Miami Heat Front Office Proclaimed Mid | Can’t Shake Stain Of This One Move

Miami Heat Front Office Proclaimed Mid | Can’t Shake Stain Of This One Move

Hey, welcome on in here guys. Tobin here with you and thanks for checking out the channel. If you guys could subscribe, that’d be great. Appreciate you stopping by. Also, check out the Tobin Leroy Show weekdays 10 a.m. to 2 pm. That’s on the 560W QAM page and you guys can check us out there live. You can interact on the chat. We get all kinds of silly uh that is in the description. The handle’s there. Click there. You find all my friends. Uh you know, most of our stuff’s on the live page or click on the live tab if you want to watch archives of shows or you can subscribe to the Tobin podcast. available for you on all podcast platforms. Um, it’s right there for you, baby. You got uh tons of content every single day coming at you. Got Miami Heat uh, you know, kind of in the midst of a malaise right now, but there’s a lot of reaction nationally, a lot of rankings and a lot of uh, critiques of the Miami Heat front office that are out there and um, it’s uh, it doesn’t feel great. So, the ESPN did a piece, right, and they ranked the worst mistakes by each team since 2020. And the Miami Heat, they did five tiers. Miami Heater are in tier two and have been by this individual, uh, what was this guy’s name? Zack, uh, Zack Cra. He has the Miami Heat as having the 12th worst mistake in NBA from the last five years. And he writes that their biggest mistake is training for Terry Roier, which is almost three moves in one. So, I can’t actually get mad at Zack here. I I feel like this is a fair critique. If I were to look over the last five years and look at the moves that the Miami Heat have made, the only other argument really is not extending Jimmy Butler and making him happy and that kind of nuking that happening or and I guess you can’t have a a nonmove as your worst move, not getting Damen Lillard. So, I would agree. I would say that that is arguably one of the worst moves in franchise history, let alone the last five years. But uh Zach writes, “Despite his reputation for major star hunting, Heat Major Domo, Pat, hey, in the words of Tyler Hero, Zack, that’s a big word for me, dog.” Heat major Domo Pat Riley isn’t a reckless trader. Rather, he typically pulls the trigger only on gamechanging moves. to it. Over the past 15 years, the only players the Heat have acquired while trading first round picks are LeBron James, Chris Bos, Gorand Dragage, Jimmy Butler, and Terry Roier. It’s a great point by Zach. It is it rire of desperation. It’s not that Terry Roier wasn’t a a a sound player. I’m just I the one thing I just keep going back to is like who were they bidding against for this guy that they had to throw that in? like how desperate and hard up against it were the Heat. You know, you did have Tyler Herro injured at that point. Um, you didn’t get Damen Lillard. You were kind of trying to get Jimmy some support, but man, what an overpay, you know, and LeBron, Chris Bos, hey, those were first round picks. not as chic to have first round picks back then, but you were getting the big three, you know, and and the whole point of it from from their standpoint was instead of getting him into cat space, they the Heat, they wanted to get extra years on the extension, which they did not end up getting to use anyway. So, you know, those were Jimmy Butler obviously worth the pick and Goron Dragage was two first round picks and obviously that move didn’t really get to bear fruit until Jimmy Butler got here where they almost traded Goron beforehand. Um, but all in all, Terry Roier obviously stands out. Uh, and as Zach writes, the first four of those players made all-star teams, helped lead Miami to the finals. Roier, conversely, averaged 12 and a half points on 40% shooting. didn’t appear in a single playoff game, fell out of Eric Boser’s rotation and became embroiled in a federaling ga a federal gambling investigation. Making matters worse in the big picture, Rosier is represented the Heat’s last big swing to give Butler another co-star before he asked out of Miami. Now they’re stuck with no obvious pass path back to relevance and they still owe a future first round to the Hornets as payment for Ojier. All of that is completely fair criticism. Um, but man, you talk about some of the moves that the Heat are these are these are some of the moves that the Heat are around. Uh, you have the Raptors right above them at 11 for trading first round picks for role players. Yaka Purle, Brandon Ingram, Thaddius Young, uh, Oi Abaji, and Kelly Oolen. Not for high first rounders though, to be fair. I honestly think the heat should probably be higher than that. Uh, the Sixers committing 399 million to Paul George and Joel Embiid. The Bulls trade in for Nola Vousvich in 2021. Man, they What was that? Was that for two first round picks, too? I feel like that was for two first