Miami Heat: Would they regret cutting Josh Christopher, Isaiah Stevens? | Five on the Floor

Miami Heat: Would they regret cutting Josh Christopher, Isaiah Stevens? | Five on the Floor

welcome latest episode of five on the floor in the five reason Sports Network thanks for joining us on your favorite podcast app on Android recommend Spotify or the Five Reasons YouTube channel on Apple Apple podcast also check out off the floor that’s our Discord server that’s where you get everything before everyone else check it out again for $2.99 cents per month the link is right here in the description also our great sponsors of the five reason Sports Network a member of off the floor Lynette you can find her at insurance.com that’s 2 NS and 2 T’s 95458 one88 00 that’s 95458 8800 life insurance car insurance renters insurance she is based out of Lauder Hill but can service the entire Tri County Area again Aggressive Insurance Agency insurance.com 95458 8800 and now today’s episode where here the thing you can check the score Hustle Hard couple scars we bubble frog just like bu said you in trouble y’ Che the plan got it all B y’all SE the block stop with one hand and P trust have the guts we here to bring the heat y’all can hang it up welcome to five on the floor a daily Insider show on the Miami Heat and the NBA featuring Ethan scholet Greg sander and Alex Toledo plus others from the five reasons Sports Network all right welcome back to five on the floor here’s today’s floor plan I’m Ethan skolnick you can follow me Ethan J skck five res in sports we got Alex celo you can follow at Tropical blanket Brady Hawk you can follow Brady Hawk 305 we just got done on playback check it out download the playback app look for the five reasons room or go to playback. tvsn and we were watching had more than 150 in there so we appreciate everybody who’s watching uh the game with us Miami Heat uh slow start and then blowout OKC and there’s one really familiar face there’s a couple that we’ve been excited about and then there’s other guys who we got to start to talk about now so we’re gonna our floor plan essentially today is to figure out whether there’s room for some of these guys because we thought this would be one of the better summer league teams that they he have had in a while for a variety of reasons um you know that hero nun Robinson team uh was kind of the best that they’ve had probably in the past 10 years this one got off to a slow start started to pick it up then Hae hawkis started to play uh and now other guys are starting to flourish so let’s start with this part haih haakas does not need to play anymore not necess uh all summer league is about for second year guys is you want to make sure that they took some kind of a jump because if they didn’t there’s a problem there is no problem it’s like man against boys I said this uh on off the floor that I was told that the coaches of the US select team thought two players stood Above the Rest on that team there one’s really positive for the heat the other’s just insane if you think about it 17-year-old Cooper flag and haime hawz Jr were the two best players on that team um it’s all translated with what we’ve watched I mean the circus shots he’s making today and we keep trying to put him in a box because it’s kind of what we do here and me talking about whether he’s a two or whether he’s a four or whether he’s going to start or whether he’s not he’s just like a really good basketball player and I think as we speak about him this season it’s a question of and Brady you you got into this in the podcast we did of not putting him in that box the team not putting him in the box and just allowing him to create and flow like his game is all flow it’s just like it’s like you know it’s I mean honestly it’s like his hair it’s just like all it’s all over the place it’s elbows it’s this it’s that and but it’s effective and he’s gonna be a monster for them I think this season it just depends on you know again how they utilize him and I say it’s the role they put him in it’s actually not it’s the role they don’t put him in it’s just like letting him be a basketball player and I think that is sposed Task we’ve talked about uh khle wear khil wear I keep Mis pronouncing it we’ve talked a little bit about lson we’ll get into him more often and we’ve talked about kashad Johnson who by the way is going to join us on five on the floor so we’re excited about that and we’re gonna come up with some questions overnight to talk about him but we’re watching this Josh Rich excuse me Josh Richardson he’s on the roster Josh Christopher thing Brady and you and I had the conversation about summer league that like and their two ways that they look for players who can fill roles around their Stars right and so sometimes it’s not about Talent it’s about fit it’s about willingness to do the Dirty Work we talked about this with Alis Williams that he looks really good with the ball in his hands but how much would the heat would the ball actually be in his hands um what did they do with Josh Christopher though because the I mean the guy he went nuts in the second half today and it’s not like there’s no Talent there he was a first round pick who wants to be in Miami what do you do with him I mean one of their most recent two-way success stories was a guy that they had previous NBA uh experience was kind of a a low-end talent that