Miami Heat’s Top 100 NBA Players List SHOCKS Fans | Will WIGGINS Make the CUT?

Miami Heat’s Top 100 NBA Players List SHOCKS Fans | Will WIGGINS Make the CUT?

Who are the top 100 players in the NBA and who on the Heat roster might make the cut? We’ll answer that 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 favorite podcast app, thank you so much for making Lockdown Heat your first listen every day. I’m Wes Goldberg here with David Ramil. Both of us are credentialed Heat Media members who cover this team every day for daily content on the Heat. Join more than 17,000 Heat fans and click subscribe on YouTube. Today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Right now, new customers get $150 in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins on FanDuel. Have a great show for you today. We are discussing a big project that we are doing with the network. The lockdown podcast network is putting together its top 100 players in the NBA. So we as hosts are tasked with selecting the players on the teams that we cover who should be considered for that top 100 list. So every team host uh has to select at least four players to put into consideration for the rest of the network to vote on. David. So, I thought that we could just talk it out here, come up with the top four players on the Heat. Uh, then we’ll discuss who should actually be in the top 100 across the NBA and which players we did not include that could have a chance to crack the top 100 at some point this season. But, let’s just start with which four players we are going to nominate. We could start there. To me, I think it’s easy off the bat. I think it’s Bamab on Tyler Hero, obviously. Yep. I would put Norm Pal in the top four. So would I. And I think I have Andrew Wiggins at four, but I’m open to discuss it. But would you agree or disagree with me uh with that as a starting point? The top three certainly make the cut. I think Pal proved last year that he could be a consistent scoreer on a team with playoff aspirations. And so given that and the opportunity that he’ll get in Miami, the fact that I think he’s going to be a featured scoring option in Eric Spolster’s offense, I don’t see any reason why he wouldn’t continue to develop and grow even at this stage in his career and thrive in Miami’s system, if you want to call it that. And so I think Pal is still going to be a top 100 player next year. I mean, he I think he’s just good enough as a playmaker, good enough as a scorer where you have those facets of his game, and those are obvious strengths that let him, I think, be one of the top 100 players in the in the league. I think it’s a great call. I’d have him as the easy third best player in Miami. There are going to be nights where he looks like the best player on the Heat. Yes, clearly. And um I think last year I was trying to think of where Pal would be if not the top 100. Is he top 80? Is he top 70? Is he top 60? Is he a top 50 player? I mean this was a guy who was a borderline all-star in the Western Conference. Was a big part of a very good Clippers team last year, right? I know that they lost in in the first round, but that was a very good regular season team and Norpal was a really big part of that. I think I’d have him somewhere in the top 60ish. I think that’s where I kind of landed. Um, looking at kind of some of the other players at his position, I I think that’s fair. I could even see him drop to anywhere between 60 to 75. I think that’s a good window there for where he fits into the hierarchy of top 100 players because there’s always players will drop or people that you know are top 50-ish players that might have struggled last year, but they’re going to continue. they’re going to bounce back and that’s the expectation just because to me what what makes you more of a top 100 player more than anything else is just kind of consistent production for a sustained period of time. I think Tyler’s certainly in that conversation now. A couple years ago he wasn’t. Bam certainly still despite a drop offensively, everything else that he contributes clearly still a top 30 player in the NBA. And I think Powell, while maybe he hasn’t been able to do it for as long a period of time, I think certainly that he’s shown enough chops last year and I think he’ll continue to build on that. So, I would say 60 to 75 is where it happened. And I think Bam has the potential to be I mean, you and I are going to have to vote him pretty high because I do think that there’s a little bit of a stink around Bam Adabio across the league just because of where his offensive numbers were. But, and he didn’t have the defense, you know, he wasn’t he didn’t get the defensive accolades that he usually gets, although I think that he was very good defensively. It was not his best defensive season, but I think he was still elite defensively last year. Absolutely. Um, and the onoff numbers are very favorable to him in that regard as well. The the offense just needs to come around and if Bam can have a really good first couple of months offensively, I think a lot of people are going to be like, “Oh, you know what? This guy is sort of flirting with an allNBA team.” That’s kind of the