round picks. Yeah. Grizzlies trading for Marcus Smart. two first round picks and Taius Jones. Understood, but I mean they were in still a better spot. Like I kind of get why they did it. Um I think it’s arguable that Terry Roier trades worse than that. I think it’s arguable. Then they get to the Dejonte Murray. The Dejonte Murray Atlanta Hawks one, though the Hawks seem like in a good place now. It actually has the Pelicans and the Hawks both trading for DeJonte Murray. That’s tough for Jonte Murray, uh, who’s obviously, you know, come back from injury right now. And then it said, and those were all those in tier two. And then you get into tier one, which is like Hallebertton getting traded for, uh, for Damont Sabonis, the Nets trading James Harden, the Bucks trading for Damen Lillard, the Sixers, and which honestly the Bucks trading for Damen Lillard is also almost kind of co- with the Heat. So according to this piece like are the Heat they’re in the ether of having two of the worst moves in the 2020s according to ESPN which also the Miami Heat you know right outside 20 and you know they made the trade for Jimmy Butler that wasn’t in 2020 you know with their only moves you know they gave an extension to they gave a big deal to Kyle Lowry which was a signing trade um PJ Tucker you know like nothing that was too earthshatter ing, you know, just kind of felt like everybody was waiting for them in the 2020s to do any of these things. Like they’re number two. Trading for Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal. That was the number two on the list. And then uh trading Luca Donis was number one. I mean, think that’s obvious for the Mavericks. I think that’s obvious as one of the worst moves. The things that were below them, they got like the Rockets drafting Jaylen Green over Evan Mobley. Um, Hornets signing Gordon Hayward four years 120 million Utah not trading Lari market in Yeah, like all in all it’s looked upon like the Heat’s looked upon as it’s one of the worst moves that’s maybe not even involving like an AllNBA guy that went arry. Um, it’s like a fringe top 10 worst move of the last 5 years and arguably the worst move and and it deserves all the criticism that it gets. And right now for the Heat, I’m not, you know, you you got to just kind of go about this controversy or no controversy. I think the Heat have signaled they’re not into trying to make that work with the nor with the the Norman Powell trade with the DaVon Mitchell resigning with the drafting of Casper Yakonis. But man, it it does feel like one like it’s going to until that payment is done to the Hornets, it’s going to want it’s going to it’s going to sting. It’s going to sting. And this comes on the heels of CBS uh ranking Miamiy’s front office 13th in the league. 13th behind the Clippers, behind the Timberwolves, behind the Grizzlies, behind the behind the Sixers. All right, dude. Who Who did this piece? Sam Utah Jazz. All right. What have the Sixers done? I think I I mean the Sixers and the Jazz like I know everybody’s got a a pants tent for my uh and and Danny A, but do tell what did this Utah Jazz do? Botch getting the number one pick and draft a guy who doesn’t want to be there. Bully for them. How do they have this? They you know whatever. Either way, I’m not sitting here saying the Heat deserve their flowers right now. They certainly don’t. And I actually think it’s it’s it’s crazy to think that like Miami has become mid AMY with just how everybody just thinks how mid they have been with all of their moves and they had the Heat ranked fourth. I guess the last time they did these front office rankings and now they have them uh 13th. Um said Miami’s top four rank in February was based on track record with the benefit of hindsight probably too high. Miami is among the smartest team for three decades, but the last few years have raised serious questions. Pat Riley mishandling Jimmy Butler, challenging him through the media rather than uh extending or trading him. Sure enough, that led to a mess of a season and an underwhelming trade return. I actually don’t think the Heat did too bad on the Jimmy Butler front. Like if you want to give the tentacles of the deal leading to the Norman Pal, I really don’t think the Heat did too bad for the Jimmy Butler trade, but it did nuke a season. And you know, the Heat the Heat twice, you know, believed too much in Jimmy Butler. They believed too much that Jimmy Butler could just flip the switch and become a superhero two years ago when they made the Terry Roier trade. And then this year they just believed that this would just he would just play out and be professional. I’m not saying Jimmy’s blameless in that. You should be a professional and he was not. But their faith that this would uh just kind of all be okay was was definitely misguided from from them. And so they do deserve that. Recent draft picks have been somewhat of a mixed bag. Kell Wear looks like a keeper. I