they felt they could that that took a chance in their program in Caleb Martin and look what just happened this past off season where where he gets paid and moves on uh this is even a different circumstance because this guy’s a former first round pick like this is a guy that that is like seriously heavily talented in the high school realm uh and and just has an ability that that feels like he can fill many different roles like it doesn’t feel like the Ala thing where we kind of talked about him kind need the ball in his hands and he’s kind of been through this program for a little bit Josh Christopher is a guy where it feels like uh he’s the type of player you do take a swing on um and I’ve been talking about it because I we Alex we were talking about it on playback too where you were saying you kind of felt like the two ways probably do stand in some degree like if you were to guess because it kind of ends up playing out that way and I’ve been leaning in that direction as well for a good portion of the summer league but the more I think about it there’s no reason and it’s Zion Poland’s a guy that we’re going to talk about a lot because he’s currently on the two-way would you Drew Smith I don’t think you need Zion Poland and Drew Smith like we I’ve talked about needing a guy that the heat are always going to have that one guy in their system in that two-way spot that they can trust that when a GU a guard goes down and come in run their half court offense put them in positions um and he just doesn’t demand a lot like he just plays a certain role in some ways that’s kind of what Poland is and that’s what they like in Drew Smith so I’m like I don’t think you need both of them um Stevens is the guy kind of the extra piece that is a point guard similarly k do things and set up an offense and the passing and all that stuff but he does give a different element that I think you can get away with it but Josh Christopher is the guy that’s different he’s the guy that that you have three two-way spots for a reason he’s that it’s kind of you use it up but what a game in this one like the shots he’s hitting the degree of difficulty the the stuff off the catch he has juice in terms of like he’s a high flyer he can get up Above the Rim he could he can move off ball and he’s a lob threat he’s doing stuff on the ball the issue is um we’re talking about him after a game where he had it going and it feels like there is a little bit of a hit or miss thing here where he there’s some games if he doesn’t have a going then then it feels like it’s it’s more about him on the defensive end and it’s him trying to play out into the Open Floor uh but he’s tough when he has a flow going so I’m just all in we talked about it with with anybody when we were prepping for the NBA draft with the first and second R pick you get the talent you get the most talented player there and when you’re dealing with guys that are in the two-way realm and summer league realm I’m just all in on getting the talent so I’m just I’m interested I think this game matters like this isn’t one of those throwaway games in the summer league like this game matters for for what they’re valuing well if it didn’t matter at all haime wouldn’t have played right and I don’t mean the result matters but I mean like the evaluation matters like they they’re they’re taking this stuff into consideration as they kind of again I think with haime it’s more okay has he grown as much as we think he has yes answer done go home H me have a you know go go get back to your work and no need for you to be I mean Christoper was dapping up the other bench like I this is um there’s an edge to his game and it does feel like they have too many guys for too few spots this time which considering that we thought that the program had been a little bit depleted of late because again you know you develop Max you develop Gabe you develop Caleb again not through that program necessarily but you bring him in uh on the two-way they’re all gone you keep Haywood but it it didn’t seem like they had you know they they we talking about with the bigs specifically right but they’ve replenished that with wear with their first round pick um but I I guess Alex it comes down to this and we’re talking about three point guards they don’t need three point guards I it’s a team that plays without a point guard at times right and we even got into the whole thing about Roser yesterday on how they want him to play or not play they still got Jimmy handling they still got bam handling Tyler’s gonna handle provided that he’s here I I don’t I just don’t I’m G keep going back this I don’t understand the need for Drew Smith I I and I I I feel feel almost bad saying it because he seems like a nice guy he had a bad circumstance last year he’s a pretty good Defender he’s not like a useless player but I don’t see the upside I think Stevens runs a team better from what I’ve seen and I think Poland has higher upside so I don’t know how you could justify like when you’re seeing what particularly what Stevens is doing you have a a a player in Williams who clearly has scoring Talent like no question I don’t know where it fits here but he has scoring talent but here’s the other thing if Drew Smith was out there tomorrow I don’t think he gets poached I don’t I don’t know if pulling gets poached M Stevens is short so maybe he doesn’t get poached I know