Erik Spoelstra’s ULTIMATE Miami Heat Roster Wish List | Roster Overhaul Imminent?

Erik Spoelstra’s ULTIMATE Miami Heat Roster Wish List | Roster Overhaul Imminent?

If there’s one constant on Miami sideline, it’s head coach Eric Spolstra. But as the Heat front office tries to improve the roster, what’s the ideal team that Spo would want to work with? And where does this current version fall short? We’ll answer that 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 content on the Heat, click that subscribe button on YouTube. Make sure you’re following us on your favorite podcast app. Have a fun show for you today. I’m really pumped up for this one. We’re talking about what Eric Spolstra’s preferred team would be if he could play any style, have any kind of players. We’ll talk about where last season’s team fell short, and then build the team Spo. But before we do that, we should look back on some of Spo’s most successful teams. Uh, two come to mind right away, David. Uh, the Big Three Heat and then the 2022 heat that finished with the number one seed in the East. And I know I’m kind of putting all those big three teams together, but they were essentially playing the same way for four straight years. Um, before I get into some of the stats or anything else, um, would you do do you agree that those are the the two teams? Yeah, I I I actually gave some consideration to not just those true two groups specifically, but also to the and I know this might sound insane, but the 201617 team because going 41 and 41 starting off the season 11 and 30 and then having a subpar roster, maybe that’s not ideal in terms of that, but in terms of how Spo would measure success even though they fell short of the playoffs, the fact that they were able to rebound as well as they did. And to have that kind of a a massive turnaround, a historically great turnaround and the exact opposite record from one half of the season to the other, I think allows Spo to really kind of just imprint it. Like when you’re 11 and 30, what else do you have to lose? And that’s where Spo is at his most insane and most genius and where he can just go, “All right, I don’t care anymore. We’ve already lost 30 games. we’re not really playing for anything but our own pride at this point and that’s where he really just digs in and can just take out every tool in the toolbox and do his best work. So I gave that a little consideration and then similarly I kind of applied that same theory to the 201920 season because of the Orlando bubble and all the challenges it presented which again that’s spo at its greatest because it’s like okay zero distractions no family living in the midst of this Disney resort as there’s this chaos all around it. Awesome. Who else would love that more than Eric Spolstra? Like that is that is the insanity at work there that he embraces so completely. So I I don’t know if it’s qualifies as the most successful season, but probably the most aligned in terms of temperament and the mentality that spoke possesses and his view for what a basketball should be played and how it should be played. So the 11:30 team post all-star break, they were sixth in offensive rating and sixth in defensive rating during the 2016 7. They were just awesome. Okay. And they that’s incredible. Yeah, they were really good. Um there’s there’s a difference between the best teams that Eric Bolster had and the most successful teams Eric Spolster had. And I love that 2017 1617 team. You and I hold that team uh very close to our hearts. They are by no stretch any of Eric Bolster’s best basketball teams. Um and even the 2023 finals run. I thought about that in the 2020 uh the the bubble. Yep. The bubble could be one of the best teams after the trade deadline adding Jay Crowder, Andre Guidala, that was a complete full team of vets ready to win and win in that moment. It was really hard to kind of parse through the stats and some of the other things with that just because of the COVID interruption and the bubble and and all of that stuff. But it’s all worth considering. But when I think about the best teams that Eric Spolster ever had consistently from the beginning of the season to the end of the season, I think about the big three, specifically the 2012 2013 year when they won 66 games. Um, and then the 2022 season, they were the number one seed in the Eastern Conference that year. So, I looked I I I dove into some of the stats and and I’ll just I’ll breeze through some of them really quick. So, that big three season, the 2012 2013 season, they won 66 games. They were first in offensive rating, ninth in defensive rating. You wouldn’t usually assume or or uh characterize an Eric Spolster Miami Heat team as better on offense than they were defense, but that’s what that big three heat team was. They were still very good defensively and as we remember in the playoffs were able to kind of kick it up a notch. Yes. In the in the postseason defensively, but they were good enough to win 66 games in the regular season. And they just blew door they blew the doors off opponents with the best offense in the league. um 27game win streak. Uh I remember not covering that season because we weren’t neither of us were in media at that