After adding Norm Powell, what’s next for Miami Heat? | Five on the Floor

After adding Norm Powell, what’s next for Miami Heat? | Five on the Floor

prize pick. Use code 5 fiv. If you’re a baseball fan, this is the time for you. We got some of the best uh on there telling you what you should play. Use the code five fiv. Put down your five. Get your 50. And now today’s episode Floor. Here’s today’s floor plan. I’m Ethan Skolick. You can follow me at Ethan Jolig Sports. I got Eternal Bass. You can follow him at Eternal Bass. Also find him on our Discord off the floor. Mita made a trade. We’re doing a series of episodes about that trade. First one I did with Alex Celo. Kind of the quick reaction. How did they pull this off? Second trade uh second episode with Brady Hawk. How does Norm Powell look with the current roster and now we’re going to push it ahead a little bit. What does the current roster still need if they’re going to be competitive, which is what they seem to want to be while also going young? This is it’s kind of a dual mandate here. It’s like the Fed sort of although you know some people don’t want to listen to the Fed these days but they’re trying to go young at the same time they don’t want to play for lottery picks and we know this and so those who want them to do that you’re just beating a dead horse at this point. Um, and I have said go young. They just brought in a 32-year-old guard, but they also traded two older rotation players who weren’t going to play, but if they did play, we’re going to take minutes from younger guys. And that means that in the example of like Kyle Anderson, he might have taken minutes from Yoic, which is not something we wanted to see this season. They have a roster spot. Bradley Beal’s not coming here. Okay, that was not a serious consideration, I don’t believe. I think he ends up a Clipper, but we’ll see. Dame Lillard is still out there potentially. Let me start with that Eternal because they could um pursue that essentially have a red shirt year with Dame. That is not a younger player at all. He’s coming off uh blood clots, Achilles, all kinds of different things, but he’s basically, you know, he’s geared up for a return, a big comeback. It’s hard to bet against Dne, but at the same time, again, he’s not really the direction that they seem to be going. Um they’re also still in conversations to move Terry Rosier. I know that and I would not be stunned if they find a way to move Andrew Wiggins, but they’re not going to give Andrew Wiggins away. They’ve got to they’ve got to figure out, you know, what the return would be for him. Let’s start with Dame Eternal. We’ll move on to the others. Would you try to sign Dame here? And right now, they’re over the tax, by the way. That’s to be considered. They’re not over the first apron, but they’d be hardcapped to the first apron. They’re not going to go into the second apron. Um or over the second apron. Would you go get Dame now? and that would be the final move. But again, you’re not going to have him available this season most likely. And I think it really depends on what your projection plan is, right? So if you’re saying, “All right, yes, we just acquired Norm Pal. Our next move is to move Andrew Wiggins, Haywood, you’ve already eliminated Kyle Anderson and Kevin Love, which was the the Shocker. But, you know, Tier Roier at some point, right? If to eliminate those three, this is boring whatever they may do with uh Fonteo and maybe Tyler, maybe Norm Pal, like it’s it’s whatever. Right. Right. and and and they just to be clear here, they could trade Vonteo still and they could also they could keep him or they could also wave and stretch him, which is something that was mentioned to me when they first acquired him, which was also something that could have happened with Kylie Anderson. All right. So, I think um I think it really just depends on what exactly your progressive plan is. If it is to be back into contention next year, right? to be back into like playoff deep playoff contention or championship contention or whatever and you still feel like Dame after a season off um allowing his body to heal get fully healthy and things of that nature and you maybe you go the Norm Pow route which will be cheaper than Tyler maybe Norm Pow fits better with Dane we’ve already seen that in Portland um if you want to convince yourself of that and also too because you’re not necessarily trading anything to get Dame. You don’t have to think about like what the back end of your rotation, everything like that is going to look like. You could plan for, okay, we’re going to move um Andrew and Haywood for this, then we’ll use that for this and next year, or we’ll couple some things together to better build out the roster around Dame, Norm, Bam, Khil, or however you want to, you know, set it. Um, they could do that, but I I think you’d first need the first domino to fall, which is what are you going to do with Andrew Wiggins, and then it becomes a little clearer uh of signing