Miami Heat’s BRUTAL Opening Schedule | Can They SURVIVE the Early ONSLAUGHT | NBA Schedule Release

Miami Heat’s BRUTAL Opening Schedule | Can They SURVIVE the Early ONSLAUGHT | NBA Schedule Release

All right, welcome to Locked on Heat, your daily podcast on the Miami Heat. Whether you’re tuning in on YouTube or on your favorite podcast app, thanks so much for making Locked on 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 Everydayers and click that subscribe button on YouTube. Today’s episode is brought to you by Monarch Money. Take control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use the code locked on NBA at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year. Have a great show for you today. We continue our 25 of 25 series in a second, but let’s start with the NBA schedule release. Finally, David, the whole thing is out. The NBA makes you wait. They slow play it. They give you a little bit of Christmas here, a little bit of MLK there, a little bit of inseason tournament, and then finally they just give us the whole thing. So now we have it. Opening night for the Miami Heat season, regular season at Orlando on October 22nd. The home opener is two games later. They start at Orlando at Memphis. And then we get the home opener at CASA Center against the New York Knicks on October 26. And that’s kind of where I want to start is at the beginning. Six of Miami’s first eight games, David, are on the road at Orlando, at Memphis, at San Antonio, and then the Lakers, the Clippers, and then in Denver. One word comes to mind for me, David. Yikes. It’s uh running the gamut, that’s for sure. I mean, you’ve got a couple of contenders in there at the very least. I mean, depending on how you feel about maybe the Knicks or Magic and their chances of Grizzlies, still a good team despite the trade of Desmond Bane. So, uh, and you’re going to face him against the Magic. So, I, you know, you’ve got a lot of different things to consider there. And then coming back, even after that twoame stretch to start off and coming back and facing the Knicks where the crowd unfortunately tends to be a little bit more pro- Nicks than I’d like. It’s not exactly the kind of home opener you’d want. So, this is going to be a very challenging stretch for the Heat to start off their season. But, to be honest with you, yikes is a good way of summing it up. But I kind of like that they’re getting rid of this these this kind of gamut of games right off the bat because I think it’s going to be better to deal with that at the beginning of the season before injury kind of sets in as we’ve seen with this team in the past to be able to get tested and have your metal tested right away, especially with what we both believe is going to be a renewed sense of purpose during the regular season because Jimmy Butler’s no longer on this team because they’re looking to prove something without Butler on this roster. because Norman Powell is a new acquisition. They might be going through some kinks without a doubt, but I still think this is a good test for them to get out of the way early on in the season. I appreciate your optimism, David, but they could go three and five in these first eight games. That’s kind of where I That’s optimistic, is it? Um, is it the Hornets? Yeah. Which of these Yeah. Which which games there do you think are winnable? I think you split the one of the first two on the road. I think you beat the Hornets and then you get one on the road in that West Coast swing. Okay. I mean, it’s entirely possible. Look, I You know what? We’ve said this with the in the past. This team is going to lose a game that they’re supposed to win, and they’re going to win a game that they’re supposed to lose. So, you know what? They’re probably going to sweep the both LA teams. So, they’ll go 0 and5 and then beat the Lakers, Clippers, and Nuggets all on the road. That’s right. That’s right. They’ll lose to the Hornets on a squeaker. You know, Brandon Miller is going to hit a three-pointer at the buzzer or some particular shot like that, and next thing you know, they’ll go three and 0 against the teams out west. I do think that there’s something to be said about knowing exactly where your holes are pretty early in the season. Last year I said we were going to know by Thanksgiving where the Miami Heat were. And I was I think I was right. I think by Thanksgiving we knew. Yeah. Not much. And Jimmy Butler’s still unhappy. We pretty much knew it. Yeah. By no by the beginning of November, David, before you even buy the turkey at the store, before they even put out the cranberry sauce, we’re going to know whether or not this heat team has got anything or not. Now, that’s not to say they can’t turn things around later in the season and things like that, but at least for this group at the start of the year, we’re going to have a really clear sense of where where they stand because you mentioned the contenders. I