point, but just watching it as a fan and that perspective and thinking they don’t always have to play 48 minutes of great defense. But when did there was no team that was going to find a way to score in that group as good as they were with LeBron at his peak, Chris at his peak, Dwayne not quite at his peak, but still damn good. Those were some amazing teams and the supporting cast around those three were as good a supporting cast as you have throughout the history of NBA basketball and they were just so capable. That’s the first time I ever saw a team I think to me be able to flip the switch because they were that good. Like they could just cruise for 47 minutes, but that one minute they were going to find a way to crush your soul. And that was just what they were capable of. And and we saw it many times during that win streak where they were down and then all of a sudden we’re like no we’re not going to lose this game because this there was a game in was it in Cleveland? Yeah. That they were down 20. Yeah. They were down 20 in the fourth quarter and then they were just like ah let’s go win this game. I remember Yeah. I remember I was in a uh I was in college and I was leaving I I was working at the student union at UCF and I was like trying to get off my shift as close as soon as I could and I I made like the very end of that fourth quarter. I was like, “Wait, we’re down. Oh, this is the losing streak’s going to the winning streak’s going to come to an end and all this stuff.” And then they just they flipped that switch. Um yeah, that was uh that was a great year. Obviously, the talent speaks for itself, but in terms of the style of play, I think it’s worth diving into some of that stuff, too. They were not a great rebounding team. We remember that. Um, they kept turnovers low, though, so they weren’t giving away possessions and they were generating steals and they were generating points off of turnovers. They were third in steals, third in points off of turnovers that season. Um, they blitzed a ton on defense. remember Chris Bosch at the five trap and show off uh uh on pick and rolls, you know, always sending two to the ball, flying death machine, all of that stuff, right? Let’s generate steals, let’s get out in the open court, and we’re going to overwhelm you that way. That’s what they did defensively. Um there was no tracking data on the NBA website for that year, but I did go find 2013 14 tracking data. That’s as far back as it goes. That team, again, very similar to the previous team, that team was fifth in drives per game. found that interesting. Um, and that 2012 2013 team was third in three-pointers made per possession. So, a very elite three-point shooting team. Ray Allen, Shane Badier, all those guys were making threes. Um, the 2022 team, breezing through the stats here, 12th in offensive rating, fourth in defensive rating. So, flipped a little bit, right? Elite defensively, good enough offensively. That big three team, not great at rebounding. that 2022 team top 10 in rebounding percentage both offensive and defensive rebounding percent. That was a very good rebounding team. Uh similarly to the big three team, they did generate steals. They were 11th in steals per 100 possessions. And they were seventh in points off of turnovers generated. They didn’t blitz on defense, but they did switch everything on defense. Bam. Adabio, PJ Tucker, Jimmy Butler, Kyle Lowry. Those guys were able to switch everything. So they switched everything on defense. They didn’t drive a ton because they didn’t have that guy. They didn’t have a LeBron or a Dwayne Wade, but they were fifth in paint touches. Jimmy Butler getting the the ball in the paint on entry passes. Bam Adabio, that was the year where he started to get in the paint more and they kind of gotten they got away from that perimeter oriented dribble handoff stuff got him going in the low block. And then similarly though to the big three team, fourth in three-pointers made per possession. So, when you look at the similarities between the big three and the 2022 teams, they were slow in pace. Both teams were near the bottom of the league in pace, so methodical, they generated and scored off of turnovers, and they got up a lot and made a lot of three-pointers. If I were going to try to distill the similarities down, those are the things I would come up with. What about you? No, I think that’s it. Uh, even hearing you describe those similarities, one thing that stands out to me and I think it’s where I both of us covering that team and hearing Spo talk about these things regularly, it was intent. That’s the word that starts out like they’re both and and hearing the the comparison between the big three era and this not just having a certain amount of talent. That’s a prerequisite, but playing with such intent and purpose and an understanding of what you’re trying to do and then having the capacity to do so. Because as much as you could say this team, this current iteration might have that intent and I’m sure we’ll argue that in the next segment, I they’re just not talented enough to actually implement Spose vision and his preferred style of play. But I I was that’s interesting. It’s it’s you you start to see