Dame. But let Okay, but let me throw the caveat in on that one. So, let’s say that Dame wants to come to Miami again. We know how he feels about this place. He wanted to be here in the first place, right? Right. uh we know that he’s got some family stuff that he’s got to take care of uh over this next year in addition to rehabbing and it’s one of the reasons it’s it’s better for him better for him to have sort of gotten his money and getting waved uh to kind of deal with those situations, right? But let’s say he wants to come here, but let’s say you’re dragging your heels because you’re trying to trade Wiggins or Rosier, create additional roster spots, pivot, etc., and then you lose the possibility of Dame. And I I’m on the record as saying I’m lukewarm on the whole dame thing. I I I I I understand the talent. It’s he’s Hall of Fame level talent. The character of the person. I’m not arguing with any of that. And the price is obviously going to be much much much much much much much cheaper than the one that made them a little queasy before, which is why they wouldn’t go all in for him, right? They’re not going to be paying that contract. Uh but he is nor are you trading for it either. No, you’re not trading anything. Just like you didn’t really trade anything for Powell. You’re not trading anything. And but also you’re not uh you you know but you’re also dealing with a guy who was not good defensively anyway and he’s not going to be better coming off a torn Achilles and you got the blood clot thing which you know they dealt with that once before obviously Chris Bos. So I’m just I’m saying that there’s he he’s a he’s a a damaged asset right now but still could be an asset. Yeah. But if you really don’t want to lose him, then it’s like you can’t really wait to see how some of these things play out with some of these others. You may just have to make a snap decision. So if I was to say to you, paternal snap decision. Okay. Dame comes to you says, “I want to sign with you. I’m not it’s not going to cost a whole lot. I want to rehab in your facility. I want to be down there. You’ll be well, I’ll be around your guys. I’ll get to know your guys. I’ve got a relationship with BAM. I can help mentor Hakachonis or anybody these other young players. Get in with your system. And then, you know, I’m going to fight like hell to try to be back by March. Okay. Um, so that’s kind of where I’m at. Like, what what is the uh where where do would you would you then sign him? Just say sign him. Sure. [ __ ] it. I mean, because it’s not really costing you anything, right? Like I think when we when you and I or me you and Brian have talked about what the Heat could possibly do, I think we do operate within reason and not hope casting, right? And I think in this particular situation, it’s not going to cost you your young guys to get Dame. You’re not you’re not screwing your cap by getting Dame like you’re just making one or two moves to create space for him. You already have a young point guard that you’re bringing up in the system. you have another younger kind of older point guard that’s there to kind of, you know, hold the place. Getting Dame is just basically a cherry on top, right? Because it’s a it’s a high reward, very low risk. So, when you think about it, in this new CBA and where Miami is right now, it makes a lot of sense to take that risk. Okay. All right. So, that I mean that’s I’m good to get you on the record for that because I think there are a lot of fans who feel that way. Um and and they would just do it right now. But on the other side of this, what I do want to get into is what you would be looking for if you’re looking to move Wiggins, Rosier, Fonteio, some of the other players on this roster to continue to reshape it before training camp starts. Okay. So, let’s go to the next step here. This team has very few bigs. They didn’t have a lot of bigs to begin with. I know this is a big focus of yours. They they didn’t they have where they have BAM, but they’re starting together supposedly, which means they don’t have anything coming off the bench. I don’t think they were planning to play Kevin Love very much this year anyway. Right. Tyler Anderson might have gotten some minutes. And Nikico Yoic, who both you and I are a fan of, isn’t really that well suited to playing back up five. They they’ve done this before. He doesn’t really Well, they were trying to go the they were trying to go the route of him playing more winged, which is why, you know, before but now he is the backup five by default. And and I can’t you can’t lean into any of these these summer league guys because I don’t know that any of them are going to pop at this point. And Kesha Johnson is not a five either. And I know we’re talking in in numbers here, but they don’t have much in the big rotation. That makes it seem to me like they have something else in the holster here, so that they’re going to be trading Wiggins or Rosier and they know that they’re going to get a big, right? I mean, that