mean, the Lakers and the Clippers are teams that can easily make the Western Conference Finals. The Nuggets can win the Western Conference. No doubt. You know, they’re they’re probably the favorites behind the Thunder in the West. Them are the Rockets. Orlando, people are going to be picking them to make the Eastern Conference finals. The Knicks might have the best record in the Eastern Conference altogether. Yeah, this is a real slate. So, we’re going to know where we stand in the East. We’re going to know where we stand against some of these Western Conference teams. Um, I think it’s a it’s a very very interesting way to start the season. And then, you know, you come back, you get a game against Charlotte, you get a game against Portland, maybe to lick your wounds a little bit at home, but then it’s boom, two games back to back against Cleveland. Boom, two games back to back against the Knicks. The Heat played the Knicks three times before Thanksgiving break. Good. Get it out of the way, I guess. But uh let’s keep moving though. We we got plenty more to get to here. Um we mentioned the uh the first game of the the season, the first game at home. The first mustwatch game to me November 19th at home against the Warriors. Everything’s a mustwatch obviously for you and I because it’s our job. But mustwatch for even not like the casual NBA fan. The first mustwatch game on the Heat schedule. November 19th against the Warriors. Jimmy Butler coming back to CASA Center. I know we already got it out of the way last year, but it was weird. Jimmy didn’t even play well in that game. I still think there’s going to be a little bit of buzz around this one. And that’s uh Miamiy’s only ESPN game of the season as well. I disagree with that. I don’t I don’t think that that’s buzzworthy to be honest with you. That seems so far Yeah, I think it’s so far removed. I think it’s going to it loses its luster that there might be some animosity. I’m sure he’ll get booed. Uh unfortunately, uh there will be a smattering of booze just because ESPN will talk about it. It’s going to be part of their leading show. I mean, well, that doesn’t mean much, right? That ESPN talks about it doesn’t necessarily mean there will be a little bit of Yeah, I I I think you’re right in terms of it is sort of old news and both sides want to move past it. There’s still a little bit of like seeing your ex like several years later and just being like, “How are you doing?” There’s like a little bit of that to this. You know, you’re not going to get into a fight. You’re not going to bring up old stuff, but you’re just it’s going to be a little like how are the Warriors doing by November 19th. I look again, I I think all these games that we’re talking about, even those early tests, uh the the series against the Cavs, this matchup against the Butler and the Warriors, you know, obviously Steph didn’t play in that first game and Miami wound up beating them pretty soundly. There was a lot of comeuppance there. You could tell that Bam in particular was taking this matchup very personally. I’m looking at this as I want to see what this Heat team is and and we know that Pat Riley has spoken in the past about the 20 game benchmark that by after 20 games you have a good sense of what this team is and kind of aligns with what you were saying but I think all these tests whether taken individually or in their totality have to be testing this team and they should accept this challenge. I want to see whether this team is going to be content with just being mediocre and despite whatever their talent level is, at least they should be able to play hard. If they play their best or they play their their with some kind of intent and purpose, I think we’ll see them win a lot more games than a lot of people expect them to. So, I I’m grateful for these early season tests. And at the same time, if they rise to that challenge early on, that means the second half of the season, which is typically very difficult for a lot of groups around the NBA, might be a little bit easier for them because it’s less road games, less road games against these contending teams, etc. So, I think this is a good opportunity for Miami to start, get their knocks out of their way early on, and continue to develop and get better throughout the course of the season. It’s almost like uh the batters going up to the plate before they go up. They put the donut on the bat to give it a little bit more heft, you know, and then by the time you get you step up to the plate, you’re like, “Oh, this thing ain’t that heavy.” And I could I can swing this thing. So, uh um a few more notes here. Um Miami has 15 back to backs, which I don’t know how that compares to the rest of the league. 