Miami Heat Legends CALL OUT Jimmy Butler After Warriors Playoff STRUGGLES

Miami Heat Legends CALL OUT Jimmy Butler After Warriors Playoff STRUGGLES

The Indiana Pacers reached their second straight Eastern Conference Finals, but are there lessons learned from their success that could push Miami to that next level? Plus, Jimmy Butler is failure in the playoffs. Well, that’s a topic of discussion among Heat fans, and we’ll get into it on today’s episode of Locked on Heat. You are Locked on Heat, your daily Miami Heat podcast, part of the Locked on Podcast Network. your team every day. All right, welcome to Locked on Heat, your daily podcast on the Miami Heat. Whether you’re tuning in on YouTube or on your favorite podcast app, thanks for making Locked on Heat your first listen every day. I’m Wes Goldberg here with David Rmill. Both of us are credentialed Heat Media members who cover this team every day. For daily content on the Heat, click that subscribe button on YouTube. Make sure you are following us on your podcast app. Today’s episode is brought to you by Prize Picks. Download the app today and use the code locked on NBA to get $50 instantly when you play your first $5 lineup. Prize fix. Run your game. Have a great show for you today. We’re going to be taking a look at how the Pacers have made it to their second straight Eastern Conference finals and what lessons the Heat can learn from their roster building process. But I want to start today, David, with Jimmy Butler. Uh the Golden State Warriors were eliminated by the Minnesota Timberwolves in five games. Jimmy Butler had one good game in that series. Granted, Steph went down with a hamstring strain in game one of that series, but it is striking to me, and we’ve brought this up before, but it is striking to me, David, the conversation around Jimmy Butler nationally and the expectations that Jimmy Butler could be playoff Jimmy for the Warriors. And I’ll go back to something that Jimmy Butler said when he got traded to the Warriors. He doesn’t have to be Batman because they have a Batman and now he can be Robin. Jimmy Butler never wanted to be Batman. He does not want to be Batman. When Warriors fans and national media pundits and people are complaining about Jimmy Butler being passive, this is what he wanted. He’s 36 years old. The idea of playoff Jimmy is one thing. Playoff Jimmy does not exist anymore. And we saw that he had one good game against the Warriors, against the Timberwolves for the Warriors. Had one good game, 30 plus points in that game. Warriors fans can point to the fact that he got hurt in round one. I’m telling you, I don’t care. Everybody’s hurt right now. Jimmy Butler’s out there. And the way he was moving, you could tell me he looks hurt. I’ll also tell you this, that looks exactly how he’s been moving for 2 years. This is a guy who’s 35, 36 years old. That’s what they move like now. There’s going to be a point where playoff Jimmy wasn’t a thing anymore. I think we’re at that point now. And frankly, I’m a little shocked that people are confused by it. And um it’s unfortunate that that Steph got hurt. I think the Warriors caught could have won this series with Steph. I did pick Minnesota in this series in six games. They won in five games with no Steph Curry. But uh Jimmy Butler clearly just isn’t that guy anymore. And I do think this is why the Miami Heat didn’t want to extend him. And that’s fine. I understand why the Warriors went and traded for him. They wanted a They wanted a Robin. They got a Robin. It’s really hard for Robin to be Batman when Batman’s not around. Yeah. I I don’t know. I can’t take any joy in this. And I know that’s the appropriate word for that, but it’s just like Jimmy meant so much this organization for a few years. And I know a lot of people are burned by his departure and the fact that it sabotaged this season and it was just an ugly way of leaving especially a beat him before that had helped maximize who he was. And I know there’s the counter to that. Well, they didn’t really build the right argu uh roster around him. I suppose you could make that argument. They tried. They failed, but they tried. and there’s only so much you can do to build those rosters around a player like Jimmy Butler and he was perhaps in his prime and at the same time that departure I mean the the departure shouldn’t take away from the fact that he played as well as he did and that he’s just also not the player he was at Miami and I think that’s pretty clear like he had some really good moments during the regular season. He also had some moments that were more aligned with the version that we saw of him over the last couple years. And the expectation was that Jimmy, as you said, would become a better version of himself, much more like the player that we saw carry Miami to the finals over two of his five seasons here. That player, I don’t think that player does exist. And I don’t think he wants to be that player anymore. I I thought he’d have moments where he was capable of doing it. I