Miami Heat STRIKE OUT On Damian Lillard | Grading Summer League Performances

Miami Heat STRIKE OUT On Damian Lillard | Grading Summer League Performances

We break down the latest from Las Vegas summer league as a rookie struggle continue and three players potentially part of the rotation get shut down. Plus, Damian Lillard is reportedly returning to the Blazers. What does this mean for Miami? Well, we’ll let you know on today’s episode of Locked on Heat. [Music] 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 pair of podcast apps, thanks for making Locked on Heat your first listen every day. I’m Wes Goldberg here with David Remill. 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 podcast app. Today’s episode is brought to you by Game Time. Download the Game Time app, create an account, use the code locked on NBA for $20 off your first purchase. Have a jam-packed show for you today. Damen Lillard will return to the Trailblazers. We’ll talk about what that means for the Heat’s plan to add a star next summer. Plus, summer league is over for KL Wear. So, we’re going to grade his performance in a bit, but first, we are recording this after the Heat lose to the Pistons in their second to last game of Las Vegas summer league. Not all that surprising given that Khloe, Pel Larson, and Kasha Johnson did not play. Uh but the story of the game was Kasparus Yakonis with those three guys out. All eyes were going to be on Yakonis. He had a rough first half, bounced back with a better second half. He was pretty good in the second half. Uh but as always, it was up and down for Cass just like it’s been for most of summer league with him. David, the the good looks really good. Um you know, throwing slick passes, getting guys involved, pushing the pace, shooting with confidence, but the bad is pretty ugly. bad pass turnovers, drives without much of a plan, lacking uh the ability to get separation, breaking shots. He finished this game with 15 points, five rebounds, three assists, two steals, and five turnovers. He shot four of 12 overall. Again, first half was way worse than the second half. Um, but I guess my takeaway so far with Cass is yes, he was a guy who was projected to go in the top 10 of the draft in June. He did fall to 20, but even though he did fall to 20 despite his pre-draft projection, I think it’s fair to call him a work in progress for Miami. Yeah, I I’d say um you know, you and I both talked about it when he was selected that maybe the injury concerns had been something that uh led to his drop to 20 that maybe he just hadn’t been able to play at such a high level as he had started off the season in his last year with Illinois. and then uh that maybe it affected some of his turnovers later in the year and things of that sort and that’s why teams might have been a little soured on him and things of that sort. Maybe there’s some additional issues here that there’s definite talent, there’s playmaking ability, lots of nice things, as you said, to appreciate about his game, but the weaknesses are pretty glaring. And as such, maybe they’re going to take more time to work on and to improve, but you know, he’s a young player, so I’m not necessarily disappointed in what we’ve seen from him so far. I I guess I’m trying to stay positive and optimistic because rookies uh young players in particular take such a you said it before development is never linear and so you never really know what to expect from a young player maybe somebody like him you’d hope that he could come in and right away but there are players that are quote unquote more talented that have struggled to find their footing at the NBA level and Yakuchon is just one of another long line of players that takes time or or has to develop in their own path. But you know what? It’s probably been a bit of a whirlwind from the time he was drafted to the time he was playing at the California Classic and then onto Vegas and everything else like that. So, I I’m curious to see what happens over the next couple months between once he’s shut down in Vegas and then continues to develop onto training camp because that’s really his opportunity to gain his footing, kind of understand things a little bit more. Like he’s I mean he’s two weeks removed from the draft at this point really. It’s it’s it’s his life has been a complete upheaval. And I know you should say, “Oh, well, you know, you get used to it or this is his life now.” But it’s like, you know, it’s not that simple. Um, you know, one minute you’re you’re rushing to fly into Miami to meet reporters and meet. I’m not sure how much that has to do with it because like you said, it’s or it’s the same issues that were plaguing him at Illinois that are plaguing him now. And perhaps I look, he’s a rookie. I I’m not trying to be optimistic or pessimistic. I’m being realistic. And I think expectations for Cass were so high given the excitement of when this guy who was projected to be a top 10 pick fell to 20. But not all top 10 picks are ready to play right away either. There’s plenty of top 10 picks in this draft who actually went in the top 10 who are not going to be ready to make an impact right away. They’re rookies and Heat fans unfortunately calling you all out here over the last couple years have these crazy expectations of rookies. whether it’s the seven foot KL Wear or Haimeak Jr. after two weeks people calling him a future all-star and stuff like that. And I’m not saying he’s not or that Kell Wear