think the Heat’s draft track record uh pretty strong. The Terra Rier trade has been an outright disaster. Totally fair. Uh they’ve been a playing team for three years. They were not a below average starting point guard away from winning anything. Then they lost a first round pick. It’s literally like one of those things. It’s like a it’s like a wart on your face, you know? It’s like having like a look, imagine like I had this nose but also had like a witch’s mole on it and then I have to make that like a you know like a Tinder profile. Then I’m not getting any swipes. Not that I would anyway with a nose at full front uh at at peak condition. But I’m just saying like it’s it just you know it’s like literally like the the Heat’s Tinder account right now just has they traded a first round pick for Terry Roier. So you know what’s concerning here is the overall vision feels outdated. The Heat appear far too comfortable being mediocre. Uh they would probably prefer the term patient in the late 2000s. They were comfortable punting away the last two seasons to create the cal space between 16 17 18 19 they went from two games above 500 and in a holding pattern until Jimmy Butler forced his way fell into their lap. Now they seem to be acting similarly that’s roughly a 500 team has limited long-term upside and they’re waiting for another t uh star to choose them. Hard to argue with uh Sam Quinn there. I think uh I will say I was talking about this with my uh my my buddy today about Pat Riley and he was you know he was talking about the idea like oh do you think this is like the lowest Pat Riley has been from a reputation standpoint? I said probably probably because I do think a lot of team a lot of people were fueled by team petty uh after LeBron left and you mind you they were pretty recently off championship so there’s a lot of shine there and belief that the Goron stuff that was talked about in the ESPN piece was going to pay off. You still believed in Pat Riley being able to build it and try and beat LeBron James to getting to a championship. Still as it may seem right now that is how a lot of people felt. You had some unfortunate things break their way like the Chris Bosch blood clots. Um, I think his moves in that time are arguably worse than they are now. Terry Roier aside because I do think a lot of it was fueled especially when you got to the 2016 cast base of maxing out Whiteside 50 million to Tyler Johnson and then you talk about bringing in that that 500 team that had looked like it was going to tanking then finished 500 just missed the playoffs and then they invested in all those guys and you kind of just I I just don’t think the organization was ever at a point where they believed their own hype ever more so than that and all of those contracts. really just ended up looking terrible. Um, somehow they were able to work their way out of it, get Jimmy Butler for and and get Hassan out the door. James Johnson, who was suspended before the season and Dion Waiters, like they they basically had to be forced in games injured to go play them, but then eventually they were both flipped to Memphis and and the Heat got pieces for that bubble run. But um I felt like Pat Riley was acting more irrationally back then than he is now. I think the question now is like when you talk about direction of the team. They’re very clearly hopeful that either Bamer Tyler takes a step up and there is a hope that Khal or Nicool Yoic, one of those guys ticks up. Maybe Haime Hawkins is a big bounceback. Um, and then the hope is that you have those young guys with your younger allstars have a better supporting cast of a comfortable Andrew Wiggins and Anor Pal in an East, you know, can it get out of the playin on all I I think it can. But the question is, is that really like is the is the peak of that winning a round of the playoffs? Probably. Probably. unless you got like the best two draws and that’s just not the standard of the organization. So then what where does it go from here? Those are the things that you really have to know. Um uh it says stars don’t work that way anymore. They don’t move through free agency. The Heat haven’t traded for a star who was under contract since 2004 when they latted Shaquille O’Neal. The market has never mattered less than it does right now. De’Arren Fox Bam’s teammate just forced his way to San Antonio because he knew Victor Mian was his best chance to be for a championship. Now you either have to draft your stars or stack up enough assets to trade for them. He’s not uh helping themselves by hanging around 500 except in except instead of accepting defeat in this era and tanking they’re not helping themselves by wasting assets on a player like Roier. Yeah, I mean there’s not much to argue there. Um they don’t believe in tanking. they they won’t believe in tanking unless it’s like literally smacking them in the face or there’s a catastrophic injury to one of their top two dudes. I