guy that he’s supposed to be. He is up there with like the Pascal Seakums and those kinds of players, which I think is where Bam ought to be considered. And after last season, I don’t think he is considered like that. I think a lot of people might have him in the I don’t know how many people would have him in their top 40 and you’re talking about him as a top 30 guy and I would agree with you. I just think he had a down season and one of the things that I want to see a lot more from Bam going into this next year if we want to see more efficiency. I think there’s way too much being made about his three-point shot. I like that he’s flirting with it. I think it’s fine. I hate that he was basically a mid-range and three-point shooter last year. That is not the strength of his game. He needs to get to the rim more. And if he could do that, then we’re talking about a Bam who is a lot more efficient, uh, who can be a lot more impactful, and you compare that with some of the playmaking stuff that we know he’s capable of doing and probably playing more of the power forward spot anyway next year as long as KL We remains as part of that starting lineup, then I think he should get back into that sort of top 30-ish mix. It’s one of those interesting dichotoies when it comes to individual awards because so much of the perception is based also on team success and that kind of is unfair. So you have the flip side of that also where you could put up these kind of looter and a and a riot kind of numbers like a lamelo ball perhaps and it’s like well he doesn’t contribute to actual winning but boy does he put up a lot of points and so that that’s kind of a a a negative in its own way but I think that stands out more clearly to voters or people that have opinions or rep about the league and so I I think that’s where BAM there just seems to be a general malaise about the Heat in general, you know, they they just they were overachievers for so many years. They were always that tough out. They were the zombie heat. They were the team that’s always you could never count out. They weren’t pretty to watch, but you knew they were always going to be in there till the last second. They were always going to compete, etc. And they had that run. Jimmy Butler was the head of that particular iteration of that team. But now with Jimmy gone, also I think that’s also the perception about the Heat is, well, Jimmy didn’t want to be there. Maybe the front office didn’t operate the way they should. Who knows what’s going on with Miami. Miami doesn’t seem like a particularly good team. And Bam, for all I think that 29 other fan bases would love to have a guy like that on their team, he just doesn’t produce enough to make you go, hm, is he’s clearly a top 30 player in the league, maybe even a top 20 player in the league. We we talked about him being a top 20 player in the league not that long ago. And then unfortunately, he just wound up having that drop off. And the expectation was that with more offensive opportunity because we knew that the offense was going to undergo a shift that he might even vault into a top 10 kind of discussion based on what he can do as a playmaker and defender. Maybe that’s unrealistic. Maybe he’ll just never reach that point. But I still think as long as he’s able to be more consistent or at least put up the numbers that he’s we’re so accustomed to seeing from him offensively, I think he should still be within that top 20 range. I have Wiggins as the fourth best player. H hard to argue that, right? Like who would be who would be in that mix? I know who I mean the other player is Kyle Wear, but we just haven’t seen enough from him. I think the potential is there for him to be the fourth player this year. But right now, if I mean, we have to nominate four. I mean, we can nominate more, but I think our top four will be I mean, Wiggins has to be that guy right now, right? He does. He’s a two-way player. I mean, he’s a guy who can put up solid numbers. It was not the kind of production Heat fans were hoping for, especially when you’re trying to fill a rather sizable void left by Jimmy Butler’s absence, but that was unfair of Wiggins. He was also dealing with injury and kind of that was the main thing that was the injuries with him. He was just in and out of the lineup and you know he had the 140 plus point game everywhere but there was a lot of pedestrian games in there too with Andrew Wiggins but that’s the Wiggins experience and I think he fans are going to learn that right but I don’t really know that that was all that different than the Jimmy Butler experience during the regular season. Um so you know whatever but um anybody else because we have to nominate four. Do we think that right now voting on a top 100 players in the NBA, do we think anybody else on the Heat should even be considered? Right? And when I think considered, do they have an argument to be within the first the the top 120ish? You know what I mean? Where it’s like, okay, like maybe there’s a lot of people on the network who really like this guy and somebody else on the Heat can kind of sneak into that top 100. I do not know. Um, where is the the the closest? I think he