that’s what you have to be looking for right now if you’re trying to fill out this roster. So So what kind of big do they need? So, I would say you you probably would like to go for somebody I was pitching John Collins just because if you wanted versatility, which Miami now has a lot of functional size before the Norm Power trade, right? You had a lot lot of functional size at different positions. I think now what they could have done if they would have went the John Collins route is you could have paired somebody that could allow Nico to slide to the wing if you want to see him at the wing as you’re evaluating. him haime and pellet and allow them to be strictly at the wing spots. You could pair John Collins with Bam and Kho, right? As as you’re working out your rotation and still be able to get uh that obviously that’s off the table now. And I think you still kind of want that archetype, somebody that could play with either Bam or Kh because we know injury is going to happen. Knock on wood. you don’t you hope they don’t happen, but you still want to have your your roster balanced in a way that if anything happens along the season, you’re not missing a beat, right? Um hopefully hopefully you don’t lose anybody for the season. But if you lose Kh or Bam for a couple of games or whatever, you have somebody that can step in that can either hold the fort down or kind of replicate a little bit of what they they do without screwing up your offense and you have to like throw things out. So, I I think when you think about that, I think the main thing we’ve been talking about is the Andrew and Haywood to uh LA for u a Dalton, maybe Dalton, right? Maybe Ruie and Maxi Clever, right? But that fits together. And I think you could uh Maxi could definitely play with either Bama Khalil, Ruie could play with either Bama Khalil. And and Maxi Maxi and Ruie can shoot. I mean, theoretically, they they’ve had ups and downs, but they they they came in as players who could shoot. I I do think that archetype, like we’re talking about like an Oolinic type archetype, too. Like that type of player has fit next to Bam could fit next to to wear where you don’t end up in a situation where Heywood Highmith is your backup five. Let let me let me throw another one at you, though, because look, they don’t want to give Wiggins away. I mean, Wiggins is a guy who got 42 points for him in a game last year. I know that he seems indifferent at times. It’s kind of his personality. I don’t really get a read on whether he wants to be here or not or that they know what to do with him or not. You and I have done episodes on that. But again, he’s still a good player in the league. You don’t want to give with Rosir though. Like I don’t see any way Rosier plays now in the current mix. So what do you just They moved Lowry and they they would have been better off holding the expiring and not giving away the first. You’re not you would you wouldn’t attach anything to Terry to get to to move him off the roster, right? I I don’t think that makes sense. It depends on what you give. Depends on what you get in that Andrew deal. Or if you make it a much bigger deal, you could have somebody else send some seconds or whatever to whatever place. If it’s Washington and you want to go get Kelly Oo because you feel like Kellyo is more dependable than Maxi Clever. Also, you still deepening your front court, which you had to do before you did the Kyle Anderson and Kevin Love trade, right? So if you go get somebody like a Kellyo that’s involved in a bigger deal or in a Terry deal or maybe you can rob the Bulls as well for an expiring deal in a cheaper deal in Vuvich, right? Veuvich is making 21 next season. Terry is making 26. So Miami would still be under the cap even after making the And they’ll be further under the cap actually which you could then offer more if we’re doing the dame thing. you could offer more to Dane, right? So, if you made the the Andrew deal and you give back Ruie and Maxi Clever, both of them are still makes making less than the combined salary of Andrew and Haywood. And then if you do make a deal for Kelly or Veovich with Terry, you’re still taking back less. So, there I think there are moves out there that Miami can make. Uh those are just two names. Maybe if you want to plan more for the future, maybe you can call Indiana about uh Obi Toppin or another another player on the Bulls is Jaylen Smith who could play with both um Bam and Khil. That was a guy we linked that was a guy we linked to the Heat at one point during the I mean the these guys are out there. It’s just I I think what you have to be careful of is you don’t they’ve added backup bigs before and sometimes they’ll give him like pockets of decent play like Deadmond did or even Zeller did. I mean people don’t remember but Cody played pretty well when he first came. Everybody just remembers the four minutes of hell um you know in the finals but the uh and Thomas Bryant gave them some minutes before it kind of went away. But they