isn’t going to be great. I’m just saying we don’t know anything about these guys. So just keep expectations down. It’s fine to get excited, but let’s keep the expectations realistic right now. And that’s all I’m trying to do here with with Cass. There are warts in his game, but there’s also the times where it looks amazing and he does things that nobody else on this roster can do. and and that stuff is exciting, but the turnovers are bad and it’s the reason why he dropped to 20. I did some poking around after he fell to 20. Why is he why did he fall? And I did wonder if it was the injury. Nope. All the medicals on the injury came back clean. No, no, no issues with the injury. No long-term concerns with that. Um he’s obviously playing right now. But some of these turnovers are just bad. And I think what we’ve learned in summer league and we had this discussion after the draft is look, if you’re creative, I’d rather you I’d rather be able to you be creative and then dial that in. Kind of streamline that and weed out some of the dumb turnovers and the and the times where you shouldn’t be expressing your creativity necessarily on the basketball court. And there’s some of that. But if I’m concerned about the turnovers and the thing that I’ve learned in summer league so far, some of his passes just lack zip, if that makes sense. Like in this game in particular, he had a bad outlet pass that just it it wasn’t a turnover. It was not one of his five turnovers. It almost ended up being a turnover, but Miami was able to recover the loose ball, but it just sort of like died in the middle of the air. He’s got a couple of passes every game just in the context of a half court offense that just die in the air on the way to their target. And I don’t really know what that is. My first instinct is to say it’s a lack of decisiveness. You know how you would go to throw that pass and maybe pull back at the last second. Maybe it’s uh he’s read he’s he’s uh reading the game or processing it a beat too late so that he knows where he where he wants to throw the pass but by the time he’s doing it maybe somebody’s trying to jump into that passing lane so he’s holding back at the very last second. That’s what I think it is. It’s just a lack of decisiveness for whatever reason. Could be overthinking things a bit too like you know like he wants to make that perfect pass and then at the last second kind of checks himself a little bit. It’s like is that really the right move or something like you know it’s it’s possible. Uh I could see why that might be part of um because have you noticed that though the lack of the zip on the passes like have you have you seen it just it’s not the lack of Yeah. It’s not a lack of strength or anything like that but but there’s I guess he’s just trying to make the perfect play every time and sometimes it just doesn’t work out that way. I I don’t it can’t be it can’t be anything physical. At least I don’t think it could be. Uh just because No, it looks like a three-year-old sometimes trying to like hoist the the basketball at the at the Nerf basketball hoop. It’s clearly he is strong enough to throw a basketball. Like that’s not what we’re Yeah. It’s not a physical limitation. No, I think it’s a mental thing. Yeah. So, um something you said before. Absolutely. You mentioned how he’s playing with a bunch of G-Leaguers and stuff like that. I want to go back to something that his head coach at Illinois said, Brad Underwood, um, about Yakonis in the pre-draft process. He said he’s going to be better with NBA players. Yeah, we still haven’t seen him play with NBA players. David, like, you know what I mean? Like a couple, you know, he’s played with Khal Wear and Pel Larson, but that and Kasha Johnson, but for the most part, he’s not playing with NBA players right now. I do wonder if it looks better when he’s on and I don’t think I’m reaching here. I think we see this all the time, right, where you just you have connecting pieces. It’s really and I think Yakonus is a connector. That’s what I called them outside the draft. And and that’s not a that’s not a negative. I you need connecting type pieces. I think he’s a connector. Well, if your job is to be a connector and you’re connecting G-League prospects, you might look like another G-League prospect out there. you know, like I I if you’re a connector, you’re you’re almost sort of defined by the pieces that you’re connecting in a way. So, uh that doesn’t excuse the turnovers or anything like that. That needs to be cleaned up. But I do wonder if there’s a world where he just looks better when he’s on on an NBA court with other bonafide NBA players. No doubt. I I think we’ll see him develop. I I I do feel like players struggle all the time at the summer league level. players that are more experienced, players that are high more highly touted. Uh, and it just it there are a lot of mitigating factors here. So, I’m not ready to place judgment on what we’ve seen from him thus far. It’s a slight concern, but it’s also easy to dismiss. You can What is it that they always say about summer league? It’s a place for overreactions of every kind, whether positive or negative. And and you know, I think that’s kind of where we’re at right now is that you don’t want to necessarily overreact to what we’ve seen. It’s not great, but it’s not alarming either. And and there’s still a great opportunity for him to continue to develop in between now and training camp. And that’s