could make a Yeah, I really I I think based on what we saw from him as a rookie and maybe understanding that last year’s drop off was an aberration, you could maybe really twist yourself into a pretzel-like argument for Haim Hakis, but that seems like such a stretch, too. He would need more of a he would need a bounce back year in a major way, but I think he was a guy who people had in potentially in their top 100. Like he was in this conversation coming off of his rookie year to your point. So, um I think we agree on our top four, I think we agree on our top five based on our conversation. But of the top players on the Heat, who are actually worth being in the top 100? Who do we think is going to crack the network’s top 100 player rankings? We’ll talk about that next here on Locked on Heat. Today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Summer sports are in full swing. And whether you’re all about baseball under the lights, golf on the green, or high stakes soccer, action, FanDuel is the best way to make every game even more exciting. You’re already following the action. Why not make it a little bit more thrilling? With FanDuel, you can get in on the game while your friends are getting sunburned at the beach. Look, FanDuel is easy to use. It’s fast to pay out and it makes even regular season games feel like mustwatch events. Whether you’re placing a same game parlay or watching a bet right into the ninth inning, FanDuel makes it feel like you’re part of the action. And if you’re new to FanDuel, well, this is the best time to join because new customers can bet just $5 and you get $150 in bonus bets if your first bet wins. Open the FanDuel app today or visit fanuel.com to get started. We’ll be right back. [Music] Thanks for making Lockdown Heat your first listen every day. All right, so we decided what players we’re going to nominate. We’re going to nominate Bam Out of Bio, Tyler Hero, um Norm Powell, and Andrew Wiggins. So, we have a little form that we have to fill out. Those are the four names we’re putting on the form. I would be down to include Kell Wear as a fifth name just to see. We’re allowed to include more. Let’s put them on there. How do we feel about that? I think putting him on there is fine, but I do so with the realization that there’s no chance that he belongs on the top 100 list. The perception of wear seems to be pretty high like across I just just talking with people across our network like whether it’s you know text messages or on NBA game night that you and I host or just in our group chats and or in Vegas even I just like people like hello. It would not shock me if he cracked the top 100 at like somewhere in the ‘9s, right? I don’t think he would be very high up. But we’ll let’s put a pin in the Kalware conversation because let’s actually we know who we’re nominating. We’re going to nominate those five then. Um so we got to fill out the form. We’ll put those five names on the form. Who do we think will is realistically worthy of being a top 100 player? I think and we’ve already sort of discussed this, but I think Bam, Tyler Herro, and Norm Pal. I it would be if if all three of them if either of them did not make the top 100, that would qualify to me as a snub. I think they are no-brainer top 100 players. And I I don’t think that they’re I don’t think any of them are lower than 65. Yeah. I mean, I would go perhaps a little lower. Pow maybe might drop to the 70s. That’s fine. Like I I know that he had a bounceback or not a bounceback, he had the best year of his career. Yeah. But I also think of the totality of his career and I don’t know that the perception of him is that he’s he’s a good enough player to be a top option. Like he he put up big numbers, but I don’t think anybody as much as he was appreciated for what he was able to do last year, I don’t know that everybody still sees him as a top six. I mean, there there are so few players, 30 teams. Is he better than the top second option on every team around the NBA? Because that’s what you’re looking at basically. So, if you look at top two, the top duos on all 30 teams, which team has a top duo that’s worse than Norm Powell? I can’t think of any. Um, the Wizards. That’s an interesting way to frame it. I mean I How much lower would you have him than Tyler Hero? Hero’s better. Hero’s better. And I think you he carried the team like he he was the number one group. But how much lower than hero would you have pal? Like 15 spots. Yeah. So I was thinking 10. So we’re splitting hairs here. So maybe um I think he’s sort of in that I think he’s maybe a hair below the Tyler Herro Austin Reeves area. Right. I I think Hero is much better than Reeves. I mean, it’s me, but I feel like he’s a little overrated at this point. I think Reeves is pretty good, but yeah, I would I think Hero is better than Reeves, but I’m just trying to think of the the kind of tier that Hero Reeves, it’s like Hero Reeves, Desmond Bane, they kind of feel like they Okay, they’re like in the same tierish of guard. And I think I would have pal just like a tier below that somewhere. Yeah, maybe supporting fringe all-star kind of thing. Uh, like over Kobe White, maybe in the same kind of