Josh Christopher is getting poached right I mean wouldn’t you think so I mean again former first round pick yeah that’s what I was I mean I I made that comment on playback as well it just feels like he’s giving me the Vibes of somebody who is kind of auditioning for another team’s two-way spot right now and I don’t mean that to say like he has no chance at the Heats two-way that’s just kind of like the vibe that I’m getting um because yeah like like Brady mentioned I had made that comment about like the I think the summer league um you know a lot of stuff is happening a lot of guys are making their case but if I had to bet on an outcome it would probably be that the spots go unchanged that doesn’t mean that’s where I stand on it um and just to be fair like I do think Drew is is a positive Defender I think that’s what he brings he’s a you know he’s got good size for a guard so I don’t want to trash because I know he gets like the brunt of all the jokes and the slander and people think that he’s terrible and all that like so that’s just to make the case for him like because we did talk about that they’re missing perimeter defense so if they really feel that strongly about his perimeter defense being that much better um than the other guys in their program then I kind of get the thinking to me I don’t know if that Gap is big enough between him and like Zion Pullin for example where to like you know if you had to pick one like Brady’s talking about um I don’t know that that gap on defense between the two of them is as big as maybe the gap between Zion Pullin and Drew Smith on offense right because I think Zion isn’t like this amazing score or even amazing point guard like I think he’s decent at both and I think he has that kind of combo guard build that he’d have uh looked for in the past right where it’s like you know the stuff that we were talking about the last time right where it’s like you know you play a role I think he can he can play that kind of off ball combo guard role who doesn’t make many mistakes when he does get the ball but it won’t be very often and I think that’s why he kind of got that spot um to start with and I honestly I don’t think he loses that spot I don’t think it’s out of the question but I don’t think he’s going to lose a two-way spot um I think Stevens has made a hell of a case Isaiah Stevens has made an insane case for like yeah I maybe I deserve this two-way spot you guys talk about the offense not being good enough you talk about not having a backup point guard not that Isaiah Stevens would be in the rotation but like that is literally his game and then I think he there was like some questions about the shot when you just look at it aesthetically but like he’s making them at a high rate he made a few of them today and when you look at his percentages in college it was always good like he didn’t have a single bad shooting season from three in college despite the shot just kind of looking a little bit unorthodox like he shoots it with a lot of comfort and was making him on on andof ball today so like I just think like he he separates himself when it comes to the playmaking because I do think pulling is like a good point guard I feel like Stevens is on a different level when it comes to the confidence of just like you know uh playing with pace making quick decisions and uh I just think he’s a more advanced passer I feel like Pullin plays it a little bit safer and looks for his shot a little bit more um just from what I’ve seen so far but I think both of them kind of deserve two-way spots and if I had to do it right now I would probably give that spot to Stevens over Drew Smith I just think that like what he does on offense is more you know it’s more tantalizing right now because he’s so good at it now I think you could have questions about how much he’ll be able to actually show that off for the Heat and I think it’s kind of a similar thing going on uh to what we talked about with Alis and even what we talked about now with Josh Christopher where it’s like are they going to be able to show the skills off if you just kind of throw them into the Heats mix one night and I think that’s ultimately why I think the spots going to change because I think Drew Pullin and kashad are kind of the easiest guys to just throw in there as role players whereas like Stevens does is going to need the ball a little bit if he’s going to you know if he’s going to facilitate for everybody he might need might not need it that much he doesn’t I don’t think he’s a high usage player but like if he’s totally off ball is it worth giving him a two-way right and then you look at alandis and Christopher I know they’re different players but both of them are kind of like Score first guards even though alandis had a nice passing game and I think you know the three has been falling for him the past couple of games like and then Christopher today who’s never been a good three-point shooter in the NBA hasn’t shot above 30% from three in the NBA shot 32% from three for the Sky Force last season like six of the eight shots he made were from three so how much can you rely on him to be anywhere near this type of guy where it’s like it kind of Screams more that it was a fluky game and not to doubt him because he has this scoring Talent I’m not saying he can’t do it again but it very feels like it very much feels like he’s a streaky player