my expectation. So if if we’re seeing something similar from him in during preseason, then we could expect him probably to spend a lot of time in Sou Falls maybe here and there or or just not won’t develop at the same level that we might expect him to. Yeah, I I’m not really sure. Like I said, I’m not trying to make sweeping conclusions. I just think that we learned why he fell to 20. I think this is I think this is what people saw um and why he fell there. And he’s not a perfect player. Nobody ever said he was going to be. That’s why I said probably a little bit more of a project than people maybe uh initially anticipated, at least Heath fans initially anticipated uh after the draft. But uh you mentioned you don’t want to make any sweeping conclusions. Well, we’re going to do that next. Uh, the Heat closed Summer League tomorrow against the Milwaukee Bucks. Uh, that game is going to be played 7:00 p.m. Eastern time, but it’s already over for two summer league standouts. We’ll grade their performances from Vegas after this. Today’s episode is brought to you by Game Time. We’ve all been there, logging on early, waiting forever for concert tickets to go on sale, only to lose your spot for a show you’ve been dying to see. Live music should be about making memories, not dealing with the stress of ticket shopping. That’s where Game Time comes in. Game time makes getting concert tickets faster and easier than ever. Prices actually drop as it gets closer to Showtime. And you can save up to 60% off with their killer last minute deals. I remember those days of going to a ticket master booth and hoping that tickets had still been available before online proc or sales or anything like that. It was what a mission that was. And now you can make things so much easier. If you’re tired of the endless scrolling trying to find the best deal, we’ll game time zone deals. Pick the best seats in your section for you. And if you’re wondering what your seat might actually look like, let’s say you’re going to a venue you’ve never been to. Maybe you’re traveling out of state as I have before. You want to see where you’re sitting. Well, guess what? They’ve got their panoramic seat view. There are no surprises. You know exactly what the view of the stage is going to look like. It’s a great feature. I love it and you will, too. So, take the guess work out of buying concert tickets and show tickets with Game Time. Download the Game Time app, create an account, and use the code lock NBA. You get $20 off your first purchase. Terms to apply, but create an account, redeem the code L O C E D O NA, you get $20 off. Download the Game Time app today. Last minute tickets, lowest price guaranteed. We’ll be right back. [Music] Thanks for making Lockdown Eat your first L. Your first LO. your first listen every day. Uh so the Heat have one more summer league game, but Kel Wear and Pella Larson are done. Khlo Wear has apparently shown enough to the Heats coaching staff that they have shut him down for the rest of Vegas. He’s flying back to Miami where he’s going to do a little bit more work there. Not a rare thing. We saw them do this although a little bit earlier in the summer league experience last season, but same with Haime Hawkey Jr. after he played a couple of summer league games. And then with Pel Larson, he’s getting ready for Euro Basket. So, he had to cut his time in Vegas here a little bit short. So, I thought at least uh with these two guys done, Miamiy’s top two summer league players, we could grade their performance in summer league now that their summer league is closed. We’ll start with KL Wear. He ends up averaging 17.3 points and 10 rebounds per game in Vegas to go along with 1.7 blocks. He shot 52.6% overall. um the ultimate sort of up and down roller coaster ride of a summer for KL Wear, right? He starts summer league with two sort of listless loweffort games. Eric Spolster calls him out and then he responds with two dominant 21 point multiple rebound games, uh multiple block games. Tough to grade it, but I’m going to ask you to try to do it anyway, David. I’m uh I’m going to lean positive on this one. Give him a B minus. Um because as you said the the earlier performances were concerning because we expected we previewed summer league. We talked about what to expect. Secondyear players like Wear and others have to find a way to thrive. They’ve had a year of experience. They’ve trained with the very best. As we just said about Yakushionis uh and this is the exact opposite. Wear knows what it’s like to play against NBA level talent. He started games. He started games in the playoffs. So you expect him to kind of walk into summer league really and kind of have it be a cakewalk for him. The fact that it wasn’t a little concerning and it took something that we had discussed before an unusual move by Eric Spolster to kind of light a fire under him and yet he responded. So that’s why I’m kind of leaning positive is that maybe he was just kind of taking it easy. Maybe he just didn’t feel the need to really push himself. maybe he was feeling a little bit too cocky in that, oh, you know what, I’m basically it’s my spot to lose in terms of uh being assured of being in the starting lineup and that being the case, maybe he did not have that kind of focus and intensity that you might expect out of a player like that, especially not a player for this organization. And it kind of took a a kind of rude rude awakening by Eric Sper saying, “Nothing’s