Can Heat CAPITALIZE on Eastern Conference Chaos?

Can Heat CAPITALIZE on Eastern Conference Chaos?

Jason Tatum’s injury derails Boston’s chances at a title this season, but it could impact the next season as well. Does that change Miami’s approach to building their team this summer? We’ll get into that and more in today’s episode of Locked on [Music] Heat. You are Locked on Heat, your daily Miami Heat podcast, part of the Locked On 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’re following us on your favorite podcast app. Have a jam-packed show for you today. We’re talking about the NBA playoffs, some of the various takeaways and storylines um and how those could be applied to the Heat. We’re going to talk about Jason uh Jason Tatum’s injury here in a second, but I want to start today’s episode with Jimmy Butler. I’m watching the game last night. Warriors lose to the Timberwolves. And the entire time Jimmy Butler not exactly aggressive after having a very aggressive game in the previous game for Golden State. No, Steph Curry. This is what Jimmy Butler is there to do. He’s there to be that star player when Steph Curry can’t be that star player. But you’re watching that game or I’m watching the game and the entire time I’m listening to Tim Leger on Leg on the broadcast talk about how Jimmy needs to do more, how he needs to be more aggressive, can’t keep passing up shots, talking about how he dribbles into the restricted area and then curls out and then passes it to a teammate late in the shot clock. Sounds familiar. Jimmy Butler ends up with nine shots in 34 minutes. He was a minus30 in the game. He had a usage rate of 15.7%. That is exactly Duncan Robinson’s usage rate for the season. So Jimmy Butler goes out there in as close to a do or die game as you can. Now the Warriors are down 3-1 in this series and he’s extremely passive. Not surprising to me. And then you have Jay Williams saying this on first take on Tuesday. I don’t even know what to say about this one. This is crazy. I mean, this is why Jimmy Butler was brought to Golden State, right? For moments like this. And what did we see last game? We saw Jimmy Butler, the pace was incredible. Even though they gave it away, UDM per my man took 23 shots. He was hunting his shots. There was nothing that was calculated about the way he was playing. He had to let loose. He had to be aggressive cuz that gave his team the best opportunity to win. Nine shots in 34 minutes to me feels like you aren’t the aggressive Jimmy Butler. It feels like you are not even really on the court. Now I look what about this David do you find interesting or surprising at all? Because I’ll tell you what I find surprising. It’s not that Jimmy Butler did that in an important moment. It’s the reaction from national media that they were so surprised that he did that and that they are asking him to do more where locally here in Miami all you’ve been doing for two years was asking Jimmy Butler to do more especially in the regular season. Yeah, I I think that’s pretty spot on. It’s an indictment on national media and we can be part of that as well because it’s just so difficult to get the nuances of every team around the league and and be as upto-date as possible and to be really on the pulse of what fans and media respective to those markets how they feel about those teams. It’s not a surprise. It really isn’t. Like we know that Jimmy has had moments where he can waver or not be aggressive or he could be out and still pass it out to a wide openen shooter or what he perceives might be a wide openen shooter and I look you can’t debate whether that’s the right basketball play or anything like that but and also moreover I think that lack of just taking those shots he’s done that before. What I am surprised though is that he’s doing it in this scenario. That does seem surprising to me because we don’t see that version of Jimmy Butler in the playoffs unless somebody else has it going to such a huge degree. And I look, I’ve said this for years. I think Jimmy Butler is as masterful as it gets short of LeBron James and trying to set up other teammates to get a feel for the game and try to understand how to get those players going before looking for his own shot as aggressively as possible. That wasn’t the case last night. That was him passing up shots and not being aggressive and not necessarily trying to get anybody going and it was kind of just a big mess of of display by Golden State there. So I I don’t know. I got media members should not be surprised to see this version of Jimmy Butler, but I personally am surprised to see it in the playoffs. Yeah. To your point, what he was doing last night, I mean it was just grenades to Brandsky at the end of the shot clock. It’s, hey, I just dribbled around for 20 seconds. Now you shoot it. That’s not setting up your teammates for success. Yeah, I I understand the point. And look, the immediate push back you’ll get when