a lot of similarities when you boil down the stats between the two groups, even though again you would not equate a historically good team in the big three versus what we saw in 22. And yet there are similarities in terms of what Spo likes and how both those teams, as different as they were in terms of composition, are able to make his vision a reality. And that’s basically what this is about. And I I I wanted to get into this a second just for those listeners that aren’t aware. We talked about the lessons that we could learn as far as the Heatfront office from the Indiana Pacers because you could argue that they’ve been just as good as any team in the last couple seasons because they’ve made it to two straight Eastern Conference finals and they have this incredible talent there. They might be going in the finals run for the first time ever. And so given that we we talked about the fact that they built a team for Rick Carile, one of the best coaches in NBA history, and this is a team that plays the style that he does. I don’t think Eric Sper has had that, not since 2022 and even going back before that, not since the big three era. And so that’s basically the premise for this show is how can they build a team where Spo feels like he’s at his best and is able to make his vision manifest out into the court. And that’s why I think it’s so important because Spo’s not going anywhere. For all those of you who might criticize what he has, and I think it’s some of it is deserved, he’s not going anywhere. And so the best way of of getting the best product on the floor is to have a team that fits into what Spo wants to do on the court. And that’s what this episode is all about. Well said. And that team this past year did fall short. We’ll talk about exactly where they fell short. And then we’re going to build out Eric Spolster’s dream team after this here on Locked on Heat. Today’s episode is brought to you by Skims. When I found out Skins was making underwear for men, well, I was intrigued. I’ve heard so much about their quality from friends and family and I just had to give it a try. And let me tell you, it lives up to the hype. You know, you always have issues with underwear, whether it’s fit or comfort or maybe just finding the right style. 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Thanks for making Lockdown Heat your first listen every day. Let’s talk about this past season and where this version of the Heat fell short of the version that Eric Bolster wants to play. And really quick to talk about a little bit more to touch on what you’re talking about with Eric Spolstra. Yeah. Coaches want to play a certain way. And I think the push back on what you just said would be well if the roster doesn’t work that way then it’s up to Spo ditch the way he wants to play and just figure out a way that works. Yeah. I think that’s exactly what Eric Spolstra has done. I think it’s a it’s a borderline miracle that that team even made the playoffs last year. I know they had to win two straight games to in the play tournament. He figured it out. He figured it out. And yes, they got wiped off the floor by the Cavs. You want to know why? Because the Cavs have way more talent than the Heat. There’s no There’s only a certain amount of coaching. Coaching can only take you so far in the NBA. You need the talent. But um I think Spolstra has been playing a way he doesn’t want to play. for years. And I and I think the the his critics will say that he’s stubborn and I would say he’s absolutely not. He wants to switch defensively. This team hasn’t switched defensively in two or three years because they don’t have the personnel. Exactly. He doesn’t want to play zone. They have to because they don’t have the personnel to to play any other way consistently. Um, you know, there’s just certain things that he can’t do that I think he would like to do. And then at the same time, he’s had to lean into different things. He didn’t want to play Caleb Martin at the four. He had to, right? Because the front office never didn’t give him power forward when PJ Tucker left. So, um, I think Eric Sper has been extremely flexible and versatile and hasn’t played the way he’s wanted to play in a long time since basically 2022. I don’t think he’s had a team that has been able to execute at his vision since the 2022 team. And the only exception would be that that brief run during the playoffs in 2023 where they made every three-pointer that they took. Yeah. And a lot of that was, you know, Jimmy playing at the highest level he possibly could and finding, you know, finding guys in Gabe Vincent and Maxus that were playing at such a high variance with their three-point shooting. I mean, they were shooting historically well. You’re not going to find that. We saw what happened with the Cavs shooting historically well against the Heat. Is that an indictment in Miami perhaps and then what happens when they face Indiana? Not quite as prolific from beyond the line. So, I mean that’s that’s basically it. And and I I think if anything, the fact that he play that he got as much success out of this group kind of underscores just how fantastic a coach he is that he is be able to mold his team and and kind of adjust