guaranteed, buddy. We got to see more professional out of you before you get anything.” And so he responded. So to me, I’m kind of up and down a little bit about it because again, there was it was a negative start, but he finished strong and I think that’s going to be the norm moving forward. I can’t say for certain what it was that kind of drove him to those lackluster performances, but having turned it around the way he did, my expectations are a little bit more comfortable and confident than what they were earlier. So I also went B minus here. I actually thought I was being negative by giving up a B minus. So it’s funny that you thought you were being positive. I I think most heat fans have the taste of the good stuff still in their mouth, right? Because these are the last two games. So, they might want to go higher. And like the guy averaged 17 and 10 on 53% shooting in summer league with almost two blocks per game. Those are great numbers, you know? But, uh, so I thought I was kind of going lower, but I’m docking him because it took Eric Spolstra doing something he never does to kind of to coax that out of him, right? And I don’t love that, right? He’d wish he would just do that. And similar to with Yakonis that we were talking about in the first segment, it’s not posit it’s not I’m not trying to be positive, not trying to be negative. Just trying to be real. And with the Yakonis summer league experience, it might have solidified some of the things that people thought about Yakonis’ game in the draft. I think those things were solidified in summer league. Ditto for Kel Wear. A thing that was an issue that kept popping up in the pre-draft stuff for Kell, and I know he’s already been in the league for a year, but one of the things that kept popping up was waxing and waning effort. Not really sure if he’s got the motor, all that stuff. And we saw that in a big way, not only in these two summer league games. Don’t take our word for it. Take Eric Spolster’s word for it. Right. If if Spo just thought it was two bad games, he would not have done what he did. And it and if it was just those two games, Eric Bolster also would not have done what he did. This had clearly been a concern for Eric Spolstra for a while. And who knows how long it was, but it’s probably something he saw during where’s rookie year behind the scenes. I I think that’s fair to say. So yeah, you’d wish it wouldn’t take that coaxing to get out of him, but man, when he’s doing it, he’s averaging 1710 and almost two blocks per game. So he’s still pretty damn good when it’s working for him. So, I’m going to give him the B minus. Let’s go to Pella Larson there. Um, final stats for Pella, 18 points per game, 43% shooting overall, 33% from three-point range, 3.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists. What are you going to grade Pella Larson’s Vegas summer league? Um, still a work in progress, but you got to love the effort, got to love the intensity, uh, always active, always making a difference. It seemed like that. I I think it’s pretty clear who was Miami’s best player. Uh, I’d have to give him an A minus. Not an A because the shooting is still a little suspect, although he did have some nice games uh sandwiched in his overall performances there, but I’d give him the A minus considering that there’s still a weakness there that he needs to address and continue to develop. But everything else about his game seemed like such a positive at this level. Again, given the context of being summer league, you can appreciate his manic effort and intensity because you know that’s always going to be the case. Um, you talked about it and and you know on Monday when we were discussing what you had seen up close and personal in covering Vegas summer league like you see that effort every it’s obvious and uh something that everybody can see and and yet he needs to be able to harness it a little bit more effectively but he did a pretty good job overall. Hence the A minus. I’m going B here. Oh really? Yeah. A minus seems high. I mean I don’t think he went out there and dominated, you know. No. Is that what you expect of a second round draft? No, but it’s what I expect if you’re getting an A. Okay. A minus. Okay, fair enough. Uh, I gave him a B. Uh, and I think this kind of says the thing about Kell Wear and Pel Larson. Lson is all hustle and not a whole lot of talent. And I all this is obviously very relative. It’s a lot of hustle and not a whole lot of talent. And with Wear, it’s just off the charts talent and up and down hustle. And I kind of give them both the same grade. Like I said, I’m docking where I’m getting him the B minus because I just don’t like that Eric Sper had to call him out. But you look at their averages, they’re basic. They’re they’re very close. And with Larson, the thing that I I love the effort. I love watching that guy play. He’s the the exact kind of guy that Spo talks about, make me watch you then make me play you. I I did not have answered in Vegas, and I don’t know that I was supposed to, but it didn’t happen. What’s this going to be? Like, what is this going to be for Pel Larson? 