you bring up the fact that June Butler wasn’t playing well is that, well, he took that hard fall in the first round of the playoffs and he’s injured and he’s on the injury report. I don’t want to hear it. I’m sorry. I don’t want to hear it. The guy just put up 30 plus points in the game before. He wasn’t injured then and now he’s injured. You don’t get to use the injury when it just serves your narrative. And everybody’s hurt out there. Steph Curry is so hurt that he’s not out there, but Jun’s out there. And look, when I’m watching him play, he doesn’t look like he’s injured. He looks like he looked the last two years. He looks old. That’s how he looks to me. And it’s not even just the passing up of the shots. It’s defensively not closing out on time. He was a minus 30. You don’t get to minus 30 just on the offensive end. That requires some pretty bad defense, too, to hit that number. He looks old. And I’m I don’t even say this to take some sort of victory lap or dance on Jimmy Butler’s madeup grave or something like that. That’s not what I’m trying to do. I am saying this. The Heat look very very correct in not giving him that contract extension. Oh, because whether you you you’re probably right about, hey, I’m a little surprised that he’s playing like that in the playoffs. I was saying this all along. Playoff Jimmy is playoff Jimmy until he’s no longer playoff Jimmy. And there’s going to become a point in his life where he can’t summon playoff Jimmy anymore. And it might be at 46 years old. It might be at 36 years old. We don’t we’re not going to know until playoff Jimmy doesn’t show up. Playoff Jimmy didn’t show up when they needed him. And I’m wondering if he could still get to that level as consistently as he needs to or was game three where he did it and then the Warriors lost. Was that his version of what the triple double in Detroit was for Miami earlier this season where it’s like, hey, I did all of this. It didn’t mean anything. Why even bother? And then we saw how that played out for Miami. I’m not saying he’s going to force his way out of Golden State. That’s not what I mean. It’s just he gives it one shot and that’s maybe all he can really muster for a little while. To me, this reflects well on the Miami Heat organization in terms of, yeah, we just didn’t feel comfortable at Jimmy Butler at this age with his availability and his injury concerns paying him 57 million, $60 million over the next few seasons because he’s not going to be able to be that playoff guy for us when we need him because he’s just getting older. And that’s okay, but you also can’t pay for that. That’s I I don’t think there’s ever been much doubt, at least from our perspective, that that was the right decision for the Brian. Miami front office. Like you cannot pay a player at that age and having succumbed to injury the way he has over the last few seasons and to be the kind of player that has missed a lot of time during the regular season and the hopes that you can muster some sort of energy at age 37 38 and become an otherworldly player in the playoffs. Like that was never going to happen. I I’m I’m surprised still that we get comments about how the Pat Riley led front office made a mistake by not paying Jimmy Butler. And I don’t know how else to disagree with that statement. Like it’s a disappointment that he’s gone. You wish you could have tried a way to find a way to fix this situation. Yeah. But paying a player like that is never a good decision. Historically, that’s always been the case. You don’t overpay for a player like that. I mean, LeBron James gets paid a lot of money. LeBron James is a much better player at 40 than Jimmy Butler is at 35. Yep. The Heat knew it. The Heat knew it. They They knew it because of the availability concerns. And as soon as Pat Riley decided not You want to take issue with the front office not trading uh Jimmy Butler in the summer, that’s a different issue. But not extending him and you hear this so much from it’s just one more year. What’s the big deal? The big deal is one more year paying this guy 57 million and what that does Yeah. to your cap sheet. They were right not to extend him. Fans might be upset with the return for Jimmy Butler right now and I can understand that. But it’s going to look really good when the Warriors have to pay him $57 million two years from now and the Heat don’t and the Heat have a ton of flexibility that Golden State won’t have perhaps unless they’re paying Kevin Durant that money. And to those people who I will pay Kevin Durant that money gladly over Jimmy Butler that money. I think it’s the same point like Durant I know has played more than Jimmy Butler has because he was drafted a lot younger a long time before Jimmy Butler was drafted. And so yes, there’s a lot more minutes on that body, but he’s less than a year older than Jimmy Butler. Everybody keeps making comments again, he’s old, he’s washed. He’s neither of those