don’t think he wants to be playoff to me. I don’t think he ever wanted to be playoff Jimmy here. He just seemed to embrace that challenge and was capable of living up to it. That’s no longer the case. And that’s a rough place to be. So I I don’t know, man. I like I really don’t for the Heat organization. Is that this is a win for the Heat organization in the coldarted? Did you win the trade? Did you lose the trade? Did you get burned by Jimmy Butler? Did you miss out on something with Jimmy? Clearly they did not. I will say there’s a caveat there. Okay. Sorry. I will I don’t mean to interrupt. I will say there’s a caveat there because with with Bam making as much money as he’s scheduled to make and I know we had this episode recently where we discussed his value and everything else like that and with Tyler set to get paid a lot of money and with Miami’s future very unclear in terms of what they’ll be able to accomplish, if anything, I think first of all they’ll have to rebuild their roster. they’ll have to retool it at the very least by adding star level player and maybe making a push for the playoffs. So, it’s hard to kind of sit there when you’re just got your ass kicked by the Cleveland Cavaliers in four straight games and you barely got out of the playin tournament sucks. I It’s just I get it. I get it. Like there are fans that feel that way and they’re still burnt. You can’t tell people how to fan or feel and I totally understand that. fandom is very much an emotional process and that being said you love Jimmy or you hated him especially on the way out and you don’t want to I don’t know I you just to me it’s just difficult to be here in this spot and say oh well Jimmy struggled but I will say I think there is a point to be made there like and I’ll say it again and I think that’s what we can take away from this anybody listening to the show is a Heat fan and if you’re a Heat fan then you probably are grateful at the very least least that Miami did not pay the man as much as he did. Now, there’s another flip side of that, and I think you’ve brought it up more than anybody else. Well, why the hell didn’t they make the trade earlier in the year and possibly get a better deal so that they remain competitive this season and avoid separate issue over it’s a separate issue. I at the end of the day, this is the trade that they made and I remember talking with Tobin on the show and yeah, discussing the and you know, he was right and I was wrong. I said, “It shouldn’t matter what Jimmy Butler and the Warriors do. It’s it’s over.” And he said, “Are you he said to my face, “Are you crazy? Of course it matters if Jimmy Butler goes to the finals and wins a championship with the Warriors. Of course that matters for the Miami Heat.” And he’s right. It does. And every to your point, the Heat I don’t know that there’s a Heat fan listening that was rooting for the Warriors. How could you? Because then you you end up with egg on your face here. I want to get to a couple clips. I want to play them for you. One’s from first one’s going to be from Dwayne Wade on his live stream watching the uh that final Warriors Timberwolves game. Hey, number 10. And number 10 and go to state. If you can hear me, do something. Let’s get it, man. So, that’s one. I want to play you this one from Udon Slam from that perspective. First take. But what I’m going to say about Jimmy is as great as Jimmy is, the playoff Jimmy thing has put Jimmy Butler in a conversation with guys that maybe are a little bit above Jimmy Butler. And sometimes the expectations of Jimmy Butler are the playoff Jimmy Butler expectations all the time. And that might not necessarily be who Jimmy Butler is. Jimmy Butler is a very talented basketball player, but he’ll tell you, “I’m not the most talented. I’m not the fastest. He is a smart guy. He prays on weaknesses and mistakes.” We got to give credit where credit’s due to Minnesota. McDaniels was on him. Ant-Man was on him. Randall was on him. He’s not a shooter. He needs to get in the paint. When you get in the paint, we have the number one shot blocker and rim protector on him. I think Jimmy Butler gave what he gave, but Jimmy Butler didn’t have any more to give against that team. And that’s where you see the differences between other guys and Jimmy because I’ve seen guys guard LeBron and no matter what you do, he gets his. I’ve seen guys guard D. Way, no matter what you do, he gets his. Jason Tatum, he gets his. Jaylen Brown, he gets his. Those guys get theirs no matter what you do. Jimmy Butler’s not that unstoppable guy like those guys. Um, what Hasslam said right there is the reason why he’s not playing for the Miami Heat. And it’s what the m it’s the reason why the Miami Heat did not extend Jimmy Butler. That’s it. That’s your reasoning. He’s not LeBron. He wasn’t He wasn’t prime Dwayne Wade. I don’t know that he should be at 36 years old to be fair, but he wasn’t that. But at this stage, looking for the extension, he was not that guy anymore. And the Warriors did