to it and go, okay, this is what we actually have. and at the same time understand that you can try and carve out some level of success. The the fact that this team made the playoffs was as you said a minor miracle and so uh I think it really shows the capacity for spo to be a fantastic great and and kind of flexible coach in terms of his style. Imagine wanting to drive a sports car your whole life and just this is how you train, this is what you want, and you kind of know the ins and outs of every sports car and what you’re going to do and you’ve gone out on the track and you’re perfecting it and everything else like that. And then Pat Riley gives you the keys to, you know, a mom bus or something like that, you know, a small bitty man or something. That’s that’s basically what this was. And he’s like, “Okay, I can work with this, but he has to adjust on the fly. It’s never going to be the same. It’s not the kind of team he wants.” And remember, he wanted to play five out. That was the experiment. Terry Rosier, Tyler Herro, uh, Jimmy Butler, Nikolovic, and Bam was the initial starting five. And he thought, okay, we we saw the Celtics win the championship, and we’ve got to do something like what they do, and we got to get up more threes. Maybe it’s not going to be 50-pointers a game, but we got to get more. We got to get up more and take more, which he’s never really been. I guess the closest thing to five out would have been the big three heat, but that was more of inverted. That was more LeBron in the post, Dwayne Wade driving and kicking, Chris Bosch at that center spot stretching the defense. I would not have considered that team five out. Nobody was really five out back then, but pace and space. It was the closest pace and space, right? And it was the closest thing probably to five out at the time that we had. And it and it kind of led to, you know, the Warriors after that and then the Celtics last year and kind of where this team where this league has gone. and he tried to do that version of it this year and he just didn’t have the personnel and what whatever happened to Terosier um you know was dramatically impacting that too. Let’s look at some of the stats though. Um they finished the year 21st in offensive rating, ninth in defensive rating. So offensively obviously fell short. Defensively top 10 in defense. That’s where you expect the Heat to be at minimum. Um they were 11th in three-pointers made per possession. That was higher than I thought. Yeah, but a lot of that was probably Tyler Hero just having an out-of- body experience from three for three quarters of the season and then uh Bam having an above average year of production for the the center position or power forward position like that’s Yep. I think that’s a huge factor too. Yep. And and it’s worth keeping in mind for for where this thing is going. Um yes, in terms of the things that Eric Bolster wants to accomplish, yes, they did keep turnovers low. Miami Heat teams tend to do that. They did not generate the turnovers though. That was another thing that we heard in preseason. Um Eric Sper talking about how we want to generate steals and get those steal and score type of opportunities. Defense fuels offense. All these things didn’t happen. They finished the league. They finished the year 15th in steals per game. So average. Uh they were 22nd in the league in points off of turnovers. Uh they generated 16.4 points off of turnovers. their opponents did not get a lot of turnovers or or points off of turnovers, they also generated 16.4. So they were basically broke even. Everything they got off of turnovers, they gave away and vice versa. So, when you look at the similarities in terms of the the most successful Heat teams generate and score off of turnovers, get up and make threes, the Heat did get up and make threes, but they did not, but I I wouldn’t say at an elite level like those teams did, but at an okay level, an an acceptable level even, I think, is fine. Um, but they did not generate and score off of turnovers, which I think if there’s anything in the Eric Bolster DNA, if I were to try to describe an Eric Bolster basketball team the way he would want to play, to me it would start with generating and scoring off of turnovers and specifically steals, right? Being disruptive. We hear him use that word all the time. Being disruptive, grabbing the ball and scoring at the other end. That to me, I think, is the essential DNA of an Eric Bolster GM team. Yeah, in terms of the defensive mindset and the fact that it leads to offense almost feels like an added bonus, but I don’t think it’s a a prerequisite to get to scoring. They just they want to be able to invite chaos on the defensive end because if you can’t score and you can’t find a score because for whatever reason the the shots aren’t falling or the ball’s not falling through or whatever, because that happens even to great scoring teams. you can at least rely on your defense. If it’s that good and playing at such an elite level that you can force those turnovers, you’re going to be able to find a winning game. Like we’ve talked about it before, those games in the mud that you saw so often over the last five and a half seasons with Jimmy