things. He’s 36 and he’s just less than a year, like I said, older than Jimmy. And if you can defend Jimmy in the same breath, then you can’t tarnish KD. Especially when you see what KD’s actually been able to accomplish during the regular season. Go watch the Suns last year. Kevin Durant was literally the only bright spot. I I I had him third team allNBA until the the Suns shut him down and he didn’t make the 65game limit. And by the way, the only reason he didn’t make the 65game limit is because the Suns shut him down. Yeah. Um, and so he was awesome. And he also his his game translates better with age than Jimmy Butler’s does. Jimmy Butler will tell you, he wants to bang bodies. Bowling ball, bowling pins. That’s how he plays basketball. Kevin Durant is seven feet tall and shoots over guys. There’s a lot less friction in Kevin Durant’s game than there is in Jimmy Butler’s game. And when Jimmy Butler’s on, it’s a blast to watch, but it takes its toll. And you can’t only blame it on the injury because he is 35 and this is how he plays. And that that’s the thing that he understood was this guy gets hurt and he has not been able to finish the last two playoffs for us and he’s going to be out there on the court presumably to finish up Golden State’s run for it doesn’t look like it’s going to last much longer. But the other point of this is why they traded for Jimmy. You hear that all the time. This is why they traded for Jimmy B. This is not why they traded for Jimmy Butler. They traded for Jimmy Butler to play next to Steph Curry to help amplify Steph. I wouldn’t have had a problem paying Jimmy Butler $57 million a year if we had somebody like Steph as the true number one option. Pay him $57 million a year at this stage of their careers to have an elite number two. That’s fine. Nobody even in Golden State expects Jimmy Butler to be that guy. But you did me you’d you’d still expect more from him in one game that’s essentially do or die than nine shots in 34 minutes. All right, we’re going to move on from Jimmy Butler. We’re going to talk about Jason Tatum. Uh just hor horrific injury to him on Monday night with huge implications across the Eastern Conference, including for how the Miami Heat should handle this offseason. We’re going to talk about that next here on Lockdown Heat. Today’s episode is brought to you by Wayfair. The days are getting longer. The weather’s warming up and people are spending more time outside, which means it’s the perfect time to refresh your outdoor space, especially here in South Florida. Whether you’re working with a big backyard or a small balcony, Wayfair has everything you need to make it feel more like you. Wayfair’s massive selection of outdoor essentials makes it easy to transform any space into your ideal summer setup. From comfy conversation sets to sleek dining tables and outdoor decor, they’ve got it all and at prices that fit your budget. Uh, you can grab a new patio dining set and some string lights from Wayfair to help extend your outdoor space. 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He knew exactly what it was and it was the Achilles and it was confirmed today that he did undergo surgery for the Achilles. No timetable for the return of course expected to make a full return. I expect him to make a full return at 26 years old. Nobody’s question elite physical player. Nobody’s ever questioned his work ethic. Still a total bummer. You hate to see it happen. There’s I we we could spend a little bit time on the bumy part of this, but there’s just been there’s obviously been a lot of ink spilled and a lot of people talking about this and we have a lot of more pressing matters to go to. But your reaction when you see it happen? No, unfortunate. And I hope that anybody anybody taking a victory lap on this I I don’t even like taking a victory lap on Jimmy struggling. I don’t certainly want anybody taking a victory lap on a young player and a father and a human being going through an injury like this that could derail his career. I mean, that’s the realistic thing. You you’ll find nobody that dislikes the Boston Celtics as an idea more than me. And at the same time, that’s a human being. So, no no reason to wish ill on anybody like that. So, you rethink the the values in your life if you do. Having said that, yeah, you you want to be able to beat them, but you want to be able to beat them at full strength in order to prove that you’re actually better than they are, not because that they’re injured or anything like that. And so, uh, the Knicks look like they’re going to be able to move on yet again to the Eastern Conference Finals somehow. The Knicks deserve it, by the way. They were going to win that game anyway. They were up whatever 7, nine, whatever it was at the time, and and the Celtics were kind of falling apart in that moment. So, they probably winning that game and the Knicks deserve. And look, the Celtics also deserve to lose this