tier as Kobe White. No, I think he’s better than Kobe White. Me, too. So, he kind of like Lavine maybe like a he’s maybe in that same sort of Lavine. It’s so hard to separate Lavine from the reputation and the past of what he’s a been able to accomplish. like Lavine was a well he has accomplished anything. I don’t think that’s hard to separate. I think that’s part of well in terms of his numbers his all-star selections I mean again the view on Lavine is is fairly high. Um and the biggest knock I think where he I don’t care about the view of him like where is he actually? I think Lavine is probably but that that’s all part of it though. We’re talking about who makes the cut and where Pal would fit in there. And I think people are looking at Lavine and he’s like, “No, clearly he’s still a better player than I think for a bunch of NBA nerds that make up this network. I think they’d put Powell over Lavine. We’ll see. We’ll find out.” Who do you think is the most So I We’ve talked about the top three. Wiggins that to me is a fringe guy. Yeah. Talk about the the way he’s viewed across the league. There are some people who still love Andrew Wiggins and see the production that he has every year. here. I mean, you think this guy think like whatever you say about Wiggins, he still averages 18 points per game on pretty decent efficiency basically his entire career. You know, he contributes with rebounds, about fiveish rebounds per game, two or three assists per game. He’s always getting steals. He’s been part of winning teams. Yeah. you know, I I it just and then some people just think that he’s got no killer instinct and they don’t even want to think about him, you know, and so like the the the opinion on Andrew Wiggins varies quite a bit. I think he’s a fringe guy. I I really don’t have a good feel for how the network is going to vote Wiggins. Yeah, I would even go so far as to say there might be some even even members of the network who might be like, “Oh, I forgot that Wiggins was in Miami.” Because it just seems like almost like like very much an afterthought. Um, and and that’s the whole thing here. It’s like despite the high draft selection, he settled very comfortably into at best a third option on your team and more likely somewhere around four or five. And hopefully fits in Miami, too. So, can a very good third or four fourth option be a top 100 player? Right? Because like, so I guess to use your math from earlier, right? You have 30 teams in the NBA. Let’s assume that number one option on all 30 teams make up the top 30 players, which is obviously not how that works, but yeah. Um, and then you got the top 60 players are include all of your number two options and the top 90 players include your all your top number three options. Well, then the very best of like the number three options should be in the top three in the top 90 and then the very best of the fourth options would make up the the rest of the top 100. I know that is an absolutely stupid way to look at this, but I do think I think Wiggins has a case to be considered one of the top 100 players in the league. Well, are are there three better players like if you use that same math, are there three better players on the Washington Wizards than Andrew Wiggins? Oh jeez. No. Yeah. I can you say the same about the Hornets? Like who are the top three players in the Charlotte? I think you could put LaMelo and Brandon Miller. You could make the case that they’re over Wiggins and that’s about it, right? But both of them need to stay healthy. Yeah. So, so you’re looking at the math numbers getting a little bit skewed here and there. I mean, other teams might have a better fourth option. Some teams don’t have a better third option. Yeah, that was a really that was a stupid way to look at it. That’s fine. You could just you could say it. Um, but for Wiggins, he’s look, he’s an 18 point per game scorer who can do a lot of different things and he’s good defensively. As long as is as long as he is healthy and out there, I don’t need the best version of it. The best version of Andrew Wiggins is a top 50 player. We just never see that guy for a month straight unless it’s the 2022 playoffs. We saw it for a week straight here in Miami. That was right. Pretty impressive. It was um I’m gonna go at I think Wiggins is a top 100 player. My opinion. Where are you? And I will I will say I I do not think so. I think it’s just going to be too much of a a tough call and then it’s going to be homerisism here and there. Like I mean look No, no. I’m like would you are you going to put him in your top 100 though? I’ll include him on the list. Um, but I think again that’s almost a little homerish of me to do. So I I it would have to I would have to shake it out based on how I see other players. I mean I’m just thinking of like the Cleveland Cavaliers, you know. Mhm. They’ve got four players that are clearly better than Andrew Wiggins. I think you know Jared Allen maybe being the the least of the top four players on that team. And he’s probably Yeah. Struce I would not have as a top 100 player. Neither would I. Yeah. But but he almost feels like in the similar tier as Andrew Wiggins, right? It’s because