA luxury-tax tiers, anyone with guaranteed money basically is guaranteed an opening-night roster spot, unless traded. So that would be a 13-player group of Butler, Adebayo, Herro, Love, Martin, Lowry, Richardson, Duncan Robinson, Bryant, Jovic, Jaquez, Haywood Highsmith and Orlando Robinson.
Q: So where will the battles be?
A: Teams must carry at least 14 players under standard contract to open the season, which means one more would have to be added to that 13-player group. It could be as simple as elevating a player from a current two-way deal, with Jamal Cain, Dru Smith and R.J. Hampton holding those contracts. Or the Heat could start with one of their tryout players on a non-guaranteed standard deal, choosing from the tryout group of Cole Swider, Justin Champagnie, Cheick Diallo, Drew Peterson and Alondes Williams.
Q: So do the trade winds subside in the wake of Lillard landing with the Bucks?
A: Not necessarily. The Heat attempted to move off of Duncan Robinson’s contract this offseason and likely will continue with that approach, aware that they might have to turn around and pay Martin in free agency next summer. Plus, from the moment Lowry signed his three-year, $85 million contract in the 2021 offseason, the final year stood as one that could be flipped as matching salary in a trade. That was among the reasons the Heat bypassed waiving Lowry with the stretch provision by that Aug. 31 deadline.
IN THE LANE
WAIVE AND WAIT: Among the more popular recent trends in the NBA has been to both sign and waive a fringe player ahead of training camp in order to then be able to hold that player’s G League rights, rather than actually bringing such a prospect to camp. The Atlanta Hawks recently took that approach to secure the G League rights of former Heat forward Chris Silva, and the Heat have taken that approach three times this offseason, first getting Brandon McCoy, Jon Elmore and Caleb Daniels under contract only to waive them ahead of camp. In the wake of that maneuvering, the rights of all three are held by the Heat’s G League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce, with all three eligible to be signed by any NBA team.
FULL HOUSE: Because of the advance work of Adam Simon, Eric Amsler and other Heat front-office executives charged with getting the Heat’s G League house in order, the Skyforce already are well stocked even ahead of Heat camp. In addition to McCoy, Elmore and Daniels being under the Skyforce’s umbrella, so, too, is guard Jamaree Bouyea, the guard who went undrafted out of the University of San Francisco in 2022. In addition, all three players currently under Heat two-way contract would be eligible for Sioux Falls assignment: Jamal Cain, Dru Smith and R.J. Hampton. Beyond those seven, the five players who will be in Heat camp on Exhibit 10 tryout contacts also can be funneled to the Skyforce: Cole Swider, Cheick Diallo, Justin Champagnie, Drew Peterson and Alondes Williams.
WAITING GAME: An offseason Heat salary dump in the wake of his latest injury setback, Victor Oladipo does not appear long for the Oklahoma City Thunder. Dealt in July by the Heat along with two second-round picks in order to move off his $9.5 million 2023-24 salary, Oladipo, 31 is working back from his third knee surgery over the past four seasons. “He won’t be at camp, so we’ll have to make a decision on that contract,” Thunder general manager Sam Presti said at his team’s pre-camp briefing. “VO is great. He’s been through a lot. He’ll be back this season at some point, and I’m sure he’ll be playing with like a really good team at some point. But just with our roster situation, we just can’t prioritize that right now.” Oladipo was with the Thunder in 2016-17. “We’re huge fans of his,” Presti said. “He’s got a great spirit, man, and no one can battle through the things that he’s battled through unless you have that kind of spirit and optimism in addition to being an extremely talented guy. He’ll be back, and I think he’ll be helping someone. Just the alignment for us doesn’t make sense right now.”
IN RESERVE: After taking over as the Heat’s starting point guard over the second half of the regular season and then throughout the playoffs, it will be back to the bench for Gabe Vincent with the Los Angeles Lakers. With Vincent having signed a three-year, $33 million free-agency deal in the offseason, the Lakers confirmed ahead of training camp that Vincent will slot in as backup to D’Angelo Russell. “At the end of the day, we don’t get to where we got to without D’Angelo Russell,” coach Darvin Ham said, with Russell having reupped with the Lakers at $36 million over two years. Vincent, who had a four-year, $34 million offer to return to the Heat, likely could have remained as a Heat starter in light of the Heat’s failure to land Damian Lillard.
NUMBER
0. Number Josh Richardson is now able to reclaim after the Heat were unable to land Damian Lillard on the trade market. Richardson wore the number during his previous Heat tenure from 2015 to 2019, as well as during ensuing stints with the Philadelphia 76ers and Dallas Mavericks. Previous Heat players to also wear No. 0 were Mike Bibby, Toney Douglas, Meyers Leonard and Marcus Garrett.