series. the way that they had been playing this series. And I think there was going to be self-reflection needed on Boston’s part who were the overwhelming favorites to come out of the Eastern Conference and were not playing up to that level even without a Jason Tatum injury just because if they were going to lose in the second round of the Knicks, it looks like that’s still going to happen obviously. Yeah. And then they have the other financial concerns and because they’re they’re like $20 million over the second apron. Their luxury tax bill next year is like $220 million historic. They’re not going to pay that. But you could still shave some money, get under the second apron, be a first apron team, and then talk yourself into, well, we’re still a championship team because we still have Tatum, we still have Brown, we still have Derrick White presumably, and maybe we don’t have Porzingis, or maybe we don’t have Drew Holiday, but most of the core, 90% of our core from these last two runs is still there. And you could string together presumably three straight finals runs. That was sort of the idea of this expensive window that they were operating in. And now with the Tatum injury, with this Achilles injury and a surgery and all that, this is a year. This is a 12-month injury. So, I don’t think maybe Tatum miraculously beats the odds. You can’t factor him into your plans next year if you’re Boston. So, what does that mean for everybody else? It means, first of all, Boston, you can’t pay the luxury tax at all in my mind. Like there is no sense in paying a luxury tax and being part of the repeater tax and being on that clock and all that stuff for a team without Jason Tatum next year. So not only do you have to get under the second apron, I think you have to get under the first apron. You have to avoid the tax completely. That’s not going to be easy to do. And what it really translates to is you’re going to have to trade Kristoff Porzingis and Drew Holiday probably. So that’s two of your most important players. I don’t know that Horford comes back maybe on a really cheap deal. They might have to trade some other bit players off their bench. By the way, trading Porzingis and Drew Holiday, not going to be easy. No, not on those contracts. You’re going to have to attach some sweetness to both of those guys. Yeah, right. Um, if you can’t do that, do you entertain trading Jaylen Brown at 50 making, you know, almost $60 million a year as a second option? That’s obviously not what they would want to do, but it might be forced to do it. That’s for the Celtics to figure out. I think for the Heat, what this really boils down to is the East is going to be wide open next year because Tatum’s down. We don’t know what’s going to happen with Giannis or where he’s going to be playing next year. So, that’s another factor. It’s going to be at the top of the East, the Knicks, the Cavs, and the Pacers. Those are the three best teams in the East going into next season. uh depending on obviously dramatic things happening this offseason. The Knicks, the Cavs, and the Pacers are your top three teams right now in the East. All three very good teams, all three very beatable teams. To me, the East is wide open next year. And that has real ramifications on how Miami should approach the offseason without a doubt. I mean, this is I know that Pat Riley for all the tiresome complaints that a lot of fans might have or at least a vocal minority might have. There is blood in the water and he smells it and he knows that this is his best opportunity. I wouldn’t be surprised if whatever plans they had to revamp this roster get ratcheted up to yet another level. I’m not saying they can’t pull it off because there are still restrictions with the between the salary cap and collective bargaining agreement and everything else like that. There’s only so much that you can possibly do, but the intent will certainly be there. And that’s something you have to keep in mind. They’re going to try their best to retool this roster to the best of their ability because this is as good an opportunity as this team is going to get. You look at the top of the Eastern Conference. Cleveland looked unbeatable. The Boston Celtics look perhaps at the start of a dynasty, you know, or a dynastic era. If even if it lasted for at least a strong championship window that was going to last for a couple more seasons, that’s over. Cleveland looks fallable against the Pacers. I don’t think the Pacers are a world beater. I don’t think the Knicks are a world beater as good as they’ve looked in the playoffs. I think both those teams can be gotten to and as you said, Milwaukee is very much a question mark. Orlando still has several holes to fill offensively. You look at what Miami is capable of doing if they can make the right moves, they’d be just as much as any other team in the Eastern Conference a contender next season given all that. I I I thought when