Butler there, he didn’t prefer that, but you can win those games and they did win a lot of those games because of that defensive intensity. the fact that they could kind of just take over in some moments and be able to find a way to to shut the opposing team down even when they couldn’t generate offense for a damn. If you can play defense at a high level, you still have you still give yourself a chance to win. Two more things or one more thing really that jumps out. This this heat team did not have an offensive identity. That big three team we talked about how you inverted it. LeBron, Dwayne Wade, they drove, got into the paint, kicked out to Ray Allen, Shane Badier, Mario Chmer, Chris Bosch, whoever it was. We knew that that’s how that team wanted to play. They had a clear identity and a clear plan that they wanted to execute offensively. The 2022 Heat team, same thing. We knew exactly wanted what they wanted to do. Generate post touches, get into the paint, kick out to PJ Tucker in the corner, kick out to Kyle Lowry, kick out to Max Strus, kick out to Duncan Robinson, Tyler, whoever it was. we knew what that team wanted to do and then added layer for that 2022 team. Then they had Tyler Herro coming off the bench doing his six man of the year thing and that helped offensively too. That was a very clear, okay, let Tyler cook. That’s what we’re going to do when Jimmy Butler’s off the floor. So, those teams had a clear thing that they wanted to do offensively and I just thought that this last year, we talked about this all year long. It’s uh what exactly is the plan in crunch time? Where does this team go? and it never really felt like they had figured it out because they had the, you know, injuries and the Jimmy Butler thing and all this stuff. They just, they were getting pulled in so many different directions throughout the season. So, with all of that said, it’s time to build out Eric Spolster’s dream team. We’ll talk about that next 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 and the hidden fees, well, it can all feel very overwhelming. But that’s why you should try using Car Gurus. They help you cut through the noise and show you the best deals with full confidence. With over four million listings, CarGurus has more new and used cars than any other major online marketplace in the US. They verify dealers, provide real price analysis, and give you the tools and data that you need to make the right choice without second guessing guessing yourself. If you need a deal you could trust, well, Car Gurus makes it easy to compare vehicles side by side with unbiased deal ratings. One of their best features, well, their price drop alert, so you know exactly what the perfect car is and when it’s available for your budget. So, if you want ever, it’s no wonder that similar website web estimated traffic data shows CarGurus is the number one most visited car shopping site. So, buy or sell your next car today with CarGurus at cargurus.com. Go to cargurus.com to make sure your big deal is the best deal. That’s c a rgurus.com. cargurus.com. We’ll be right back. All right, so let’s build out Eric Spolster’s dream team here. Where do we start? Is it the DNA that I was talking about? Generate steals, score off of turnovers. Would you agree with that? I I think that’s part of it. I I even wanted to take it just a step back further because I know that there’s a type of team and I think that 22 group is almost the perfect representation of that. And again, even to the big three era I and I wrote this down here like mostly veterans like 90% of the roster has to be a very veteran roster with some young competitive players. And you think back to 2022, like bam, very young at that point, but more of a veteran in terms of his mental approach and still experience at that point being on the floor, but hero and guys like that that were just still trying to cut their teeth in this league and that’s what Max Struce those guys, but then you had Andre Guidala, you had you had Jake Crowder, guys been around, Jimmy, you know, Goran, uh, you know, it was well, not Goran because Kyle was there at that point in time, but you had a a good mix there of all these different versions. I’m sorry, not crowd, PJ Tucker. You had so many other veterans there. And that’s what you want. You want that group that is that has that. And and honestly, I think you always the UD type. Uh I think it’s so essential for a guy like Spoers and I think that’s pretty undisputed. I think he still wants a guy that is basically a liaison between the team and him. And I don’t think Caleb is that guy. I think he has shades of that, but not to the same extent. He’s not such a company as was. Bam’s that guy. Yeah, that’s Bam’s that guy. And it’s a little bit different than Hasslam because you don’t have a guy just sitting at the end of the bench doing it. Kevin Love is important in a different way. I think he’s really important to that locker room, but he’s not I think it’s a great word that you use, the liaison, but that’s Bam. And I think the veterans is a great call and I think the next version of an elite heat team will probably be a combination of the 2022 team and B actually you know the group that we’ve