Zion Williamson in a Miami Heat Jersey? Current Celtic the PERFECT Heat Role Player? | MAILBAG

Zion Williamson in a Miami Heat Jersey? Current Celtic the PERFECT Heat Role Player? | MAILBAG

We open up the mailbag once more to answer your questions on a potential new starting lineup, which free agent role players would help next season, and if Zion Williamson is the answer to Miami superstar problem. All that and more 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 Ramil. Both of us are credentialed Heat Media members who cover this team every day. And for daily heat content, click that subscribe button on YouTube. Make sure you’re following us on your podcast app. This is part two of our two-part mailbag from this part one. You can check that out in your podcast feed and on YouTube. answered a bunch of questions in that episode and did talk about Giannis tweeting something about liking to play in Florida City. So, if you want that breakdown, you can find it on our last episode. But, we’re jumping into part two of the mailback. Have a bunch of questions to get to, including whether or not Kevin Durant would complete a starting five that can compete in the top of the East. And then we get to some names of potential free agents and other marginal players that Miami could add this off seasonason. But we’re going to start with the big one that comes from Brinks who writes in, “Is Zion the move they make?” That’s the question, David. Zion Williamson unclear if the Pelicans are going to move on from him this off season, right? Um there’s a lot of things going on there. They fired David Griffin. Um so they have a new front office in charge. Again, unclear how they’ve used Ion if they want to build around him. There’s been some talk about would they just wave him because he’s on like a $39 million contract or something. It’s fully non-G guaranteed if they wave him before the end of the June or something. They’re not going to just wave him. I would be shocked at that point. Um he still has value, I think, as a trade guy. Yeah, he’s a superstar when he’s healthy and right. The question is and the issue is he is so rarely healthy and right when it comes to his body, the conditioning breaking down physically. Is this the kind of guy that you want to invest in? I think it’s fair, but also at the same time, the contract kind of has get out of jail free cards every single year. So, if it doesn’t work, it doesn’t kill you, right? You can always just wave them and walk away from the problem. But on the same on the flip side, you don’t want to give up a ton for him because then you’re sort of and if because if it doesn’t work out then you’re just sort of left with nothing. So Zion to me is fascinating. I don’t know that the Pelicans are looking to trade him, but if they are looking to trade him, should the Heat give him a call. That is that is a billion dollar question there. And it’s just what a a conundrum because for all the talent and everything else as you said, there’s also the flip side of that. The the contract is a not as much of a concern because of those clauses that are baked in, but the health, the availability, those are legitimate concerns. I mean, they’ve been a concern since he was drafted. And it feels like that’s the challenge that Miami wants to take on. They did that with Tim Hardaway, too. I mean, I know this is going back a ways, but Tim Hardaway’s knee was blown out in what the mid 90s and he had lost a step in Golden State. And that’s when Tim that’s when Pat Riley said, “You know what? We’ll kind of give him a chance here.” And he wound up thriving in Miami for a number of seasons. So, this is not unlike something that Pat Riley would do. He’s like, “You know what? What if we get him? And if you can get him for the right deal where you don’t have to give up one of your star level players. Remind remind us what the deal was for Hardway for context. Oh, it was not much. Billy Owens, I think, was the centerpiece of that. You wound up getting Chris Gatling alongside. Yeah. They included Chris Ging. I don’t know. There was It It was not much. He was damaged goods if I recall correctly. and and so they were kind of more than willing to unload him. Kevin Willis and Bimbo Kohl’s. What’s that? Kevin Willis and Bimbo Kohl’s to Golden State. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, Kevin Willis played for another 15 seasons after that or something like that. That was ridiculous. But uh yeah, he was not a star at that point in time anyway. And and so I don’t know. It was Oh, man. I guess they got Billy Owens with Tim Hardaway. Wow, that’s I miss remembered that one completely. But um yeah, it it’s just this is a a challenge that Miami could see and say, you know what, this is where we want we get a young star. He’s going to put butts in the seats, which is absolutely a plus from the Heat. He’s going to be a name that you can everybody is going to be familiarizing yourself with. And then at the same time, there’s star power there attached to it. I’m also concerned about the fit. Am I crazy in thinking that he might not just be a good fit with the roster he’s currently constructed? You’d have to really kind of tinker around it, but I suppose it’s worth the gamble just so you can have that kind of explosive star level player there. Is he is he the superstar that can help Miami the most? If again, between his game and the the way it functions and the lack of availability, is he the superstar that can take Miami to that next level of competition and and contention? I don’t I don’t know. I I When he’s on the court, when he’s on the court, yes, I I hear your concerns about the fit specifically. He’s got to play the power forward spot and he’s going to have to play with Bam as your starting front court. The other three guys have to space the floor then. Like that is a must. But when Zion is right and he’s playing well, he’s second behind Giannis in terms of dominating the paint. Yeah. Nobody dominates the paint like Zion. except for Giannis. I mean, it’s Shaquille O’Neal numbers that he puts up. He’s unstoppable in and around the restricted area. And when he’s out in transition, it’s crazy. And there were even times last year where defensively he last two years, I should say, when he’s really healthy, he locks in defensively and he he could become a game changer, like a playmaker defensively in terms of jumping pass lane, steals, and just barreling his way in transition for dunks. And he’s exciting. So the idea of Zion Williamson is really interesting, but the idea of Zion was always one thing and then the reality with Zion is always another thing. I mean, he’s less reliable than Kawhi Leonard at this point in terms of health and availability, which is saying a lot. Yeah. So, as enticing as it might be, you can’t give up a lot for him. Bam would be off the table. Tyler Herro would be off the table, I think. So, you couldn’t you couldn’t trade any of those guys for Zion with a straight face. It would be way too risky. two guys who are available. Again, Tyler Heriro 10th uh top 10 in the league in minutes per game was played more than 70 games all-star year. You don’t trade a guy like that for Zion. And plus, if you got Zion, you would need Tyler Herro for the spacing. And at the same time, I don’t know that Tyler Herro is some or Bam out of Well, Bam, I’m sure the Pelicans would love to have Bam, but you’re not trading Bam for Zion. Tyler Herro doesn’t make much sense in New Orleans because they already have Deontay Marie, CJ McCollum, they’ve got guards that they like. you start getting down, it’s like, okay, are you trading Wiggins for Zion? That doesn’t seem like it’s worth it for New Orleans, especially I mean, just from a value perspective, but also they’ve got Herb Jones coming back. They’ve got Trey Murphy coming back. Like, they don’t even need Wiggins. Yeah, we’re getting into like Terry Rosir’s expiring. Would it be Rosier’s expiring and three first round picks? That seems like a like New Orleans has no reason to take Tory Rosier. If they want the salary relief, they just wave Zion. and they get it right away as opposed to having to wait for Rosier to come off the books in a year. If they want the three first round picks, fine. But Miami giving up three first round picks for Zion, that seems like a lot. And then you’re getting into the Duncan Robinsons and the Kyle Anderson contracts, and none of that makes any sense for for New Orleans either, uh, in terms of a straight Zion deal. So maybe as throwins, but not as the centerpiece. So I don’t really know that there’s a deal here that makes sense. I’ll say this and then we can move on to our next topic, David. But this would be the ultimate NBA science experiment, wouldn’t it? Zion Williamson, number one pick, superstar potential, generational prospect, superstar at Duke the way that nobody at Duke has ever been a superstar. And that’s saying a lot. Like Zion’s star power at Duke was greater than even Cooper Flags. Yeah. this last year. It’s hard to like when he when he jump when he stepped through his sneaker that was a national story to go from that to a guy who went even just two years ago in the playing tournament. I know you remember just going him going toe-to-toe with LeBron James and it looked like he was going to be carrying the Pelicans to a playoff birth and then to go down with another injury the way that he went down. When he’s right, he is so good. But it’s his conditioning that has continually gotten in his way. And to put him in Miami, the the best conditioned team in the league, the NBA, I’m sure, would want it because they’re like, if there’s anybody that can save this superstar, it’s