you were looking at the offseason approach, and I mean you in terms of the Heat organization, you were trying to stack up against the Cleveland’s and the Boston, not against the Knicks. You want to be better than the Knicks, or at the least at the same level as they are, but I’m maybe I’m wrong in thinking this way. I’m not scared of the Knicks. I’m not scared of the Pacers. Clearly, they’re better than Miami right now, but if Miami can build this roster the way they expect it to, I think they’re just as good as those teams moving forward. The Celtics were overwhelming last year in the playoffs and you know their their their road to the playoffs is what it was, but they were overwhelming and they were overwhelming in the regular season. They were overwhelming in this regular season. Yep. Uh now I think the playoffs this these playoffs showed some faults in their whole foundation, but to your point, the Knicks are awesome, the Pacers are awesome, the Cavs awesome. None of those teams. You’re not looking at any of those teams like the 2017 Warriors. You’re not looking at any of them like the 2017 Cavs with LeBron James. Like there is no team in the East that has a punch ticket to the finals right now. Uh this year or in the next or next year. And so what’s the question that you and I get all the time when we bring up Giannis, Kevin Durant, superstar XYZ? It’s does this player make us a championship contender? us being the Heat and when you compared okay put Kevin Durant on Miami depending on what you got to give up but if it’s Durant hero bam is that good enough to compete with the Celtics and yeah you know they still need to the threshold now has gotten a lot lower for what the East looks like next year. Um now perhap I would have the answer to my question there is add Kevin Durant to this team. Are they a championship team? My answer was before no. They still need to do a couple of other things on the margin, shore up the depth and thing and that stuff probably will still have to get done either in this in this scenario. But now that answer is a lot closer to yes than it was two days ago. I think it’s a resounding yes. Not a championship. Maybe they might not beat anybody who emerges from the west, but I think the East, the parody in the East is something that is pretty obvious if you’ve watched any playoff basketball. Again, like the Knicks Pacers, they’ve looked really impressive in these respective series. You could chuck it all up to a bad matchup or you could chuck it all up to maybe again the both those teams were very good or built in a better way. And yet it seems like any team is capable of getting past them in order to achieve the goal of reaching the NBA finals. And I think a team with KD, a Heat team with KD on the roster and as you said getting the right role players, having the kind of depth that is necessary if a player gets hurt, etc. Those things matter. If Miami and Miami’s front office specifically can get this done, I think they’re really right up there in terms of contention because it’s so wide open. I mean, Boston’s not going to be a contender next year. The Cavs, I mean, they were historically great this year and yet if they lose to the Pacers, they’re going to have to answer some questions, right? That’s another team in self-reflection mode a little bit. You mentioned the role players there. Yeah, that’s the part I want to get to next because this part is fascinating. There might be role players on Boston’s roster. Yes. Who could be good fits for Miami next year? Let’s talk about that next. All right, cool. Today’s episode is brought to you by CarGurus. Are you shopping for a car? Well, that should be exciting, not exhausting. 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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. [Music] Duncan Robinson might be one of the most soughtafter players in the league this off season. Whoa. You don’t see a lot of contracts like Duncan Robinson’s anymore. 50% guaranteed by June 29th. If he’s on a roster by June 29th, the the whole contract becomes guaranteed. But any team trading for Duncan Robinson can wave him before June 29th and save $10 million against their cap. And when you look at a team like Phoenix who is in dire straits financially or a team like Milwaukee or now a team like Boston, those teams, those front offices could see a Duncan Robinson contract and say $10 million, yes, luxury taxes, all of that. We’re talking 40, 50, $60 million in potential savings. when you consider the aprons and everything like that. So, if you’re we’ve talked about, you know, Duncan Robinson being involved in a potential Kevin Durant deal. I think we’ve talked about him in a potential Giannis deal. It just makes sense. Now, it might make sense for Boston who’s due for a historic tax bill. Like, their tax bill is as expensive as their roster. They’re paying double um if this thing holds. And it won’t. They can’t possibly