not trade for him thinking he would be that for that guy anyway either because they have that guy in Steph who could just shoot the ball over whatever defender is in front of him. Jimmy Butler is not that guy anymore and that’s the reason he’s not playing on the Miami Heat. What do you make of UD’s point regarding Gobear and and the you know the Minnesota defense that maybe it was just a really poor matchup again. Maybe he could have capitalized it a lot more or capitalized on that defense a lot more had Steph been out there with his gravity and everything that he does so well. But I think there’s a point to be made there. Uh yeah. And here’s another interesting thing. Do you agree with UD that Jaylen Brown gets his? Did he say Jaylen Brown? Didn’t he? Oh, I must have missed that. I could have sworn he said Jason Tatum. He said LeBron gets his. Wade gets his. Jason Tatada gets Jaylen Brown gets his and I I mean he got his against the Knicks. Uh he had a better game than than Jimmy Butler did. I I I don’t know about the Jaylen Brown part of it, but I in terms of the matchup, yeah, I agree. Jimmy Butler. Um, we’ve seen it here in Miami for years and it’s why I’ve been labeled as a Jimmy Butler hater is because I would call him out over and over again and I would hand him the most blame pie when we used to do that segment over and over again because in the face of interference and a little bit of friction, he just would throw his hands up and stop trying time after time after time again. Especially in the regular season. Not so much in the playoffs or in the 2023 run. But in the regular season all the time, you just like, “Nope, not my night. Too hard. Going to throw my hands up.” And that I saw that. What he hearing Dwayne Wade scream at his friend Jimmy Butler, do something. And then hearing those words from Udonis Hasslam, which were measured. Measured. Ulam does not speak that way about Jimmy Butler if he’s not on camera. Those were measured. That was a measured statement from from Udonis Hasslam. To hear Stan Van Gundy constantly talk about Jimmy Butler on the broadcast, how he’s not doing enough. Everybody is saying the same thing. And it’s weird because you’d expect something more. And it it everybody around the league is scratching their head being like, I don’t get it. Why isn’t this guy doing more? And I have been and I’ll take my victory lap here, David. I’ve been saying it for two years and I got called the Jimmy Butler hater for it. Well, now you hear it from Stan Van Gundy. You’re hearing it from Dwayne Wade. You’re hearing it from Yianis Ham. If I’m a Jimmy Butler hater, so are they cuz all I was doing was saying just telling you the truth. Those are the facts. Telling you what I saw. That’s it. And we just saw it again in this series. I’m not saying that they could have won the series, but you’d expect them to do a little bit more. Yeah, it’s still I don’t know, man. I I’m not I’m not gonna disagree with anything. I we’ve made this point before. We’ve talked about it and I we agree 100% that the franchise did the right thing and not paying him even if it looked foolish in the wake of how successful Golden State was during the regular season. But those games I think were more a mirage than anything else. The playoffs are a very different animal and the expectation was that Jimmy would bring his game up. Did not happen. And at the same time, I just I I cannot shake free, maybe I’m just in a minority here. The the impact that Jimmy had on this roster for five years was far greater than the joy I might take in seeing his demise or his collapse or however you want to label it. I want to make it clear, I don’t I’m not No, I know you’re not joy. Maybe like a little bit of joy, but it’s this isn’t joyful dancing on the grave. I’m just saying like if you’re going to want the Heat to succeed, then you want them to make the right moves. They made the right move. Yes. In in not paying Jimmy Butler. I dude that we were there for the 2023 finals run. That was one some of the most fun I’ve ever had doing this podcast and watching this team. That was awesome. Um great memories. None all of that stuff is still there. That memories are memories for a reason. Um, but the good times had to end and they ended in a really ugly and and kind of immature way on both ends a little bit there. So, uh, we’ll end it there because, um, that’s enough Jimmy Butler talk. Hey, number 10. Number 10 in Golden State. If you can hear me, do something. Let’s get it, man. Penny Team Penny President. Today’s episode is brought to you by Prize Picks basketball season. And it’s at its peak and with the playoffs heating up, now is the time to put your sports knowledge to work with Price Picks, the top platform for daily fantasy sports. Price Picks makes it easy. You just pick more or less on at least two player projections and you’re in. 