14. Yeah, it was more than last year. Um so, there’s that. Uh longest road trip. You mentioned the road part of this. Five games is their longest road trip from uh January 19th to to the 25th in Golden State, Sacramento, Portland, Utah, Phoenix. So, it’s not that bad for the long trip, right? The Warriors are obviously a good team. Sacramento, I don’t think much of them. Portland’s pretty feisty. Utah stinks. Phoenix is going to be meh. So, it’s not that bad in terms of the road trip later on in the season. Um, longest home stand is four games, but they have four separate four game home stands, which I quite like. I I’d rather have that than just one long month of just like being at home, which is what it felt like the last couple of seasons. But the other big story here to get from the uh schedule, five national TV games. You compare that and national TV for people remember that’s ESPN, ABC, NBC, Peacock, and Amazon Prime. Now TNT no longer uh carrying the NBA package. So, and no NBA TV anymore either. So, those are the games. That’s where you can find it. five national TV games across them. One on ESPN, two on Prime, one on NBC, and one on Peacock. Miamiy’s first NBC game, which I’m really excited about. January 6 at Minnesota. But, um, you compare that five national TV games to the Thunder, they have 34. The Lakers have 34. The Warriors, the Knicks, they all have 34. A lot of these teams like the Timberwolves, the Nuggets, uh, the Rockets are in the high 20s. Even the Boston Celtics with no Jason Tatum have 25 national TV games. Are you surprised by the five national TV games, David? No, I’m not. Um, this isn’t a team with any kind of star power to it. So, I don’t think that uh as much as Tyler Heroes improved and he’s an all-star, etc., I still don’t know that a lot of peripheral fans around the league are all that invested in what he does. Bam, again, a player that excels but is also not all that interesting. So, no, I’m not surprised at all. They need to play the Knicks. They need to play Steph Curry. And they need to play Anthony Edwards in order to get on national TV. That’s just where they are. What did Tim Leggler call them? Boring. Yep. That’s it. Um, do they go with Round Ball Rock uh on NBC? Is that the They announced it. Oh, they like a refreshed version of Round Ball Rock. Yeah. Wow. I’m really excited, man. I’m excited. Um, old school. Dwayne Wade, part of the Amazon Prime programming as well. Should be noted. Uh, we reveal the 23rd greatest Heat Player of the last 25 years. Next. Today’s episode is brought to you by Monarch Money. Most people can’t name all their financial accounts or even what they’re worth, whether it’s 401k properties or investments. And when you don’t have the full picture, you can end up leaving money on the table. And that’s why there’s Monarch Money, an all-in-one personal finance tool that brings your entire financial life together in one clean, easy to use interface on your laptop or your phone. Monarch does the heavy lifting for you. You can link all of your accounts in minutes. See clear data visuals. Get smart categorization of your spending. And finally, feel in control of your money without ever touching a spreadsheet. Monarch makes it simple to review your finances with your partner or you know what, if you’ve got like a family financial conglomerate or whatever, you can just look at all these different things and it saves you so much time and you can set clear budgets, goals, you can see spending activity all in one place. And again, linking all those accounts can save you so much money because you finally see all these dual subscriptions you might be paying for. It’s so convenient. Don’t let financial opportunity slip through the cracks. Use the code locked on NBA at monarchmoney.com in your browser for half off your first year. That’s 50% off your first year at monarchmoney.com and use a code lockdown NBA. We’ll be right back. [Music] Thanks for making Lockdown Heat your first listen every day. This is our 25 of 25 series looking back at the top 25 Heat players of the last 25 seasons. Each episode, we’ll be taking an in-depth look at every player who made the list as voted on by us and our Lockdown Heat insider community through the lens of what made them a definitive part of the franchise’s history. Yesterday, Chris Birdman Anderson checked in at number 24. And now at number 23, it’s White Chocolate himself. Welcome to the club, Jason Williams. Known for his street ball style on the court. Jason Williams hails from West Virginia. Played at Marshall and then at the University of Florida before he was drafted by the Kings with the seventh overall pick in the 1998 draft. Pick ahead of Dirk Nitzky and Paul Pierce in that draft. As a rookie, Jason Williams’ number 55 jersey was among one of uh the top five sellers of all NBA players. That was how popular this guy was as soon as he got into the league. Williams and the Kings went to the playoffs in all of his first three seasons. But after multiple suspensions, the Kings decided that he wasn’t worth the trouble and they traded him to the Memphis Grizzlies in 2005 after four