this organization. It would be the ultimate science experiment. It would be really cool. I don’t see how it gets done, but it would be a very cool science experiment. Maybe Adam Simon makes a phone call and he kind of says, you know what, send them to Miami because then Yeah, I’m sorry. Adam Silver. Yeah. Sends that phone call in and kind of says, you know, help Miami because then that that kind of is a move like if there’s a team that can unlock his superstardom and get him to be healthy and and everything else like it could be Miami and then that would just benefits everybody in the league, right? If if he gets waved for some reason. Wow. Then you just pick him up. That would be the dream scenario. Yeah, right. Then you just pick him up. Um, would Zion even want to be picked up by Miami? He might see the conditioning and be like, I don’t want any part of that. He’s not he’s not hesitant to I don’t think he’s reluctant about conditioning. We’ve heard the stories before. It just doesn’t it doesn’t ever seem to take for too long. Although, and then there’s the health issues. He’s he’s in the worst he would go from the worst medical staff in the league, the Pelicans. Like people know like inside the league they’re known as the worst medical. They share a medical staff with the with the football team. That’s um that’s saying something. Yeah. To the best arguably one of the best in Miami and the best conditioning program bar none. Um all right. We’re going to talk about Kevin Durant plus. Are there moves on the margins that could help the Heat fill out a roster around Kevin Durant? All of that more as we continue our mailbag after this here on Locked on Heat. Today’s episode is brought to you by Car Gurus. Shopping for a car should be exciting, not exhausting. But between the confusing prices, the hidden fees, so much of it can feel really overwhelming. That’s why you should try using CarGurus. They help you cut through the noise and show you the best deals with full confidence. With over 4 million listings, CarGurus has more new and used cars than any other major online marketplace in the US. 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Plus, DaVon Mitchell has resigned with the Heat and we’re able to keep KL Wear. How would you view that starting lineup among the rest of the Eastern Conference? So to recap, it would be Davon Mitchell, Tyler Herro, Kevin Durant, Bam Adabio, and KL Wear. That’s Miamiy’s hypothetical starting five. How do you think that compares to the rest of the the Eastern Conference? David, fairly well. But I mean, there’s a huge question mark there. And what version of where are we going to see? Like I I think it’s unfair to expect him to take a significant leap over the off season. Are we basing this on what we saw last year as a rookie and assuming that he kind of just doesn’t make much of a leap? Because I it’s kind of hard to predict exactly what or how far he’ll be able to develop over his first off season. Let’s assume he puts on a little more weight and maybe he’s a little bit more adept at handling some of the bigger centers in the league. If that’s the case, I think that’s a pretty good lineup. I’ I’d say given that Boston’s going to be without Jason Tatum for most of next year, if not all of it, they’re probably better than the Celtics. Uh I would say they’re better than most of the lower tier teams for sure. I think it stacks up against, you know, where does it measure against say Indiana or Orlando? Kind of like those I would say still mid-tier teams in the Eastern Conference. as good as Indiana’s been, I don’t think anybody expect them to be a top two team in the East, yet here they are. So, that’s where they kind of I I see where that’s where Miami kind of stacks up is if they can be one of those mid-tier teams in the Eastern Conference rankings, but still capable of of perhaps making a run to the top two or three, depending if things break right in their in their favor. Cleveland still has a better lineup. I mean, that’s that’s a really really good team that just laid a massive egg in the playoffs against a really good Indiana team and also faced a lot of injury at the same time. So, I I would say that maybe a handful of teams, two or three teams, the Knicks, the Cavs maybe, and and maybe that’s it, might have a better lineup than the Miami Heat. If that’s the case, I think they’d have the fourth best lineup in the East. Who are the three teams that have them? Okay. Cavs, Knicks, Pacers. Okay. Those teams are You think the Pacers starting lineup? Yes. Okay. No question. They have one of the best starting fives in the league. Hallebertton is a superstar. Nemhard is the hipster version of Derek White. Uh and that says a lot because I feel like Derrick White is a hipster version of everybody everybody’s favorite NBA player. Um N Smith is awesome