do it. And I don’t think trading Porzingis or Drew Holiday is going to be easy. I think Drew Holiday is still a fine player, but he’s showing his age and he’s 35 years old and he’s making a ton of money over the next three years, 35 plus million dollars a year. Um, Porzingis has one more year left on his contract, but with his illness and some of the injury concerns and his history, it feels like they’re going to have a hard time moving off those contracts. And even if they do, they’re going to be you still have to match money for the most part because there’s not a whole lot of teams that have the cap space to just absorb those guys. right? Is Brooklyn gonna maybe Brooklyn says, “Yeah, we’ll take your Porzingis or we’ll take Drew Holiday, but we also are going to want one or two first round picks, whatever it is.” Um, either way, Boston’s going to have to clear some money, and I do think a contract like Duncan Robinson’s could make some sense for them just so that they could save all of that money. So, um, in terms of the role players on Boston, you were excited as we went into that break talking about some of those role players that could make sense for Miami. Who do you have your eye on? Pritchard. So Pritchard might be the guy who doesn’t get traded. Seven or eight million a year. That kind of that’s not that expensive. It feels like they might try to move off of Sam Hower at $10 million a year. And that’s a little bit less interesting to me if I’m Miami. Yeah. I I can’t see I Miami is going to need shooting one way or the other. Whether they acquire a superstar or not, they need more consistent shooting. And Howser would certainly provide that. Providing that at $10 million is probably more palatable or acceptable than paying Duncan Robinson $19 million for the same value, the same quality shooting to an extent. And yet, uh, yeah, same rule. And I don’t know. I I just it seems like a little bit of an overpay. You could probably find a good shooter for less than $10 million a season. So I don’t know. Would you be interested in Porzingis? No. No. One year. Uh, understanding that the window is open. No. Kind of fits the bill of a guy you need next to BAM makes it so that you don’t have to fast track. You could bring him along slowly. Spot starts here and there in the regular season. Not talking you into it. No, I just I think you cannot depend on his health history like that. He was relatively healthy or has had maybe nothing catastrophic happened in terms of health over the last couple seasons. He still missed so much time and I feel like that’s also kind of counterintuitive to the development of Khar and maybe yeah and you can kind of punt on a wear development season and he can learn a lot perhaps from a guy like KP on the roster but uh I don’t know. I just I can’t accept it for I mean his salary isn’t How much is he making exactly? Do you knowing 30.7 million for one year? Yeah, I get it. It’s No, it doesn’t feel like the right move. It’s a big salary. Yeah, it’s a big salary. You’re going to have to clear a lot of other roster space there and that doesn’t help Miami. He’s not the superstar that they need in order to help them get over whatever there is with wherever they’re at right now in terms of the NBA hierarchy. So, um, what about Drew Holidays? What’s his salary? 32.4. Absolutely not. Three more years. Absolutely. Yeah. No, they can’t. Like Miami needs a star and they need role players. So, in that sense, like Hower, Pritchard, those guys are the best options. And if you I mean from what you said I understand that why Pritchard would be somebody that you’d prefer keeping. Although he’s probably set for a big payday coming up uh in the next couple seasons. So maybe they want to avoid that now or expect that. What about making a trade for Brown? Is Brown the superstar that you can that’s where we’re going, right? That’s sort of the natural next uh question. Jaylen Brown has one of the mo one of the richest contracts in the league. He’s being play he’s being paid like a number one and he’s obviously Boston’s number two. The question is whether or not you think Jaylen Brown can be a number one. I like Jaylen Brown as a player. I think he does a lot of things for that Celtics team that they desperately need in terms of physicality. Guy who gets to the basket, all these things. Um NBA Finals MVP, Eastern Conference Finals MVP. I mean, he could really put the shots up when he’s engaged defensively. He’s elite. I don’t think he’s a number one. I think if he were your number one, it would lead to a lot of frustrations. And if are we talking Jaylen Brown and Bam as your one two, I think it’s okay. I don’t think it’s championship material. Jaylen Brown’s a really good player, but you know, you have to keep the salary in mind. And and if Boston trades Jaylen Brown, it’s not going to be a salary dump. It’s going to it’s going to cost Let me ask you, I I’ll turn the question