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We’ll be right back. So, I want to talk about this story uh from Kelly Dwire. He wrote it for SP Nation and the headline really caught my eye. The Pacers don’t tank or rebuild. They are a factor in the NBA playoffs again. And this was even written before they made their second straight Eastern Conference Finals. And I found myself thinking about this story and the Pacers a lot um after they beat the Cavaliers to get back to the Eastern Conference Finals. First of all, we got to stop sleeping on the Pacers and stop disrespecting them. That is a awesome basketball team. They are a whole basketball team. They have eight guys who you really trust. They are really well coached by Rick Carlilele. And I am shocked by the amount of national discourse that is just assuming that the Knicks as long as they end up uh advancing and beating the Celtics that the Knicks will just roll over them and and make the NBA finals. I think Can I pose a question, please? Is is it do you because I I I still struggle with that one because again I saw a version of the Cleveland Cavaliers that was awesome, ridiculously so. Maybe that’s more an indictment on what Miami is, which is a really crappy team, but they looked so helpless against the Pacers and and I wasn’t expecting that. I thought the P I thought that even with Cleveland and their injury issues, they were so good. But Donovan Mitchell’s struggles from the perimeter were not enough. I mean, he as good as he was in attacking the paint and getting to the free throw line and everything else like that, they just didn’t get the kind of protection they needed from everybody else. And Indiana Indiana just beat them soundly. And and so I I just I was curious what your take is on whether or what Indiana was the just clearly the better team or whether or not Cleveland kind of choked this series away. I mean it’s always a little bit of both, right? I mean Cleveland was also injured and and suffered a lot of unfortunate injuries. I I thought Cleveland was the better team. I’ll be honest about it. But the Pacers were always better than a four seed. Also they got off to a slow start. Um but they the way they finished the season was awesome. Like that is a really good basketball team. So, they deserve to be in the second straight Eastern Conference finals. I think it was closer than maybe the seating would have would have led you to believe and even some of the, you know, the FanDuel odds and stuff like that would have led you to believe ahead of the series, but they’re in their Eastern Conference finals for the second straight year. Clearly, they’re doing something right. And going back to that headline there, they they never tanked. They never really did a full tear down. M and it took a long time between the Paul George Pacers that the big three Miami Heat faced 10 years ago and where they are now. But they were always competitive. They were in the playoffs a lot of those years. There was that like that two-year Victor Oladipo run before the the the injuries and stuff robbed him uh and the Pacers of what that was. They had the Sabonis plus Miles Turner years which were kind of interesting. And they were always again never tanked, never ended up with a top five pick, always hanging around. And I think there’s a lot of lessons to be learned with how they built a a sustained winning team. So I’m going to read you like a quick bullet point list of their key roster building moves that they made. And I’m just like, can we learn some lessons from a team from a Miami Heat team that is kind of where the Pacers were a few years ago. Just sort of hovering in the middle. Not really sure where it’s going to go, but real but obviously no intention of of tanking and doing the full tear down. So here’s what the Pacers did to go from that point to two straight Eastern Conference finals. They traded Damont Sabonis for Tyreek Hallebertton. That’s the big one. Um Sabonis at the time, two-time all-star. They traded him for a secondear point guard. And there was a disconnect, I think, between the casual fan and sort of the dialedin kind of you and me NBA fan who who’s watching this stuff every night where the casual fan was like, “Oh my god, you traded Sabonis for who?” And then the dialed in person who was watching 10:30 p.m. start time Sacramento Kings games was like, “Yeah, they got Hallebert and oh my god, what a steal for them.” Um, but that was the big move. That was the big move. But even after that, they did real sound moves. They trade they signed Bruce Brown to a super tradable two-year deal. Um, they trade him and three first round picks for Pascal Seakum, who was a pending free agent, risky at the time for the Pacers because he didn’t know if he was going to come back. Now, Seakum obviously resigned and it worked out, but it was a really smart move. Not just the Bruce Brown signing where they had cap space and found a creative way to use it, but also saying we’re okay trading three first round picks, a steep price for Seakum at the time. Seakum’s been awesome. Borderline third team allNBA guy this year. Uh they took a flyer on Obby Toppen and Eron