how much Rhythm would he be able to generate right if he’s thrown into the Heats mix kind of a similar thing to Alis and I think you know it goes back to the playing a role thing and ultimately I wish they had like five two-way spots and it it hurts even more that they can’t promote one of these guys to that last roster spot so you could have another one but you know I just think M you might lose a couple of these guys after all this is said and done well they fought for they fought for the three two-a spots like they I mean the heat are one of the reasons that two 32A spots exist um with the other side of this I want to get to the use of the roster spots already okay and we’re going to close with that but I do want to I this was Josh Christopher’s Pro comparison when he came out of college was Jordan Clarkson uh this came from Bleacher Report uh was one of the scouting Services though Christopher has the look of an NBA scorer with quickness strength skills to create and tough shot making ability improving his shooting consistency and decision making uh will be key to his success and efficiency so I mean this is um you know part of it is he got caught in the mix because the Rockets had four first round picks that year and it just it just feels like he got lost uh in the shuffle there a little bit and you know again that happens to guys and then sometime they have to go overseas honestly uh but I I kind of feel you Alex it does feel like he’s going to end up on a roster with a two-way it just might not be the Heats uh do want to mention a great sponsor of the five reason Sports Network it’s prize picks use the code 5 FIV get that initial deposit match up to $100 again you can play legally in the State of Florida again they’ve got their new game uh it’s uh you’ve set your lineup basically set your lineup uh up to four players hit them all you win big that’s the way 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Again download the app for free at the App Store or the Google Play Store and use the code 5 FIV to get that match so let me ask you this because this is coming up because the heat still have a roster spot available and again they’re pressed up against the second apron so this again creates you know issues for them in terms of adding players they may have to wait to add a player they’ve done that before um but there’s also the thing that they they resigned Kevin Love they resigned and they resigned Thomas Bryant after he opted out and they signed Alec Burks for the minimum and we’ve gotten into some speculation on why the Bryant thing may have happened uh which Greg’s thought on that is that it was sort of understood like opt out give us a little more space now get you back on the roster I saw that Andy ellisburg uh said yesterday uh when he was on with serus XM NBA that like SPO will play Thomas Bryant I think that’s a big thing like with with bigs and SPO we know that that there is a certain standard there if he’s going to play a guy and that the fact that would play him even though he didn’t play him for you know certain stretches of the season last year um and the Burks thing like you know you had a shooter who’s had some experience in the postseason like it makes some sense but do you do either you regret these roster spots being used now because it’s not it’s not this isn’t like the NFL you don’t just cut a guy and it’s just wiped out these are guarantees does I mean they didn’t they didn’t resign Orlando Robinson that’s why they have the one spot available and then again they added heith uh with the five with the uh roughly five5 million a year but do either of you regret any of those three moves Brady I mean the Thomas Bryant one just it feels like their big man room is kind of decided where you have a young guy in the mix who should be getting some rotation minutes uh you have Kevin Love who is still a playable big and I think that one you needed to bring back just for the locker room just for The Vibes just for being a connected piece like that even not even counting the stuff on the floor you needed whereas Thomas Bryant I mean if you’re saying it is because of that reason that he was going to opt in anyway and there’s nothing they could have done about it like I don’t think you can uh hold it against them but that one definitely kind of hurts just because of the fact that when you look at this roster they’re missing a point guard they’re missing a backup point guard and you’re looking at the fact that maybe it isn’t the worst thing in the world to have two point guards on on three of your two ways because you’re trying to balance your roster all the way through and they don’t have enough with the regular roster uh so like a guy like Isaiah Stevens feels like kind the guy you lean toward uh Alec Burks is is it like a veteran Josh Christopher like a like a hot and cold player that could get streaky from three and play in that way it’s just kind of a uh experienced player I wasn’t mad at that signing just because of that reason that I don’t trust this team’s availability in the regular season still that there’s going to be certain games where if you have to throw like a veteran scorer in the mix it’s not the worst thing in the world uh kind of middle of the Season into late in the season so I don’t know it’s really hold a lot of these these signings against them for that reason because they were held