seen in the Jimmy Butler era where the development program was a cornerstone for their success. That was not the case during the big three years. Right. If there was a critique of the big three team it was that they didn’t develop anybody. Yeah. Right. And they just they needed the Shane Badier and the Mike Millers and the Ray Allens and the Rashard Lewis’s and all these guys to come in and help the Chris Andersons. They constantly were sifting through veterans to find some that that could help the team and and they nailed a bunch of them and that’s why they went to four straight finals, but they never really developed anybody. And whatever the next Elite Heat era is, it’ll probably be a combination of veteran talent at the top development program is what’s churning the middle of and the end of the roster and that’s how they’re, you know, developing that sustainability, I suppose. But y um I think BAM is essential. I think that’s why Eric Sper loves BAM when you’re talking about what they want to do defensively, generating steals, switching everything. I think that Eric Spolstro would love to switch defensively, but I really think that he would also want to be multiple, right? He would want to be he would want to go man when he has to. He would want to play drop when he has to. He would want to go to zone when he has to. But in terms of a base scheme, I think first possession of every game, he’d like to be switching. I agree. I agree. I I that’s what that’s what makes Bam essential. And by the way, there’s different versions of switching, too. like KL Wear could be a part of this where you every like one five you drop everything where where is always dropping but you’re switching one through four that that that still to me counts. I I think that’s really important to take into consideration is that that he does want that versatility and maybe that feels like an oversimplification but I don’t think so. Like a lot of coaches will just stick to their guns. This is what I do best and I’m just going to roll it out there. It doesn’t always work. Sometimes it does or you can have a lot of regular season success and then not have postseason success because you’re so focused on what you do well. Whereas with Spo, I think he does want the ability to morph from time to time to different base defenses. But the personnel has to be capable of that. And I think that’s the the concern with this group is that they don’t have it with the exception of Bam. But as you said, that’s why he’s so valued by the front office and the coaching staff. Then you look at I think Jimmy Butler was exactly what he was looking for defensively. A guy who just generated, you know, at his peak two steals per game and was able to and then was able to just take the ball and score on the other end. Didn’t need anybody else. One man wrecking crew. And this team doesn’t really have that. Nope. Da’Von Mitchell is probably the closest thing to that. He’s only been here for like two minutes. Yeah. Um it’s why I think he’s going to be a priority. I think they’re they are going to try to resign him no matter what, but you know, restricted free agency, you never know what’s going to happen. Um, but even a guy like Andrew Wiggins doesn’t really fit. He’s more of a solid defender who’s going to stay in front of you, but he’s not going to knock the ball away and generate turnovers necessarily. He can get he can play in transition, but he’s not going to be really initiating those transition buckets. And I think that’s more of what you’re looking for. And I think that’s a subtle, but important difference. Um, I think he would love to be able to switch and have Bam generate more of those looks, too. But because of how Bam has to play and drop the last couple years, it was just been it’s been harder. And that, by the way, was one of those things when he moved to power forward. He was able to, you know, kind of do that a little bit more towards the end of the season. Um, I think he’d want personnel on the perimeter. I think he really would love to have I mean obviously everybody would love to have like a peak Kawawaii kind of player like a Dyson Daniels like a Lou Dort like these guys who are fully disruptive an OG and an Obi these guys who just poke the ball away and just flip games on their head with defensive plays on the perimeter. He doesn’t really have that right now under contract. We’ve we’ve heard him say that like that term that what we want is disruptors on defense and that I I wrote down I forgot the term but you hearing you say disruptive I’m reminded of how many times he’s brought it up to us in press conference and to me I I wrote uh creating chaos basically the same thing. Yeah. You just want somebody who’s just a a living monkey wrench out there who can go out there and just cause panic because you throw everything off that an opposing team is trying to do when they have that kind of level of of disruptive ability. And I think that’s so essential for what Spo introduces doubt and fear and what you do best because you have somebody like that. And that’s how they were able to have that kind of success. Jimmy for all his other warts, he was masterful at it. He he was and I’m I’m so happy to hear