don’t want to at the same time they’re not playing for a championship this year. I would like to see them lean into a younger big if they could somebody that they could develop. Um but like if you got a Hatchima like that’s a player who has had functional minutes at this level as a first round pick. So that’s a different kind of player. I I I’ll close with this and we’re going to do more episodes on this as we go forward. Are you okay with taking less talent back for Andrew Wiggins for perhaps someone who is younger and a better fit with the roster as it grows? cuz I feel like that might be what ends up happening. I think yeah, it depends on what the draft conversation you get back. You got to get something back if you’re taking back even lesser talent. Um so if it’s not multiple first, maybe it’s a first a swap and some seconds, you know, just something just to kind of build out your treasure chest, right? like obviously Andrew, this isn’t Andrew coming off the 22 playoff run um or even what he did the season afterwards. So, he’s had some okay games for Miami. He has some okay games for Golden State this season. Um but I think all things considered, you I think you’ll probably get a fair get back for him. Um and I think in Miami’s case, the more picks, the better. The younger player cool, whatever. like what they’re focusing on is Nico Kho, Himeme, Pella, Casper, you know, all of that. See, see who pops, see who you extend, and at the same time add other pieces to that court. I will say this before we were going to do this episode. They are and you and I are going to do more episodes. Maybe we’ll even do another one tomorrow because I got another idea for you. But the the biggest thing is they’re in better position right now than they were because they gave up nothing to get a 20 point score, man. Nothing. I’m glad I’m glad you mentioned that because I’m sitting here thinking you’re better today and you didn’t even you didn’t even make the Andrew trade yet. So like for instance and you and not only did you not you have to use Andrew you got somebody back we didn’t even think you were going to get back right and that’s that’s you’re still holding on to Wiggins and and Rosier is still inexpiring. I know it’s not an easy contract to move, but it’s not the worst either. And he could be traded at the trade deadline, too. Uh, to a team that just wants to clear out some money. So, last thing before we get out of here, you got back a near allstar, right? Like by many of the Clippers media, not just the fans, thought Norman Pow should have been an all-star player last year, right? Coach selection, whatever. You got back him. If they get picks back with Andrew, your chest is your chest is now deeper. Now you can possibly sit at the table. If a Giannis acts out, if a An aunt acts out, you can not say you’re going to win, but you can sit at the table and you at least have more to play with, right? You’ve at least got a fork and a knife now to eat with. We’ll see if the meal actually ever comes. But Heath fans, look, he fans are never happy about anything. And you deal with them as much or more as anyone else. And they were happy uh when this trade happened. Like 91% approval on Twitter. Somebody said, “Well, this isn’t anything because he can’t be a top three player in a contending team. I’m sorry they couldn’t get Giannis for Kyle Anderson and Kevin Love.” Hold on. Wait. First off, first off, before we get out of here, I just want to clear something up because y’all do this a lot and I’m convinced y’all don’t watch basketball as much as y’all say y’all do. That man averaged 22 points with James Harden and Kawawaii. Yeah, he shot 42% from three on 7.1 attempts. He had his most efficient season at age 31. He’s still pretty damn good. He’s be and he’s been getting better. So I I there’s no way to hate this trade. There’s no way to do it. We’ll see what they do next. All right, Eternal. Appreciate it. Find him at EternalBass. More episodes to come. Thanks to Lynette. Thanks for prize picks. Use a code five.

With a new 20-point scorer in the rotation, the Miami Heat still seem to have needs, especially up front. Eternal Bast joins Ethan Skolnick to speculate on what should be done to fill the holes. Does it mean trading Andrew Wiggins for a front court player?

Sponsors: InsuranceByLinnette.com and PrizePicks.com (FIVE)

Join us on our Off The Floor Discord server for the most Heat anywhere! Get exclusive insider information, along with updates/stats/insights from the 5OTF crew and hang out with other Heat fans. https://discord.gg/5otf (Scroll down after clicking)

5OTF Special Offers:
* Check out Cigars International and use my code FIVE20 for a great deal: https://www.cigarsinternational.com
* Check out Mood and use my code FIRST20 for a great deal: https://mood.com

If you want more exclusive Miami Dolphins content, join OnlyFins on Discord: https://discord.gg/onlyfins

If you’re interested in sponsoring Five Reasons, contact us at fivereasonssports@gmail.com