back to you. Would you rather have Jaylen Brown at 28 years old on that contract or would you rather just trade for Kevin Durant understanding that you have a a much slimmer window because it’ll probably cost the same sort of stuff. You won’t be able to trade for both but you’d be able to keep hero in both scenarios. I because I think that makes it more interesting. A trio of hero brown and bam is certainly more intriguing assuming again that you’d be able to keep aware too because then that Because I guess the the Boston Boston would want Wiggins and Duncan Robinson with draft picks, I guess, for Brown. Sure. Sure. So, yeah, maybe you keep hero in both instances. Again, given the what we just laid out, I think that’s enough that’s enough to compete for a title next season and it puts you in a better position in terms of being able to continuously add. And I think that kind of is also like we laid out in past episodes, that’s kind of how Miami’s operate. It’s like, okay, we got our superstar in Brown. And I kind of struggle using that because I I don’t think he fits that bill either. We made that kind of differentiation between what a franchise player is and what isn’t. I don’t think Brown is there. He doesn’t feel like you’re number one, but he might be your most easily getable. and and Miami has typically gotten that player and then found ways to build around them and build around the edges as you called it. And I think that’s it could work that way for Miami in Miami’s favor. If you get Hero, you can keep Hero and Ram and you can add Brown to the mix. It’s like, okay, we feel pretty good. We can compete next year. We can maybe go on a deep run if it if it meshes well. And that being the case, if they’re not able to win a title, at the very least, now they realize what it is that they need and they can build around that trio. And it’s still a better place, I think, than where you were this season, certainly, and any other scenario that you can envision because I I mean, I like the age factor in terms of being able to build around him, Bam, and Hero. And that’s a young trio that can compete for a while. Yeah. You got to believe if you’re doing that, hey, Jaylen Brown, without having to defer to Jason Tatum, if we just give him the rock and let him be a number one and play like a number one, that he can hit another level. I don’t know that Jaylen Brown can hit that next level. Maybe he can. I mean, this it was a bad year. He was awesome last season. If you if we’re having this conversation after he wins NBA Finals MVP, I’m like, “Yeah, 100%.” So, I don’t know if this is just recency bias or whatever, but I I’m very intrigued. He’s been bad in these playoffs. has had one good playoff game. Game two against Orlando Magic. One good playoff game. He has been bad in these playoffs. Um so I don’t know. I almost think what’s that? He’s been hurt too. Yeah. I also think with with to the point of hey, next year is the window. I don’t know. Just get Kevin Durant. Go for it. Two more years. Take advantage of this this window. He walks away, you know, retires. whatever it is that Kevin Durant’s going to do and then and then you figure it out after that. But you’re still maximizing the short term. I think probably more with Kevin Durant, but then to your point, there’s obviously more of a runway there if you if you go Jaylen Brown in this hypothetical. Um don’t even know if Boston would ever trade Jaylen Brown to Miami. That’s the other thing. So, um interesting hypotheticals. East wide open next season. and how the Heat maneuver and navigate this off season, I think has been dramatically impacted. This has put, I think, urgency on specifically Pat Riley. Hey, next year, you make the right moves these next few months, you could be right back in the Eastern Conference Finals, NBA Finals, right back in contention. It’s easier said than done, but I think that’s the goal. Thanks for making Lockdown 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 listen to podcasts.

Can the Miami Heat Capitalize on the Eastern Conference Shake-Up?

The Miami Heat’s offseason strategy is under the spotlight as recent NBA playoff developments, including Jimmy Butler’s performance with the Golden State Warriors and Jayson Tatum’s injury reshapes the Eastern Conference landscape. With the Boston Celtics facing potential roster changes due to financial constraints, the Heat have a unique opportunity to strengthen their position. Wes Goldberg and David Ramil talk about how these shifts could impact the Heat’s championship aspirations.

0:00 Intro
5:11 Jimmy Butler’s playoff performance disappoints
13:39 Jayson Tatum’s Achilles injury changes East landscape
20:38 East wide open, Heat’s championship window
25:02 Duncan Robinson’s contract valuable for trades
29:42 Evaluating potential Celtics trades for Heat
35:26 Outro: East wide open, Heat’s offseason crucial

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