as a 3 and D guy. Defensively, Pascal Seakum is borderline all NBA. If not, they’re all NBA. Miles Turner is awesome. Like there’s no weak spots. Like that’s an awesome starting five. The Knicks are f they’re carried by the They have no bench. Their their starting five is great though. Yeah. Um the Cavs have some decisions though. I mean do they keep Mitchell and Garland together? I there there’s some stuff there. I think I think their starting five ultimately looks the same next year and if it’s the same that’ll be fine. The Celtics have to take a step back. Gap year for them with Tatum out. Don’t forget about the 76ers. Oh, with Embiid coming back, Paul George coming back. Maybe we got Maxi McCain coming back. Yeah, I I would put Miami behind Cleveland, the Knicks, and the Pacers. I’d put that starting five behind them. And I’d put them in that same area as the 76ers and the Atlanta Hawks with Jaylen Johnson and coming back. A Kongu made a leap at uh if if that holds going in next year, that’s a big deal. You’ve got Trey Young, Dyson Daniels. Um, there’s some stuff that they got going on. The Magic I’ I’d still put. To me, the Magic are more of a we’ve got nine guys that we really like, but their starting five, I think, is is fine. I just I don’t think is up there with the rest of these teams. Um, let’s get to we got three different questions. I want to read them and then I want to kind of get to our answers here, but they’re all sort of the same thing. Uh, 651 writes in, let’s talk around the margins. Let’s say the Heat miss out on a significant star this off seasonason. How do you guys think that they go about improving the roster, preferably named specific players and the possible players that have to go out? Um, so he’s talking about trades there. Uh, the untrained eye talks about if the Heat strike out on a superstar, should they pursue trading for a highle role player such as Kobe White, Cam Johnson, Nikusovich, or Steven Adams? Uh, and then Terrence writes in, “Aside from a star player, what type of player would be a valuable addition to the Heat and who might that player be?” So, we could talk about margin trades, lateral moves, um, we could talk about free agents, but people want names, David, and we we we put together a list of names, you and I, before we started recording, we didn’t see them, but um, what what is first, Kobe White, Cam Johnson, Eagle, Stephen Adams, are any of those guys on your list, or do you have another way that you want to go here? They’re not on my list. They’re not on my list. I those would have to be acquired via trade. I don’t know that my again without seeing what that first move is. It’s kind of hard to peg exactly what the next step would be. We could talk I mean again we did talk about this last week. I we think length and defense and along the perimeter in particular 3 and D type versatile wing players are probably Miami’s most logical step because they just need some kind of they need something. you know, if if you’ve got a starting lineup built around Tyler, you’re going to need to have high level defenders around him in order to kind of complement what he does. And that being the case, I think that’s what you target. And yet, I don’t know that there’s going to be a lot of those. They’re in such high demand, you’re not going to be able to find those. And and none of the names that you mentioned, I think, fit that category. Cam Johnson a heck of a shooter. So is Kobe White. I don’t know that they’re going to be getable for whatever Miami has to offer. Yeah, Kobe White makes no sense on this roster to me. Cam Johnson would be interesting, but he’s his reputation on NBA Twitter. It feels like every fan base wants to trade for Cam Johnson. I’m like, um, if he was that good, uh, I Brooklyn wouldn’t be this bad. I It’s It’s a little strange to me. Vousvich is past his prime. Steven Adams is awesome, but I I don’t know that he moves the needle enough for Miami. That would be like Fipp here. Yeah, right. He would be a backup off the bench, which is fine. You know, I think Miami could use it, but not at whatever it is, 12 million a year or whatever he’s making. Great personality having a locker room, but not got to make much of a difference. Totally. Love Stephen Adams. Um, I’ve got a couple of trade names that I want to throw your way and then I’ve got some free agents. All right. I’ve got some You have any trade names? No, I didn’t even think about trades. Well, let let’s not spend a lot of time on it. Uh, Drew Holidays to me is interesting. We know Miami kicked the tires on him when um Portland was trying to move him. He ends up going to Boston. Yep. It’s just that 37 years, what is he? 37 years old. He’s old. 35. 