up against the second apron but now it comes down to the two- ways they’re basically the three two-ways they sign are gonna probably play more than like Five Guys on the regular roster like khaw Johnson I was making the point like it’s probably GNA start more games than a lot of guys that are signed to this team like it just they’re they don’t care about the two-way if you’re at a roster whatever standard they’re going to play whoever they want to play and Kesha Johnson’s one of them if Isaiah Stevens is in the mix and there let’s say there’s a game that Terry Rosier misses you don’t think he’s getting the call up because they don’t have anybody else to go to at the point guard position um so it matters I think when you made the point about like kind of looking at the roster as a whole and not just the talents I think that does play into it um but the Drew Smith holding down one of the spots and we’re kind of evaluating summer league guys is where it get starts getting weird because we’re wanting to sign the highend talent in Josh Christopher but you’re like okay can’t really leave out this guy and Isaiah Stevens who’s by the way putting on like an absolute passing display in this summer league like perfect reads being able to do all this but the thing that’s going under read I was putting up the numbers and I think it shifted because I did it before the game ended but in summer league up to the like the beginning of the fourth quarter he was shooting 13 of 18 from the field seven of eight from three like that’s not even counting his best skill which is just point guard General and passing like this guy is putting on like a real display in summer league I don’t know you let this guy just walk and because kind of is he I think he is on the exhibit 10 I believe so he will be there in training camp um but I don’t know how you go past that point wasn’t he their last exhibit 10 I believe at right before they went to Summer League I thought they added him as the 20th guy which you know again they they’ve they’ve tried to develop some of those guys before and I I guess it comes down to this because we do this all the time and I I I can say that I from covering the Dolphins for years Alex this was uh one of those things that kind of drove me nuts because like we’d spend the last week of training camp trying to figure out their 53 man roster right and like okay are they going to cut this guy they’re going to take seven linebackers they’re gonna take eight linebackers they’re gonna take four running backs they’re GNA take five running backs can this guy play special teams can he not and we would obsess about like these last spots right like these last spots when really all that mattered was the 10 best players on the team um and and like we’ get into and like I I actually did a study once to actually look to see if anybody that the Dolphins okay who have been a pathetic franchise for a very long time uh if if anybody the Dolphins gave up on like blew up somewhere else okay like and made you regret it and there was like a handful there was like this pass rusher Rob ninkovic and a couple of others they went to the right situation like New England and belich found a way to use them okay and I feel like to a certain degree and I want to do this episode but I still to a certain degree we do this a little much too much we do this a little too much here because I just wonder like is are we going to regret any are they going to regret letting go of any of these guys like we talked a lot about like RJ Hampton last year right like okay I haven’t heard anything about what he’s doing in Washington I mean who who is the last Philadelphia now he’s on the six or summer league team precisely okay like I mean even Orlando Robinson I don’t know well he’s going crazy with the Rockets right now he just had a great game but he went crazy for them last year too and we start in the regular season I mean Jamal Kane just signed elsewhere in New Orleans right on a two-way um but who’s the last guy that we were like well they shouldn’t have cut that guy in Camp Patrick Beverly probably right is that fair that’s fair he was a draft pick that was just like the first one that came to mind I mean I can’t think of anybody else like okay so I mean and they cut him because um any house was was available and I I was actually told a story recently about exactly why they cut him and that it was regretted afterwards um but it it had something to do with with house being a veteran but there was something else uh in the mix there and again he was a draft pick who ended up having to go overseas um at first I I’m just I’m just I I can’t remember the last one so I wonder if we’re making too much of this like there’s part of it is like what the guy’s gonna do on your roster right and part of it is what what the guy is going to do somewhere else is going to say okay we shouldn’t have made that move I mean alandis Williams can maybe go some where and be maybe a ninth or 10th Man on a bad team and like he’ll have like one of those we call him random scrub heat Killer games against the Heat right like for Washington in March you know for the 15 and 62 Wizards or something along those lines like is that what we’re look or or is or there any of these guys are gonna be like okay Isaiah Stevens man they should not have let that guy go he’s gonna be running a team in two years