33% three-point shooting. It’s got to be better. The scoring goes up and down with him. Sure. I I defensively it’s up and down with him. The fouling is still a problem. The turnovers for him are also a problem. I’m still just not sure what it’s what it is at a high level in the NBA yet. And I and I say that loving watching Pel Larson play, talking with Pel Larson. I spoke with him a couple different times during Vegas. Like, I got nothing bad to say about this guy. I’m just saying like he didn’t dominate summer league, so I can’t give him an A or even an A minus to your point. But, all right, I’m going to doc I’m going to dock it. You convinced me because you’re right. I I’m just I tend to reward hustle over everything. But, right, ultimately production does count and the production is still a little questionable at times. So, you know what? I I’ll go B+. How about that? You’re like my uh AP psychology teacher in high school. I just I failed like all the tests and I still got an A in the class. Or maybe I got a B in the class because he just liked how hard I tried. I like tried really hard essays. I’ve said this before, that is a teacher’s favorite type of student. It’s not not a knock on you. It’s a student that’s not particularly bright. Not Yeah, not the brightest bulb in the the bunch, but you know what? God darn it, do they try? It’s like, you know, he wants it, man. He wants it. I’ve been Heat Culture forever. Um, who’s not Heat Culture. It does not look like Damen Lillard will ever play for the Miami Heat, at least if things go his way. We’ll talk about it next. Today’s episode is brought to you by Open Phone. If you’re running a business, well, you know that every mis call is a money is money left on the table. Think about the last time you had an urgent need. Maybe you were looking for a plumber or a service provider of some kind. Well, if that first person didn’t answer, did you just wait? No, you’re probably not. You moved on. And that’s why you need open phone. Open phone is a number one business phone system built to streamline and scale your customer communications all from an app on your phone or computer. Open phone lets you manage business calls and texts from a single app. The shared inbox feature is a gamecher. Your team can jump into any conversation instantly without missing a beat. And their AI agent handles after hours calls, answers common questions, and captures leads so you never miss a customer. Open Phone is offering my listeners 20% off your first six months at openphone.com/lockdonva. That’s opho ne.com/lockdonva. And if you have an existing number with another service, well, open phone will port those over at no extra charge. Open phone, no missed calls, no missed customers. We’ll be right back. [Music] So Damen Lillard is signing with the Portland Trailblazers. It’s going to be a three-year deal with a player option in that third year and a no trade clause that sets him up to retire with the Trailblazers. I know some Heat fans wanted Dame Lillard to come to Miami. David, my first thought was honestly good for Dame, right? The fir I I immediately thought about Dwayne Wade returning to Miami after leaving Miami over a dispute with the front office. wasn’t exactly the same, but you know, but Damian Lillard had talked before leaving Portland the first time. He wanted to retire a Trailblazer. Obviously, the the the the organization wanted to go in a different direction. Lillard goes to Milwaukee for a couple years and now he gets to go back to a place where he’s not going to play this season while he’s rehabbing, but he obviously has people that he trusts in Portland to rehab with, whether they work for the team or they’re just people in Portland that he knows. His family is still back in Portland. It’s part of his legacy also to go back and be with the Trailblazers. And I think him retiring as a member of the Trailblazers is clearly very important for him. Hence the no trade clause here. Fun fact, Damen Lillard now just the second player in the league to have a no trade clause. The other one obviously is LeBron James. Bradley Beal doesn’t have a no trade clause anymore because he bought out his contract. So, or the Suns bought it out rather. Um, so yeah, my honest my first thought was honestly good for Dame, but I understand if some Heat fans are disappointed here. I I guess it’s just I I’m having a hard time uh kind of wrapping my mind around it because I I don’t I guess I was a little bit more disconnected from all the different possibilities and I in my head I had supposed leaning towards a contender or at least a situation that was one he had wanted before, but he had a clear goal in mind. Uh and he had talked about it. he kind of flip-flopped a little bit over the tail end of his career because Portland went in such a completely opposite direction of what he had expected where, you know, he said at one point maybe a championship doesn’t necessarily matter so much. And then once Portland said, “Well, you know what? I’m glad you feel that way because we’re going to totally lean into a youth movement and go in a completely different direction where we might not even sniff the playoffs anytime soon despite how great an individual player you are.” And that’s when he kind of said, “Well, you know what? maybe it’s time for me to go pursue a title somewhere else. I don’t think he was a ring chaser necessarily. He wanted to leave a situation that didn’t accommodate what he was capable of as an individual player and what he wanted to contribute to, which is team winning, team success. And that was not the goal of the Portland Trailblazers at that time. And yes, he was looking to join a team like the Miami Heat. And unfortunately, it didn’t work out for him. He joined a team like the Milwaukee