37. Uh with the contract that he’s got to me is a little too rich. And I don’t know what contract you’d have to get off of if you’re Miami because now you’re eating into 2026 cap space. Could you even if you just did a Wiggins for Drew Holiday trade straight up? I don’t downgrade 34. He’ll be 37 by the end of his contract and he’s making almost $40 million a year at that point. It’s just a little too rich. So, I would probably stay away from Drew Holiday probably. The other name I really thought about was Lou Dort. We were talking about length and defense. There you go. And having him in Miami would be pretty cool. Sure. And I would say I would go so far as to say also resign DaVon Mitchell. Like he wouldn’t replace DaVon. I want both of them here. I want those lineups because we see what Oklahoma City could do with Dorton and Alex Caruso. Yeah, I want I want two of those guys on my team. And the Thunder might sneakily have to make a salary saving move here. And with Caruso under contract, the way he’s played in these playoffs with Case Wallace coming up and what he’s his potential is offensively and he’s been awesome for them defensively, too. Could Dort be the the odd man out? It’s interesting. I don’t know what it would cost, not important, but it would be a phone call that I would make if the Thunder are looking to maybe shed some salary here. dot the door edition was would be exciting and that seems like the perfect player that Miami would love to grab. I just I think he’s too important to what Oklahoma City has been able to accomplish this year and look at their journey still not even over even as we’re talking about this. So I don’t even champion you almost have to keep it together, right? Yeah. Yeah. So it might all be a moot point. Um yeah, that’s it. I mean, if if that’s the kind of names that you’re looking at, I I just it doesn’t seem like a trade for that high level role player seems likely available. Just might be somebody who isn’t either have the opportunity to pop or maybe more of a fringe type player that could at least add some specialization to Miami’s depth. Yeah, I I you know, me, I’m I’m into the second draft guys. Like, could you get Jaden Ivy from Detroit for something? Yeah, I like that one. you know, players like that where, hey, let’s bring them in, get him in our system, maybe we can turn him into something. And again, we’re not talking about star players. We’re not even talking about fringe all stars. We’re just talking about guys like, oh, maybe they could do something here. Um, like a DaVon Mitchell. Exactly. Like you can look at, I don’t know, is there is there a John Collins coming from Utah? It wasn’t an awesome season for him, but you know, maybe there’s something there or Jordan Clarkson to come off the bench or, you know, there’s there’s there’s names all around. But you and I have a list of free agents. Uh these guys are going to be available. I want to talk about uh that list uh as we wrap up our mailbag here. We’re going to do that next here on Locked on Heat. Today’s episode is brought to you by Ski. When I found out that Ski was making underwear for men, well, I was intrigued. I’ve heard so much about their quality from friends and family, so I had to give it a try. And let me tell you, it really lives up to the hype. I’ve always had issues with underwear with its fit, comfort, just finding the right style for me. And Skiims changed all that. Their men’s line offers something for everyone. From boxer briefs to classic briefs, all designed with a perfect balance of comfort and style. I tried the the Skiims boxer briefs, and let me tell you, I’m hooked. They’re perfect for most lifestyles, any lifestyle really, for my active lifestyle. They move with me. They never lose their shape. They stay in place all day. Whether I’m working out, just running errands, picking up my son from school, whatever it takes. They’re the most comfortable and reliable underwear I’ve ever owned. Plus, the lightweight material feels amazing. almost like you’re wearing nothing at all. So, shop skims men’s atkims.com/lockdownba and skim stores. Let them know we sent you. After you place your order, you select podcast in the survey and select our show in the drop-own menu that follows. Skiims is the official underwear partner of the NBA, WNBA, and USA basketball. We’ll be right back. First free agent that I want to talk about, Bruce Brown. Oh, was he on your list? I thought he probably was ungettable based on his contract. Um, so that’s that’s a good point. We should start there. Um, Miami is going to have the taxpayer level exception. It’s $5.7 million in veteran contracts. That’s what they’re going to be able to use. They do have some trade exceptions that they could use and stuff like that. We don’t have to get into it. It could hard cap them. So, just for all intents and purposes, we’re not going to be talking about those things. I do wonder if Br. It’s been a couple of down years for Bruce