just don’t think they’re ever going to go in that direction. Um it it tanking hasn’t seemed like it’s paid off uh for the big prize recently. It has paid off on some pieces for guys just to miss the playoffs and get into lottery. I do think I understand why the Heat didn’t want to go for two first round picks and then leave themselves unprotected this year because if the Heat didn’t have their first round pick this year, then you really do have to kind of float in this mid-range. Maybe something crazy would happen and they would have gotten Cooper flag. I doubt it because it feels very much like that was rigged. But let’s just say it wasn’t. It still was a 1.8% chance. And those just aren’t fantastic odds. So, it’s it’s it’s tough. I I get why the the the the doubt is there. It says, “The days of Pat Riley dropping his rings on the table and landing whoever he wants appear to be over. The league is changing and it’s clear it’s not clear, excuse me, it’s not clear that the Heat are changing with it.” Um, so yeah, that’s where not a lot of faith that’s going on right there. And look, man, the Heat uh they are deserving of a lot of this criticism. They did make a good trade for Norman Powell, so big time props. But you do have people who are skeptical. You look at the Mike Millers of the world or or Shaquille O’Neal who are like, “Yeah, it’s it’s a nice move, but it’s not a it’s not a Pat Riley harpoon.” You know, it’s it’s a nice catch. You know, you happen to be out there chumming and you caught yourself a mahi mahi, but you haven’t sharpened the harpoons and landed the whale in a long time. You haven’t even tried to target. It’s like you haven’t even tried to target. It’s kind of like should I throw the harpoon? What if it capsizes our boat? That’s kind of how the Heat have gone about this. Um the thing is I do like I do like a lot of the young pieces. I really do. I think it’s good that they have a better foundational support around it. And then the other thing is like there’s just there weren’t a ton of levers to pull. Giannis hasn’t asked out yet. Um certainly want to see what ends up happening with Luca, though I imagine he’s going to sign somewhat of an extension with the Lakers to give him some breathing room. So I don’t think that’s going to flame out just yet. Um, I guess we could still throw the LeBron stuff to be a thing until it’s not a thing in the middle of the season. Could the Jaw thing resurface? Was that what Mike Miller was talking about? This is agent. Uh, does New Orleans finally tap out on Zion? These are all things that you do have to wonder. and the Heat do have, you know, contracts to make a move. And then it does feel like everybody knows that people are trying to now hold on to their picks with with uh with all of their life. So maybe they’ll be in a better position of of not having to give up the farm because that’s usually how the Heat like it. They usually like to get their guy and they like to usually get them at their price. Um, even going back to Jimmy, you know, back in the original negotiation of Jimmy Butler with the Timberwolves, remember how that all went where like very heated negotiations, maybe expletives flying back and forth between Riley and Tibido? Some of those rumors have been shot down, you know, but eventually he got their guy at their price. Um, but Jimmy’s the only one who’s really when they got the bargain price, it’s really exceeded expect. I’m not counting the big like since post big three it exceeded expect even Goran went through his own trials and tribulations of like playing through a knee injury uh Pat Riley calling him out he’s talked about this and it wasn’t as immediately bang he got here and things took off and in fact Goran really didn’t get that opportunity until he got to that season with Jimmy Butler which again was a year where he was six-man most of the regular season and then once the the the the bubble got there. He was amazing till his foot blew up. So maybe things break better for the Heat this year. It would hard to it’d be hard to imagine things breaking worse for them, but there do need to be fixes. I do like that Spo talked about, you know, fixing the late game issues and the off. It’s just going to talk about does this mastermind who is regarded as one of the best coaches in the league, does he have those answers? But right now, man, everybody’s just kind of just looking at him being like, I guess we won’t count you out because you are the Heat. But like, you know, the the the the the cache is uh has has worn off for a lot of people with them. So, they got to get to start proving people wrong.

Tobin reacts to ESPN piece that says Miami Heat’s trade for Terry Rozier is the 12 worst move in the NBA since 2020. CBS ranks Miami the 13th best front office in the sport. How does Miami get out of being treated like a mid team and back to one of the league’s best?
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