the Cavs won so many games, you know, that’s it’s so hard to parse all that kind of stuff. But I think you and I agree. Wiggins most fringe, KL Wear most fringe. That to me is going to be the most interesting battleground there because I feel like the consensus around Wiggins and Wear are very different where some people like your like to your point almost forget Wiggins exists, let alone he’s on the Miami Heat. where I do think the network is very pro Kalware and we’re pro Kalawware but like I absolutely I think trying to just be objective here Wiggins is still a better player than KL Wear but it would not surprise me if the network ranked where over Wiggins and maybe that could be a projection forward but let’s do that let’s do that part of the conversation now we’re going to zoom forward we’re going to look at which players we think could take a leap this upcoming season and might be part of the conversation next year might be considered a top 100 player by the end of this upcoming season. We’ll do that next year on Locked on Heat. All right, let’s go through some of Miami’s other players. Ask which or or what it would take for them to crack the top 100 this season. So, on the fringe, we already talked about Kell. I also have Hime Hakees Jr., Nicola Yoic. I’ve got DaVon Mitchell. Yeah. Um, and then you know there’s one other player that I want to talk about, but before I get to him, we talked about where. What would it take for wear? Let’s get to specifics here. What would it take for Kow Wear to be a top 100 player this upcoming season? And for me, I think it’s really simple with him. I think he’s going to have to start. Yes. I think he’s going to have to average 12 and 10 and have good onoff numbers and and specifically the on-off numbers defensively, right? Like if if if it just shows if the on-off splits just show that he’s like a negative defensively or a minus or a minus when he’s not playing with Bam, that stuff tends to seep into the convers and for good reason, right? Like he needs to be a positive possession to possession positive impact defender. And then the 12 and 10 doesn’t sound like a lot, but for where the rebounding number part of it, that’s gonna there’s going to be nights where he has 15 rebounds. There’s nights where he has three rebounds, and he’s going to have to eliminate those three rebound nights in order to average 12 and 10. So, I don’t think it sounds like these huge numbers. That ain’t easy to do. But to me, if he’s a a 12-10 guy with decent onoff splits, one block per game, 1.5 blocks per game, whatever it is, that to me, he’s he’s flirting with top 100. I think it would be have to be closer to two blocks per game. Maybe 1.7 1.8. Again, maybe that’s a small difference there, but that’s over the aggregate of the season where you’d have to have a couple games of like three or four blocks per game to offset the only one block or maybe no blocks per game or, you know, games that he’s hurt, etc. So, I I just I think the expectation is one that he’s going to be a defensive impact player. And while th those moments have certainly been obvious, I think that’s how he’ll be able to cement his reputation around the league as as a legit shot blocker, a presence in the interior. And I don’t think he’s viewed quite in that regard yet because we just haven’t seen enough from him and it hasn’t been consistent. Yeah. Yeah. Um but I think you’re right. Uh the rebounding certainly needs to improve and I would say the offense also needs to improve pretty considerably and I knowing what’s game is like and how he kind of tends to settle for a jump shot on occasion. I would say even he has to be able to hit those at close to 35% you know maybe even a little smidge over that. Yes. Yeah. I think that’s fair. Um whatever it takes. Right. So just for reference, he averaged 9.3 points per game last year and 7.4 rebounds and 1.1 blocks. So we’re asking essentially and 31% from three and 1.7 attempts. So we’re at we’re asking for across the board above improvements. Now the three-point shooting to me, that part of it that could get him into like the top 50 or 60. Right now, you’re starting to get into that Brook Lopez at his peak, Miles Turner type of, oh wow, this guy’s a real threat from deep. Just to get into the top 100. I don’t know that he needs the three-point shooting part of it, but to start climbing up the rankings, to your point, that’s where that three-point shooting starts to separate him from the the Jaylen Durans and the Jared Allens and the, you know, just sort of the run and jump shot blocking seven foot types. That’s where that starts to separate him. But just to crack the top 100, that ro you could be one of the better guys at doing that stuff. I think that cracks the top 100 and then you start layering on all the other stuff on top of that. But um I think the other guy was Haime and we talked about him a little bit earlier, but um what will it take for Haime to almost reemerge as a top 100 guy? And for him I get Oh, go ahead. No, I was going to say is is Haime clearly the better option over DaVon Mitchell? Like Oh, I’m not ranking him. I’m just sort of going through him. Okay. Okay. But that’s