Bucks that was a better team on paper and at least had a superstar in Janis Doopo to play alongside it and it wasn’t a good situation for him. Not only the injury issues but also just they weren’t able to achieve the success that maybe a lot of people had assumed they might. So, uh now it’s just a chance for him to to go back and say, you know what, this is what I want. I’m I’m comfortable here. I know my plays. I’m going to still play at a pretty decent level uh that you know we expect him to at least given uh once he returns from injury and the rehab process and everything else like that, but it’s a team with lower expectations and I’m sure he’s fine with that. So, I I uh I guess I I kind of like it from a narrative perspective. I wonder if he looked around at some of his peers like Russell Westbrook and James Harden and said, “I don’t want that.” Yeah, I don’t want that. James Harden will go into the Hall of Fame as a Houston Rocket, but he’s played for a hundred different teams since then, right? Maybe as a maybe the Hall of Fame or maybe the Rockets. No, no, the Hall of Fame. Sure. Okay. Okay. I didn’t know that was a take it hard. I was like, “Wow, that’s a good one.” The Rockets. Yeah, I would. He’ll be okay. He’ll be remembered as a Houston Rocket. And then and Damen Lillard, he’s probably looking at that and he’s like, “I don’t do I want him to be jumping around team to team every year for the next Sure. two, three years of my career. I mean, he signed a three-year contract. I assume he thinks he’ll play for another three years. Um, yeah. I don’t know. I don’t know that he looks at it that way, right? Or or Russell Westbrook, who’s just every offseason, it feels like he’s playing for a different team and and like Lillard is still a better player. I would I think he will be a better player when he comes back from the Achilles injury than Russell Westbrook is now, just because the shooting holds up. But yeah, he probably just looked at Portland and said, “You know what? I tried I tried to do the championship thing.” And I don’t think that that’s an easy decision to make to say, you know what, championships probably aren’t part of my story. This is my story. You know, and I understand also like the the family is in Portland and everything like that and those are huge concerns. Dame Lord has been very open about how important his family is and all these things. Um, and he was clearly never totally comfortable or happy in Milwaukee. And so, you know, I think that experience might have changed him a little bit and changed some of his priorities a little bit, too. So, um, yeah, I I again, I think good for Dame. In terms of Miami, he was a guy that I think a lot of Heat fans were looking at as a potential guy that they could sign either now with the open roster spot that they have or potentially next summer if Lillard wanted to wait until then. That is clearly not going to happen. Now, if Dame Lillard has his has his way, he’ll never play for another team that’s not the Portland Trailblazers. So, obviously Lillard wasn’t at the top of Miami’s list, but he was an option. He’s probably on the list. Um, but now he’s off the list, and I think that means that the Heat are just going to have to look in a different direction next summer. Again, not not the number one priority, but it’s it’s just a factor now. Yeah. More of a a player you kind of want to add at this stage of his career. not not a the singular pursuit that we saw from the team a couple years ago, although maybe they lacked a little bit more aggression that you would have liked. At the same time, uh at this stage now, he’s not the focal point for whatever the next phase is or whatever you’re trying to rebuild or if you’re you’re looking to add a bigger name or a bigger star level player, however unlikely that might be. And so a player like Dame is just a kind of like, well, it it’s nice to have. So maybe a second or third tier on your wish list sort of thing. Maybe a a player who comes along with the other star if you’re able to get that star, right? Sure. Um but like he just got $14 million a year from Portland. So I don’t even know. Like I was a little surprised by that number to be honest. But it’s still again he he was playing at a high level last year. So it’s not like this guy is totally done. Um you just hope that he bounces back well from this Achilles injury. But um that’ll do it for us today. Thanks for making Lockdown Heat your first listen today. For your second listen, find the Locked on NBA podcast. So, there is no offseason I’m filling in for Matt along with Doug and Hayes to keep you up to date on contract negotiations, rumors, and everything you need to be the most informed NBA fan. Find Locked on NBA on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcast, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day.

The Miami Heat will not be signing Damian Lillard after Lillard agreed to return to the Portland Trail Blazers. Where does that leave the Heat with their final roster spot and their star pursuit?

Wes Goldberg and David Ramil discuss how Lillard’s decision impacts the Heat as well as Summer League topics. Kasparus Jakucionis’ up-and-down debut continues, and they grade Kel’el Ware and Pelle Larsson’s time in Las Vegas.

0:00 Intro
1:30 Jakucionis’ up-and-down performance
11:30 Grading Ware, Larsson in Summer League
22:54 Damian Lillard signs with Trail Blazers

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