Brown. I don’t know what his value is. I know he just signed a $20 million contract, but that was a contract signed in order to get traded and then he ended up being the big piece that went to Toronto out of Indiana in the Seakum deal, but he shot a respectable clip from deep during Denver’s 2023 championship run. He was awesome for that team. Has not made that same impact since. He’s shot 32% and 33% from three the last two seasons. It’s his biggest swing skill. I I honestly don’t know what Bruce Brown would go for. I I would be a little surprised if he went for the full 14 15 million mid-level at this point based on the fact that he’s played for what three different teams over the last couple years. It Yeah. doesn’t feel like that market is is out there the same way anymore. No, it’s a good point. And I think he does make a lot of sense and he does feel like an upgrade over what Miami has, but not a major upgrade. I don’t know. I like the name. I also just wonder whether or not we’ve already seen the best of Brown and and what he has to offer for this roster. It it seems like a feel-good decision and he’d be a player that I think a lot of Heat fans would like with his tenacity and and versatility and everything else like that. We know about the University Miami connection. I don’t know. It’s just there’s a lot to make sense about it and at the same time I don’t know. I have questions about whether or not it’s uh the type of player that they’d be able to acquire. But yeah, I I I I like that name. It’s a good first name. Um the other name I had was Taius Jones. Okay. He signed for the minimum last year. Yeah. Uh with Phoenix because he wanted the playing time. He said that there were bigger offers out there from other teams. I know that the Heat have had interest in Taius Jones in the past. I don’t know to what degree that they actually wanted to make a move for him, but he’s somebody that I think is interesting to the coaching staff because of I think he’s interesting to all coaching staffs. Coaches could just he doesn’t turn the ball over. That’s why uh a guy like Eric Sper would love that. He’d also walk into the Heath locker room as the team’s best passer. And even if he didn’t start, it would make a lot of sense to play him with Bam just so that you have a guy who can feed Bam in that pick and roll, get those entry passes into him, make Bam’s life easier. I can see him being a fit. And when we talk about versatility, it’s guys like that that Miami doesn’t have on the roster where you can kind of go to a5 traditional look and the Heat don’t really have a5 traditional look, which is crazy to think about, but he would kind of give him that look if they wanted to get to it. I I don’t know what if to me it feels like he’d be able to that he could be had at the mid the taxpayer mid level, but but I could be wrong on that. I think it’s the perfect name for Miami. It was just Did you have him on your list, too? I did. Yes. Okay. Uh he seems, you know, we I from what I remember the reporting at the time, he was kind of mulling between Miami and Phoenix and ultimately chose the one year approve a deal with Phoenix because well, they were contend for a title and you get a chance to play with superstars like Bradley Beal, Kevin Durant, you know, and he was going to start where in Miami he wasn’t going to start over Terry Rosier. Oh, wait. Right. So, that was uh that was the decision-making process there. And look, I mean, between the Duke connection, he could be thinking to himself, I should have stayed. I should have gone with my gut and and start and signed with Miami rather than trying to prove it with a team that would look like they might be contending for a title. Didn’t work out that way. And so now with second thoughts and kind of the the, you know, the 4040 hindsight, 2020 hindsight, you can say to yourself, this was probably the right move for me. and they can kind of bolster his value around the league. I’m not saying he’s gonna take another one year prove it deal, but I could see a one plus one. He might have to like I don’t Yeah, he might. I don’t think the contract that was out there last year is out there anymore. And that’s sort of the hit you take when you kind of make yourself a veteran minimum guy. Yep. Like that matters. Um people front officers don’t care that you that you took a that you took a pay cut. They said, “Well, that’s your market now.” you know, that’s that’s that’s part of the negotiation. Um, any other names that you’re you’re excited about on your list? That’s a hell of a caveat to throw in there. Excited about you should talk about on our list. Fair names. I’ve got uh Tim Hardaway Jr. I had him too. The the Miami connection is really all I’ve got. And I think that he’s just he’s kind of done. Like he was okay. He was Tim Hardaway Jr. for the Detroit Pistons. And