seasons in Memphis. The Grizzlies traded Jason Williams to the Heat as part of the largest trade in NBA history at the time. The Heat were coming off of a deep playoff run in their first season with Shaquille O’Neal and Pat Riley determined that the team needed to shake up the supporting cast with shields and swords. And so enter Jason Williams. Dwayne Wade was able to embrace a full-time scoring role in the Heat won the championship in 2006 as Wade averaging 35 and a half points per game in the NBA Finals. Williams remained a starter in Miami for two more seasons, but injuries started to take their toll and his play declined. He retired after 10 seasons in 2008. He tried to make a comeback with the Magic in 2009, but it didn’t last long and he played his last NBA game in March of 2011. Jason Williams never made an all-star game or averaged more than 15 points in a season, but he lives on through countless highlights and a style that influenced hoopers everywhere for years to come. David, the highest he was rated according to our polling was 14 among Heat players over the last 25 years. The lowest was not ranked. I had him ranked 19. Where did you have him? Not at all. I didn’t have him in my top 30. And it seems to be a recurring three for three now, huh? Yeah. I I don’t know what criteria you people are using. I I honestly can’t like again that he’s part of a championship team. I’m looking forward to seeing Michael Doliaak in the top 25 list. Come on. Hello. Derrick Anderson. Are we looking at Derrick Anderson? Yeah. Yeah. And who was at the end of those games? Gary freaking Payton. in like the 30th year of his NBA career, he was closing games over Jill because Jill was really good at still picking up the pace and dishing it to a wideopen Dwayne Wade or a wide openen Shaquille O’Neal that could bowl their way to the paint. But that’s pretty much it. Like is he significantly better than Damon Jones who was the year the year before with Shaq? I I I don’t know. Like I love Jay Will. I’m one of the few people who can actually say I watched him play in Sacramento. Like I I I know what I’m talking about here. You know, I remember him when he was with UF. Having said all that, is he the top 25 players in Miami Heat 25 years? I don’t I don’t see it. I really don’t. And it’s like I really appreciate him. I liked his style. I thought he was fun as hell to watch. I really liked having him on the roster. It was great. But he was a defensive liability who made some really nifty passes and hit a couple of nice shots here and there from three-point range for three seasons of which as you just pointed out three seasons. I I I and he was declining throughout those three seasons. The last season was pretty rough there. And I remember him as a knockdown three-point shooter and I went back to the percentages and he was not. Yeah, he was like a 33 34% three-point shooter, but he he put him up, man. Um I remember practicing Jason Williams jumpers in my driveway with my cousin, right? Like cuz he always had a knack of if you left him open. He was he was a high pace guy, right? Which is why I would disagree with the uh um uh I’m blanking on the who who was the start of the year before? Damon Jones. That was the one thing Jay Will did bring was a pace to the game that I think Miami desperately needed at that point. But yeah, um he would just he would bring the ball up and if you weren’t if you weren’t defending them, he would just he would pull up from three if you were if you were giving him space. And that’s a very like 2025 thing and he was doing it back then. Um and I used to joke about it because I thought it was ridiculous and now it tends to be a strategy for NBA players. But um no, I think you hit on something, right? It’s you actually remember him playing and you remember the liabilities. I don’t remember Jason Williams as a defensive liability, right? I just remember him being a part of the championship team to your point. So that’s why he’s on and he was exciting, right? Like there’s a nostalgia with Jason Williams. I remember the highlights. It was fun. And I do think that there’s something to be said about he came in and he allowed Dwayne Wade to really just embrace that scoring mentality in a way that he couldn’t really do his first couple years where he had to set the table a little bit more. When Jay Will got there, Pat Riley compared him to Jason Kidd and Steve Nash, right? like and that’s obviously hyperbolic, but that was sort of how they envisioned him as a pure point guard. And that allowed, I think, D.Wade to put on, I think, the greatest performance we’ve ever seen in NBA Finals by a single player. Like that doesn’t happen without Jay Will out there, I don’t think. Or at least somebody like Jay Will. And Jay Will happen to be that guy. So, um, I think that’s part of it. But you, this is why I think this is the other problem with it just being over the last 25 years is