Nith, two second draft guys, right? N Smith couldn’t get into the rotation in Boston even though he’s a first round pick. Uh Pacers get him for next to nothing. Obi Toppin lottery pick by the Knicks. Couldn’t find his way into the consistent rotation. They were looking to trade him. Pacers get in for next to nothing. Both N Smith, key perimeter defender, part of uh Indiana’s starting unit. Obie Topphen really helpful guy. Has him has had some big games in the playoffs off the bench for them. Those ended up working. They drafted uh Andrew Nemhard, first pick in the second round in the 2022 draft. Point being, they nailed a draft pick. You got to nail draft picks in in today’s NBA. They held on to Miles Turner despite the constant trade rumors and that ended up being really he’s been awesome in these playoffs and then they got the right coach, right? They ended up with Rick Carile and he’s been awesome like I said before. So those are the roster building moves that they made to get to this point in terms of what lessons the Miami Heat can learn. What stands out to you there? their willingness to trade a franchise player or somebody they viewed as a star in Sabonis to take a gamble on a player like Hallebertton. That wasn’t really much of a gamble as you made this the case before, but I think he’s elevated everything else. Like if you’re looking at what Miami is capable of, it might require that kind of forward thinking. Not to revisit it too much, but it just you might have to trade a player that you really like. I don’t know if it’s Tyler. I don’t know if it’s Pam. Maybe that’s a conversation for another day. But to make that kind of move for the player with that kind of upside because I think that’s really what has ignited everything like I mean Obi Toppin Aaron Nmith these were guys that were not really playable you know in their respective teams before but it’s I really think that either they’ve just flourished in Indiana and and Carile system but I think Hallebertton you know I I cannot even imagine like I’ve been a fan of Hallebertton’s games for years and I don’t even know where the overrated conversation came into play like his struggles so badly at the start of the season and I know that he was very up and down and inconsistent and I still think even though Tony Eastford locked on Pacers has not said anything about it there must have been some kind of injury issue something that must have been impacting him as that’s what it was yeah I’ve talked to Tony about it privately and he’s got it was injuries okay so I I just he was so off to start the year but he’s been so good I remember covering the the the All-Star game in Indiana last year and it was like the season of Halleurn and everybody’s kind of casually forgotten this at the same time but he was dominating like he was this off that we saw from the Pacers last year was so good and caught everybody by surprise Turner looked like a really good player and made the Pacers front office look really because they wind up keeping him and it was it was all like it was all him and the impact that he’s had and so yeah he struggled to start the year and then he starts getting that overrated label and then you’re seeing this version of him where he’s killing in the playoffs and he’s just like an assassin in these waning moments of games. It’s like, oh yeah, did you forget about those moments over the last couple seasons because I sure as heck didn’t. Like I I mean, maybe you could find it a tad surprising, but you can’t be like shocked at at at what he’s been able to accomplish because he’s been doing this for a while. So, it’s it’s the the need the willingness to make a major roster shakeup in order to get a potential superstar that you might think could set you back, but in reality has springs you forward. Pushed you beyond Yeah. push you. It’s almost like when the Panthers traded I’m wearing the hat. The Panthers traded Jonathan Trouidau for Matthew Kachchuck and everybody’s like, “Oh, franchise guy Trouido and and then you’re you’re trading him for this young star still, you know, on the star trajectory, but it dramatically shifted the the tenor and the tone of your team and you ended up winning a Stanley Cup because of it.” Similar to what Oklahoma City did when they were forced to trade Paul George. Yes. But traded Paul George for Shay Gilders Alexander and we see where they are now from it, too. Um, I want to stick on the Hallebertton point and then get to some of these other bullet points here in a second that’ll come up next year on Lockdown Heat. Today’s episode is brought to you game by Game Time. There’s nothing like the NBA playoffs. The intensity, the buzzer beaters, the fans losing their minds. Oh, and we can only be experiencing that at the Cassa Center. It’s the kind of atmosphere you must experience live and this year’s matchups are already delivering. If you want in, well, game time makes it fast and easy to get those seeds even for the biggest playoff games. Prices on the app actually drop close to the tip up. And with lastminute deals, panoramic seat views and no surprise fees. Well, game time is a total game changer. I was just on the app looking at a concert that’s coming up. But guess what? There’s also these big games down the road here. 