yet he provided the spark just as easily as he, you know, cost him some things here and there. So I I think you know what you’re getting with a full Tim Hardaway experience. I just kind of you hope that you can kind of appeal to him and say, “Look, we could use your versatility as a wing player, wing score, and there’s we love you being a part of the the Heath family.” So that’s basically it. Um um no one Jr. I think he’s going to be available because uh Malik Beasley is also an unrestricted free agent out of Detroit and they’re gonna make him the priority. Correct. Right. And so Hardway Jr. probably walks away and Tim Hardway Jr. might be calling Miami, right? Saying, “Hey, you have a spot for me.” Um because that there is a connection obviously between the family and I think it’s a strong it’s obviously a very strong connection. Um I like the idea Tim Horway Jr. I like it a lot. The question is, would you rather have Tim Hardway Jr. or Alec Burks? And you could probably get them both at the minimum at this point. And why would you? Just to switch it up, literally. I think tomorrow I I think Hardway’s better than Burks. I think he’s just a little bit more consistent as a shooter. Should I go through the last couple names here real quickly? Yeah, give me give me a couple more. Lonnie Walker. O, okay. Skip. Seth Curry, don’t hate it. Is he a free agent? Yes. If you lose Duncan Robinson, I like I like that as a guy. That was the thought process. Shooter off the bench. Yeah. And Al Horford. Al Horford. Wow. That would be Ray Allen 2.0, wouldn’t it? Maybe. But like he’s only got a limited amount of time left. Uh he won his ring back to Florida. Hispanic community here, Latino community in South Florida. His dad played at the University of Miami, Tito Hoford. I don’t know how many times we’ve heard it. I I argued back in 200 whatever it was that they should have signed him instead of Hassan White side, and I was absolutely right about that. Um, this could be a chance for him to kind of say, you know, look, nobody would blame him. We know, as you said, it’s going to be a gap year for the Boston Celtics. I don’t think anybody would blame him for coming down here. Especially if they’re able to acquire that superstar that kind of screams, okay, now we’re in contender. And you kind of need those high level role players to say, let’s give it for, you know, ring chasing if you want to look at it that way. I don’t think anybody would and they wouldn’t hold it against Horford like he’s he’s done his time. He play he’s played with the number of teams that he has. It’s basically just I mean it’s not basically it’s it’s Atlanta and and Boston and he’s been cup of coffee cup of coffee with Philadelphia and the Thunder. Yeah. Oh, that’s right. God, I for see I I forgot about those cuz Yeah, he was kind of a Philadelphia salary dumped him to the Thunder. Yeah, dumb move on their part. I totally blocked that out, man. Totally blocked that out. But you’re right. With Tatum going down, Horford might have to rethink things. Horford might not even get the opportunity to rethink things, right? It just Boston might just walk away from him or offer him a minimum and say, “Look, with our salary cap, like we could only give you the minimum.” And at that point, Horford would be like, “Well, Tatum’s out for a year. I probably only have another year left. Why would I play for them for a gap year? I can go to Miami, who just traded for Kevin Durant or something like that, right?” And say, “Yeah, come off the bench. He could play with Bam and with Kell.” Yep. I love it. I’m in. This is a great call. I had more names, but I don’t even want to name them. I want to I want to end on that high note. Bring Al Horford home, baby. I love Al Horford. Um, thanks for making Lockdown Heat your first listen today. For your second listen, check out the Locked On NBA Big Board show. NBA draft expert Raphael Barlo reacts to every workout, interview, and rumor leading up to the NBA draft. Find Locked On Big Board on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts.

Can the Miami Heat Transform with Zion Williamson? The Miami Heat are eyeing potential game-changers, and Zion Williamson could be the ultimate buy-low candidate. Could his dominance in the paint, when healthy, elevate the Heat to contenders?

Wes Goldberg and David Ramil explore this intriguing possibility, alongside a hypothetical lineup featuring Kevin Durant, Tyler Herro, and Bam Adebayo. They also assess free agent targets like Bruce Brown and Tyus Jones, considering their potential fit and impact.

0:00 Intro: Mailbag questions on Heat lineup
5:41 Is Zion Williamson the answer for Miami?
12:14 Kevin Durant hypothetical starting lineup
18:54 Potential trade targets for the Heat
23:24 Free agent targets

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