we’re pretty much eliminating the 90s. And if we had extended this to all of Miami Heat history, there’s no way Jason Williams makes this list. I don’t think he doesn’t make my list at least. But we’re not including the 90s. 14th was the highest that he was rated by one of our voters. I mean, are are you We’re talking about top 25. Like even if we just go 25 all time, the the season I mean the Heat began in ‘ 89. So you’re looking at 11 years. I mean are there really 11 better players in that person’s view than Jason Williams over the those previous 11 years? Like I mean Ron Cyclley, Grant Long, Glenn Rice, Steve Smith. I can’t speak to that person. I’m just telling you how I I wouldn’t have had him in my top 25 if I include the first 11 years. You know what I mean? So No, I know. Well, I mean I didn’t have him in my top 25 even I didn’t even have him in my top 11 years. Yeah. Yeah. I went I went honorable Benion and he just he didn’t make that cut. Like I I I don’t know like the the production just wasn’t there and yeah maybe it’s the role and maybe it’s the fact and and the role in the ring. I’m just telling you why he got on the list. No, I I get it. It just feels so arbitrary that it’s like you happen to be on that team and next thing you know like the problem is you don’t care about championships. How many teams How many players on the 2008 and 2009 teams do you have? I feel like your entire list is just Germaine O’Neal and Michael Beasley. No, Germaine O’Neal will never make any list of mine. Top 1,000 players in heat history. Okay. I don’t Let’s take a Let’s take a break. Will make the list. You want to make your top 25 players of 2008? No. Uh we’re going to take a break. We’re going to get into trivia plus our categories after this. All right, it’s time for trivia. David, let’s put I put uh our scores here. So, you handled the trivia for Max Drew. You got one right. I did it for Chris Anderson. I got two right. So, the score is two to one. As we continue here, give yourself an extra half point there. You know, that’s cool. I was You gave me a 75 point for that. Now you’re trying to take away a fourth. So, my 0.25. Give me my quarter point back. just just for you trying to sneak one under there, I’m I’m giving myself that full extra quarter point. That’s the uh that’s the fine. Um in the summer of 2005, Jason Williams was involved in a five team 13 player deal that was the largest trade in league history at the time. Other than Jason Williams, which of his Grizzlies teammates did the Heat also trade for? Uh in that Oh, uh James Posey. Yep. So, that’s one. Um, next trivia part two of the same question. Who else did the Heat acquire in the mega deal? Oh. Uh, in that mega deal, it looks like you’re looking at notes. No. No. Um, you better not be looking it up. Did they acquire they got that was the same deal where they got they got moved Eddie Jones to uh they got Antoine out of that deal. Antoine Walker. That’s right. Okay. Uh, yeah. Some people would say Gary Payton, but Gary Payton actually signed as a free agent. I feel like he got because he had just left the Lakers after, you know, signed a minimum one-year deal with Miami. Um, so you got those are the two main questions there. I’m going to give you a bonus, though, since you got them both, right? Nice. Um, just marking it down here. Jason Williams is known for his tattoos. Some of them include a dragon over a basketball on his left arm. There’s a panther on his right arm and a third eye on his chest, which he credits for his passing ability. What eight letters does he have tattooed across his knuckle? Uh across his knuckles. What eight letters across the knuckles? It’s two words. I’ll give you a hint. Two words. Well, what would it be? Love hate like the way that uh Robert Dairo had them in Cape Fear. I don’t know if that would work, but uh no, I don’t know. I can’t I can’t remember that at all. I cannot White Boy. So it’s wit e boy. Is that what it is? He’s got that’s a great I think it is wit e boy. Wit boy. It’s wit e boy. You know that’s Yeah. I mean I guess you got to put your hands together and then you’d be like oh yeah I get it now. Right. Otherwise if you see his right hand you’re like who’s wit? Like why? I mean is he a big Whitman fan? Like I mean what’s going on here? G try to find it actually. Yeah, it is Widow Boy. Whit boy. Okay. I mean, listen, great great vision, great high basketball IQ, but you know, shout out West Virginia. I mean, they’re not known for their style points necessarily. So, there it is. I thought you were going to go Randy Marshall as far, but I guess that’s a little too well known in terms of uh and it’ be NFL Hall of Famer that was a former high school teammate. There it is on the screen there. Okay, so um let’s move into our categories here. Sliding doors moment is our first one. This is a moment that could have changed the way that this player is remembered for better