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Terms to apply, but create an account and redeem the code Loca, and you get $20 off. Download the Game Time app today. Last minute tickets, lowest price guaranteed. We’ll be right back. So you mentioned the idea of perhaps trading somebody like Tyler Herro or Bam Adabio uh to make the like for like you know Tyres Hallebertton comparison there. Sabonis for Hallebertton comparison. I’m wondering if this was the real cost in not trading Jimmy Butler earlier because they already did trade a franchise player. They traded Jimmy Butler. And that might have been more similar to what the Thunder did, trading Paul George, an an older star for a younger star. But had they traded Jimmy Butler in the summer, maybe they could have gotten maybe they could have gotten Jonathan Kaminga and Kaminga becomes that player. I don’t know. You know how I feel about Kaminga. I didn’t I don’t think he’s got that upside, but who know I could be wrong and I’d be happy to be wrong. But I don’t know if you want to take this conversation in that path, though. And it’s sorry to interrupt, but what is is there a player that you think is on the cusp? Not just Hallebertton in Sacramento or or Shay in in Los Angeles with the Clippers, but who’s that player? Because I don’t Okay, now I want to hear two of them. Oh, you got same last name. Same last name. All right. Thompson Twins. If I’m Milwaukee and I’ve got Giannis, I want a Thompson Twin. If I’m Miami and I have a chance, you’re probably not getting an Amen Thompson. Could I get a Sar Thompson? I don’t know what for. We don’t have to do the fake trade thing. I think the Thompson Twins the next. I I think both of those guys could get at this level. I’m not You can’t predict it. You can’t guarantee it. I think they can. They absolutely have the capability. I think they have the feel for the game. Top 1% athleticism. They have the competitive juice. I love I love both of them. I don’t know. I can’t I can’t see it. I I mean, I like both their games a lot, but I don’t know that I buy I mean, I don’t know. Like, you see this last draft wasn’t very potential. So it’s not like there’s like Stefan Castle doesn’t really project into that. No, even Aziz and Alex Sar like the top picks, they don’t really project that way. So you have to go another draft back and those are the guys I came up with were the Thompson twins. But maybe it’s somebody in this draft Thompson and uh and uh Tobias Harris from Detroit. You would you trade them Bamio? You asked me this now and I realize I didn’t I want to answer it on the show. It would it it’s it okay, I’m not going to say yes or no. It would be that kind of move. Yeah. Where it would be it that that is sort of the the ballsy move. But to go back to the Butler point here, you got assets back for Jimmy Butler. So maybe you’re not doing Jimmy Butler for generational next phase of the franchise for us. But maybe you could. But whatever you turn Andrew Wiggins and the 20th pick and all these assets into, yeah, that should lead you in the direction of getting that next player. There’s still an opportunity for Miami to bridge that gap and keep Bam and Tyler Herro because the other part with the Sabonis trade, if we’re making this comparison still, which I don’t even know if there’s a point to it, but whatever. We’re here. Sabonis and Miles Turner, they concluded did not work together. That was the reason they traded Sabonis. They were going to trade. They were going to trade one of them and they figured well we can get Tyresese Hallebertton who we really like for Sabonis. We couldn’t get Tyresce Hallebertton for Miles Turner. So they keep Turner, trade Sabonis, get Hallebertton. There’s no indication like Bam and Tyler do fit together, right? It’s not like there’s a situation where they got to choose one or the other. That was really the Jimmy Butler situation because of the contract where they had to choose, okay, do we keep him or not? And so they were kind of forced into that situation. So we’ll see. Um, I do want to get to some of this other stuff, too, because the other one here, I mean, you could argue that maybe Miami already has their Tyrese Hallebertton and Bam Adabio, right? Just a franchise player. And what they’re missing is the second franchise player. And they got really creative, traded a big salary and three first round picks for Pascal Seakum as a pending unrestricted free agent. Maybe that’s the next move that Miami is supposed to make is the Seaka move. Is the other allNBA uh caliber player to add to this roster. And that’s probably just where they’re at right now. Um I want to go through the rest of the bullets, but any thoughts? Okay. Um no, I I mean to take a chance like that on a player like Seakum. I