it. I think it was UD mentioned this lately that as talented as guys like D. Wade and LeBron were, what separated Jimmy was his high IQ. He was a smart basketball player and how he approached the game. And I mean he was really really skilled and and knowing exactly what a game required and when to make that flip switch internally, individually. and then everybody else kind of fed off of that and that that led to a lot of success over those five seasons with him. So that’s defensively what we’re talking about. Offensively, I think it’s pretty simple. I think it’s what he wants to do. I think he wants I have written down get into the paint. Drives, post ups, I don’t think he cares, but just somebody who gets into the paint. But I’ll go even one step further on that. Somebody who makes the defense crash. Like let’s just say it for what it is, right? And so whether that’s a post player who forces double and triple teams like Nikolic, you know, or or Giannis, guys like that who just force defenders into the paint, make you build a wall, make you commit. Yep. Um deep into the paint or somebody who drives and just forces the defense to to pinch or help or or overh help or rotate or whatever. However it’s done, he wants multiple defenders to be forced to come into the paint and he wants that the player who’s making them do that be able to do two things. A, score anyway, LeBron James, right? Dwayne Wade, uh, Jimmy Butler at at his at his peak and B, kick out to open shooters and then you get the three-point shooting. That is essential for an Eric Bolster team. Yeah, agree. Um, the things I was I was focusing on were ball movement too and and also almost like the same kind of idea of what he wants defensively. He’d like that same level of versatility offensively because it’s just I know again it sounds like an oversimplification, but he just it’s so important for him to have bigs that can drive and pass multiple dribble drive guys. Yeah. And going back to the 41 and 41 team, right? What what unlocked that group was Dragitch and Waiters kind of tag teaming that dribble drive attack. I think you’re right. He wants everybody to be able to handle the ball a little bit and be able to do it on their own. Also, a lot of ball movement to pass off ball movement also, right? Cutting baseline cuts, all that stuff. Yeah. Um All right. So, that’s the team that Eric Spolstra wants to coach. I think we figured it out. If we’re building the team that Spo wants to coach, disruptive on defense, gets into the paint, generates open threes, that’s that’s the team. Um, last question before we get out of here. If Eric Sper can kick any coach off the bench and take over coaching that team from this past season, which team do you think Spo would most want to coach? And there’s a a very obvious team in my mind. I think it’s very clear. That’s a great question. I don’t know that I’ve given it. Who’s the team when when when Spo is watching League Pass, he’s like, “Man, if you just gave me this team, oh, I would love coaching this team.” I don’t know. I can’t think of. It’s the Thunder, isn’t it? Is it? I guess you’re right. The style. Yeah. The defensive tenacity for sure. 100% the Thunder. Yeah. Yeah. That’s a good call. That’s a good call. And you’ve got that guy in Shay who can just attack and then you’ve got enough shooting around to find that balance. It does. They’ve got a lot of And we’ve heard Daniel talk. Yeah, we’ve heard Daniel talk about Miami. He like he’s almost like a he’s almost like a de facto member of the spo coaching tree because the way he talks about Spo and the Heat, it’s like that’s what we’re trying to build here. We’re trying to build a culture. These guys have already had it for years. Yeah. Dagonal. Yeah. He’s had it for such a long time. the way he talks about Miami is what he’s been able to develop in Oklahoma City. And so, um, yeah, you’re absolutely right. That is the co that is a team for smoke. The joy he would have just watching what Alex Caruso did to Joic. Oh man. The other night in that game seven. Could you imagine the postgame press conference with Eric? He’d be gushing. His head his head might explode. Tear one tear rolling down. He would cry. He would literally cry. Tears of joy. Give Eric Exposure something to work with. Uh, 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 NFL, the NBA draft. Find Locked on NBA Big Board on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts.

Can the Miami Heat build Erik Spoelstra’s dream team? This episode unpacks the characteristics of Spoelstra’s most successful squads, while analyzing the current team’s challenges.

Explore how Spoelstra’s preference for veteran-heavy rosters and versatile defenders shapes the Heat’s strategy. With insights from Wes Goldberg and David Ramil, the discussion highlights the importance of disruptive defense and efficient offense in building a championship contender.

0:00 Intro: Analyzing Spoelstra’s ideal team
5:20 Comparing Spoelstra’s most successful Heat teams
11:43 Where this season’s Heat team fell short
23:46 Building Spoelstra’s dream team: Key elements
33:09 Which current NBA team Spoelstra would love coaching

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