interesting. I think DaVon probably right now is considered a better player than Haime. Is that even arguable based on the way that last season went? DaVon was clearly the better player. Yeah, I may stunk at the end of the year. Yeah, just calling it as I see it. I’m not trying to be mean, but he he did, you know. Yeah, he was a little rough. Um, you’re nice. I think I can’t based on what we saw from him as a rookie, I think maybe the view of him is is that he’s still a better player than DaVon Mitchell. I mean, DaVon, I guess the perception is still defensive pest. And when you look at that in terms of he’s not a top defender in the league. He’s not viewed as an allNBA defense kind of player. And I don’t think anybody really is counting on his offense to be that consistent. And so yeah, to me the big question with DaVon is or I think the question the league is having is is he really going to shoot 43% from three, right? And I I think most people assume no, but how close does he get to that, right? because he had been a sub 35% shooter for a lot of his career and in college too. But, you know, he was shooting it well in Toronto towards the end of his stint there and he was shooting it obviously very well in Miami. Uh, if you want to do the DaVon part of it, I I think to me the Dave like what does the best what does the version of DaVon that is a top 100 player look like? So, I think of a guy like Lou Dort. I would have him probably in my top 100 somewhere, but that I vote I would have voted him for defensive player of the year. I thought he was the best defender in the league last year. Do we think DaVon can hit that kind of high? Probably not. Just assuming that most players aren’t the best player in the best defensive player in the league. So, could he be is he like a Josh Hart? Their games are a little like they both just hustle and play really hard. And you could crack the top 100 by just being like one of the hardest playing guys in the league for 82 straight games. So, if you’re healthy, available, playing a ton of minutes, and playing hard a lot, Mitchell can crack the top 100 just doing that. I’m not sure that that’s where he’s going to end up, like he might be a bench guy. Mhm. So, I don’t know. Or is he could he could he kind of turn into a Fred Van Vleet type where that three-point shooting is a little bit more reliable, right? Maybe he kind of settles in as like a 38 to 40% three-point shooter. We’ve seen him develop as a playmaker. You and I talked a lot about that towards the end of last year. defends his position at a high level and is just works hard, super mature, locker room leader type, positive impact every time he’s out there on the floor. Some of it’s intangible. Maybe he could settle into a Fred Van Vleet guy who’s obviously a top 100 type guy. Higher than that. Is Josh Hart a top 100 guy? You made the comparison. And I wonder fringe. I’d put him like fringe. Yeah. I’m not It would be like Glinton Harris towards the end there, I think. and and that’s with, you know, being a part of a New York Knicks team that gets a lot of national television exposure that has won a lot of games. Yeah. Won a lot of games, uh, was viewed as a fringeish contender. Uh, and Hart was certainly a big contributor to that. Um, so you think Mitchell can be a top 100 guy? Like what would it take for Mitchell then? Does he go the Hart path? Does he go the Fred Van Vleet path? Can he go the Lou Dort path? A combination? I don’t think it’ll happen. I don’t think it can. I don’t think it can. Like I I mean, if I had to guess, it would be a leap of which we’ve never really seen. Like he’ll have to put up some really big numbers. Not just close to that 40% shooting. Not over. I mean, because that’s unrealistic to expect, but let’s say he’s a a 38 to 39% three-point shooter on a high volume of attempts, emerges as a starter somehow or becomes a six-man candidate and puts up like really big offensive numbers to go with that same kind of defensive tenacity, then sure. if he’s in the if he’s in the mix for an alldefensive team coming off the bench even shoots to your point 38 39% from three and if he can average like one and a half steals per game which you know he had a career-high 1.4 four with Miami last year. His per 36 numbers were much better than his per game stats because his playing time has been so up and down throughout his career. I think he could start to flirt with top 100, but I I think it would be very hard. But that would be if if he’s Go ahead. Is Shumani Kamra a top 100 player? Yeah, that’s what I’m talking about. Like he’s flirting with it, right? Like it it it almost becomes like the eye of the beholder type when you get to that level. Like are you think are you are you awarding more of like the Jordan Pools of the world and the Anthony Simons of the world who are just putting up big offensive numbers but complete minuses defensively or are you awarding the Kamaras and the Mitchells and the kinds of guys like that who might make a little bit more of an impact on the defense or certainly do. Um the other guy was Haime that we talked about. I to me it’s very simple straight forward with him like he just has to be good