it’s really hard to tell man like it’s just too early to tell for any of these guys but I do think like to me there’s easily like six guys trying to make the case for those three spots and we know kad’s not going anywhere like I think if I had to bet he he would get that last roster spot whenever it’s financially available for them to do it without going over the second apron you know like in February or something um and then maybe they just put another two-way guy in there I think that’s probably the best bad um but like outside of that I don’t know like I’m not 100% sure that they’re going to really regret you know um losing out on these guys like they’re it’s really hard to make those types of claims for guys that you’re talking about taking two-way spots and the only one I think you could actually make a claim for would be kashad that I would be like firm about it where it’s like you cannot let this guy go because the thing is he was supposed to be a second round pick in the first place so there’s that right with the recency of it where like people thought he was gon to be taken including me like I I mentioned his name on that pod like before the second round of the draft was just like a guy and Brady did too is just like he seems like somebody who could be used with a second round pick so kad’s not going anywhere outside of that it’s hard to say that for any of of of those guys I think maybe Stevens I think they might regret just you know they haven’t had a point guard like that in their system in a while now that doesn’t mean that I’m like a firm believer that oh he’s going to be a Difference Maker as a true point guard facilitator for them but I do think it’s it’s an intriguing skill set and the fact what’s really sold me is what we’ve already been talking about here is just the shooting because like if he was one of those guys guys where he’s a questionable shooter I think that maybe I would have been like okay whatever you can let him go like he’s already small but the shooting is there even with like I said with a kind of unorthodox looking jumper he makes it at a high level and he’s already a great passer like he’s not a terrible Defender I know he’s small and 64 wingspan is an amazing you know it’s bigger than his you know six foot height um but he tries on that end I don’t think he’s as good as pin like Pand is just you know a lot bigger and taller um but I do think like he’s shown two-way potential and clearly he he’s a he leans offense and that’s something that this team could use so Stevens is a guy that I would lean towards but like I do think it would be tough if like if like they end up telling Josh Christopher and especially Alis Williams too who’s kind of been around already it’s like oh well you know too bad so sad you’re not getting one of these two-way spots especially after having already kind of taken back those qualifying offers for alandis and Cole swier like I feel like alandis swier Christopher I wouldn’t be surprised if any of them had two ways elsewhere because I do think they’ve shown out in different ways um kind of what they can do well we’ll see I mean again like I said it does seem like they’ve they’ve replenished the uh the store here a little bit uh with some interesting players and I honestly it’s been a good summer league like you’ve gotten to see what you wanted to see uh I mean I know Larson has not really shown up with the shot yet but I know the coaches have been happy with him behind the scenes uh hakz showed you exactly what you wanted to see no more necessary this stage at this stage uh and then and where has you know there’s been there’s been there was there was the game where where popped and then again you’ve got a lot of young talent that they can choose from they are they’re really killing it on on the back end of this stuff like that that’s the thing like the the the drafting the identifying these players with certain skill sets like that that group is really doing well you know the execution on the front end of adding the Star level Talent that’s what’s holding back right now and we’ve talked about a lot of that being uh beyond their control but it’s what ultimately is going to Define this build um because these players are nice to have it’s great to replenish them it’s great not to have to overpay them I think that’s another lesson that’s being taught now and I think we can look back at it they may have dodged a bullet with the whole Caleb Martin thing because uh it seems like they have Caleb Martin at home and that’s kind of what they’ve been able to do here year after year after year so um you know I liked Caleb I I was in favor of offering Caleb uh I don’t think it’s ultimately going to be the worst thing that Caleb went particularly is the other part about it is and and you’ve talked about this Brady and we’ll close here um that that hak is gonna sop up a lot of that a lot of those minutes you know so uh that’s where it goes all right I need to run uh thanks to everybody thanks for our sponsors insurance by theet.com uh and of course our friends over at 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The Miami Heat’s summer league team is rolling, and Josh Christopher and Isaiah Stevens have been two of the reasons. Should Miami reshuffle its two-way slots to accommodate? Ethan, Alex and Brady discuss.

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