mean, you know that I’ve I’ve been a fan of what Seakum is capable of doing. He’s not he’s not your typical number one. Um but yeah, to get the complimentary player, he can he’s already a wellestablished all-star champion, etc. I I also just think, you know, they were just great moves. Like, we can look at it in hindsight and say they were great moves, but even at the time, they were all in gutsy moves and you have to respect the Pacers for an office for being able to pull him off in a way that he was gutsy because the age, if there was a critique of the Siaka move, it’s, oh, he’s going to be a free agent. You’re giving up a lot of future draft capital, and this is going to be the guy who you tie to Tyrese Hallebertton, right? And it ended up being the right move, 100%. You remember he was having a down year for Toronto when it was happening. Yeah. Yeah. Um in that complimentary star role, he certainly lives up to it. I mean, he’s a Robin who’s capable of being a Batman. He might be third team all NBA this year. He’s been that good. Yeah, it was it was f. And to go back to a point, and I think it was a really good point you made before, we didn’t linger on it enough. These guys with Tyresese Hallebertton, he’s the guy that makes it all work. Oh, yeah. Seakum ended up being the perfect running mate for Hallebertton. To me, it reminds me of when Steve Nash got Amari Starttomire. H, you know, it’s just like, okay, this guy can keep up. Let’s do it. You know, I got my big I’m the guard. We’re running guys out of the gym. And Seakum’s been that perfect guy. And there were some nights where Stomire looked like the better player. And there’s some nights where Sakum looks like the better player, especially at the beginning of this season. Kind of kept the Pacers afloat for a lot of that. To me, that’s why I go back to the BAM thing. It’s defensively, but he’s sort of the tone setter defensively. This he’s the identity setter. defensively it’s finding the co-stars next to Bam perhaps could be the way to look at this too. Um the and then the other part of this is just recognizing it and establishing that identity and keying in on it and staying committed to it and that’s all Rick Carile along with Tyres Hallebertton and obviously the Heat already have their coach and Eric Spolstra but that’s a big part of this. Um they took a flyer on Obie Toppen and Aaron Emith second draft guys. I think that’s what Miami just did with DaVon Mitchell. They got to resign him. But that similar, hey, let’s let’s let’s take a chance on a guy who wasn’t a good fit in his previous stop, but just makes sense for us. I think that’s DaVon Mitchell to a te. They nailed the draft pick with Nemhard. TBD, but like Kiloware could be that guy. Nikolovic could be that guy. Himea Hakaz could be that guy. We’ll see. But one of those guys has to pop. Um and then held on to Miles Turner despite the constant trade rumors. Ended up being the right move. Maybe that’s Miami’s Tyler Hero. always in trade rumors, ended up holding on to him, developed, turned into a guy that a lot of people didn’t think he could be. Maybe that’s maybe that’s Miami’s title hero. I don’t know. It’s a it’s an interesting comparison because I mean they they have built through some smart additions here and there, but they’ve made some pretty I mean, as you lay these out, those are some pretty wide sweeping changes. And I think that’s important to kind of note there is that they were willing to make these moves here and there and and to and it’s all starts I I keep saying it, but it all starts with Hallebertton. You have to have the right player to build around. And I think this is a discussion that we have to have for another time. It’s like what’s the identity of the Miami Heat and who’s the right player to symbolize that identity and to manifest it out on the court. Dirtiest, hardest working, meanest. We’ll talk about that on our next episode of Locked on Heat. Thanks for making Locked on Heat your first listen today. For your second listen, check out Locked on NBA Game Night every game, every night until an NBA champion is crowned. Get local analysis on a national scale. Find NBA Game Night on Locked on NBA on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts.

Explore the intriguing dynamics of Jimmy Butler’s transition to the Golden State Warriors and the lessons the Miami Heat can learn from the Indiana Pacers’ strategic roster moves.

Wes Goldberg and David Ramil dive into Butler’s disappointing playoff performance, featuring commentary from Dwyane Wade and Udonis Haslem, and examine the Pacers’ success in building a competitive team without tanking. Discover how Tyrese Haliburton’s impact has reshaped the Pacers and what it means for the Heat as they consider future roster changes.

0:00 Intro
5:16 Jimmy Butler’s playoff struggles with Warriors
15:15 Pacers’ success without tanking or rebuilding
25:28 Potential trade targets for Heat’s future
30:34 Miami’s Haliburton

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