again. Just if he can sort of emerge as a six-man type who anchors that or helps anchor that second unit, scores between 12 and 15 points per game, you know, the the two or three assists, four or five rebounds, like that’s basically what he was as a rookie. If he does that again, then I think he’s he’s back in this mix. Um and then the other one was Nikico Yoic. Um, and to me, for him to crack the top 100, he needs to a be healthy. Mhm. And play 65 games. I think he has to shoot a high percentage on a high volume from three. Mhm. And he has to probably average again like 12 to 15 points per game. And I think he needs another thing. And that other thing would be the assists. And that would be like, oh wow, this is a point forward type. And if he can average three or four assists per game, and this is a very big ask, by the way, but if if he’s like in if he’s doing that 12 to 15 points, three or four assists, good percentages from three on a decent volume, and just knocking them down from the corners and playing, you know, being a part of Miami’s more interesting lineups, then I think he could flirt with top 100. If he gets some kind of respect as a sixman of the year candidate, would that be enough to kind of say, you know what, I mean, maybe they’re tied together. like he’d have to have that kind of production in order to be viewed as a six-man candidate, but um yeah, it’s so tricky. Bench players have their work cut out for him and I don’t know that it’s very likely that they’ll be able to find a way to pop out unless they get a a smattering of starts kind of thrown in there today. I mean, if you’re getting regular minutes, I don’t really care if you’re starting or coming off the bench, right? Like, but you got to be to Nico’s like we talked about this last week, like you can’t be in and out of the rotation. You better be one of the top seven guys every single night. For sure. That’s how you get top 100. For sure. Um I feel like we have to mention him. Tara Rosier. Nope. Like it’s still like the drop off is still insane to me. This guy was legitimately a top 100 guy two years ago before getting traded to Miami. So I don’t know. Like could he just magically return to what he was in Charlotte? Maybe. You already said no. I agree with you. But it just feels weird to not mention this guy considering where he was three years ago. Yeah, a historic bounceback year would have to be in the works here. And and again, for him to have those kind of numbers where he forces Spo’s hands and and puts him out on the floor much more often and to be able to do it consistently, that’s the only way I could see him ever even coming close again. But it just feels like somehow it’s only been a year and a half since his acquisition and it seems like he’s already past his prime. And do you have him in your rotation? Like when you like write down the heat rotation, do you consider I don’t I don’t either. No. We went through this exercise last week. I think we listed 10 players and we were debating Haywood Heismith and Khad Johnson and at no point in time did Terry Rosier seem like a viable option over either of those guys. It felt like uh it it it almost feels like they recasted the Tay Rosier role with Norm Powell and now there’s just no space for Rosier in the cast. Like I don’t know. I think he can emerge as maybe a six-man type or something. Again, he’s going to have to come out guns blazing in training camp. Like it will have to be the training camp of all training camps. And that’s that’s possible. I’m not saying it’s impossible, right? It’s still crazy to me what happened to him. The drop off is so insane. But I don’t know. I just We could We could talk more about Terry Rosier. I don’t know that we necessarily have to. No, I know. But just the idea of Terry hijacking training camp so he could just go on one if he gets bought out. I don’t know. Oh yeah, that might be the final straw. Like what are you doing? Like we can’t sell this. We can’t handle this. Thanks for making Locked on Heat your first listen today. For your second listen, find the Locked on NBA podcast. Where there is no offseason, Doug, Matt and Hayes keep you up to date on contract negotiations, rumors, and everything you need to be the most informed NBA fan. Find Lock on NBA on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day.

How many Miami Heat players crack the NBA’s top 100? Wes Goldberg and David Ramil discuss the top players on the Heat roster, how many should be considered among the Locked On Podcast Network’s top 100 and which Heat players could land on the list with a big season.

They dissect the Heat’s roster, analyzing the cases for Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro, and surprise contender Norm Powell. The hosts explore Adebayo’s defensive dominance, Herro’s offensive growth, and Powell’s impressive season with the Clippers. They also examine what it would take for young talents like Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Nikola Jovic to crack the top 100.

0:00 Intro
1:30 Ranking Heat’s top five players
11:39 Heat players in NBA top 100
21:30 Who can crack top 100 next season?

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