or for worse. It could change the trajectory of his career, how he left the Miami Heat, etc. Basically a whatif moment. David, this was tough. I don’t know if you had anything here. Uh no, I I do not. There’s there was I don’t know that he had again to to my overall point. I don’t know that he had a singular moment that defined his stint with Miami. Uh I’m sure I’m blinking out on some kind of big Yeah. There’s not like a shot. There’s not a thing that he could have. Did he have a gamewinner? Maybe. Like I’m sure he did. He probably find one in the playoffs. Yeah. No, no doubt. And like again, that’s like I don’t deny that he hit the occasional three-point shot or that that pace certainly helped or that his role allowed Dwayne to become MVP level Dwayne and he could feed Shaq very effectively in a way that you know maybe some other point guards in the roster prior to him couldn’t. But uh it wasn’t like you remember any big moment or big game from Jay Will other than he was on that team. He sure was on that team, you know, and he sure was there for a couple years after that. Okay. Um, again, this was tough. The only thing I could could come up with here is I found this story that Shaquille O’Neal claimed that he recruited Jason Williams to Miami. Uh, Jason Williams and Shaq were close friends because they were neighbors in Orlando for three years. I can’t believe that. So, in 2005, Shaq gave an interview and said, quote, “I was the one who helped broker the deal this summer. He wanted to play with me and I wanted to play with a guard who loves to pass and I think it’ll be a good combination for myself and Dwayne Wade.” End quote. So, my what if moment, my sliding doors is like, what if they weren’t neighbors in Orlando? What if Jason Williams didn’t transfer from Marshall to UF, fall in love with the Central Florida area, and buy a house there for the offseason? Like, what if that just didn’t happen? Would the Heats still have traded for him? That’s the best I can come up with, but it’s tough. But let’s keep What? What year did he say this? He said it 2005. Right when it happened. Yeah, that summer. He was taking credit for brokering that deal in 2005 for the Jason Williams part of it. Yeah. Like isn’t that considered tampering or whatever? Like I mean like after the fact players can tamper. Players do this all the time. Sure, I get it. I know. But like to admit it like that public. Well, first of all, I don’t buy it in the least. No, I’m sure that there was like maybe a a conver I was going to say a text. I’m sure there was not a text back then. Or maybe could you text back then? I don’t remember. 2005. Yeah, I think so. It was like T9 and you had to pay for it. But uh yeah, I’m sure there was a phone call made or something. But yeah, I’m going to give uh I’m gonna give Riley and all them the uh the credit for uh pulling off the five team. Yeah, right. Doesn’t seem like the type in 2005 that was like, “Oh, Shaq, you want J Will on this team? Well, I guess we got to go ahead and make it happen and make the biggest trade in NBA history up to that point.” So, yeah. No, I don’t I don’t see that happening. Uh, is he jersey worthy? Is this a cool jersey to own and wear to a Miami Heat game? Yeah. Oh, no doubt. This is a yes for you. Okay. Yeah. Jay, well, again, super high style points. Yeah, that’s super high style points. That’s You could pretty much sum up all of Jay Will’s career as super high style points and that’s fine. Here’s where I’m at. Not his Heat jersey. Oh, but that Jason Williams Sacramento Kings jersey is a classic. That’s a classic jersey. So, that’s what I’ll say. But I don’t think that his Heat jersey is a cool jersey. Did he wear 55 in Miami? Yeah, he sure did. Right. Like I mean Yeah. Yeah, he did. Yeah. like that. That’s I mean double nickel you gota that’s his heat jersey doesn’t resonate like the Sacramento Kings jersey. I would rather wear the the Jason Williams Kings jersey to a Heat game than the Jason Williams Heat jersey. Are remembering him working alongside uh you know Vlatty Devat you know like that’s how people I think that’s his team. Jason Williams is like I think people think of him as a Sacramento king. No, but you know the thing is like those were cool teams. And I hate to point this out th those were cool teams. Like we both work with Ian Levy. Great guy over at Fanside. Absolute gem of a human being. Loves Jameson Williams. Loves Jason Williams. And it’s like that’s just kind of the era. Like you watched him play and you like really love that style of basketball. Guess what? The Kings were a lot better once they traded him to Memphis and they acquired Mike Bby in the deal. And I know he fans go Mike Bby are you kidding me? with the conference finals the next year with BBby and the the whole Lakers debacle. That was that next year without Jay Will. Uh final thing here, the Eddie Jones test. Eddie Jones left in 2005, came back in 2007. Uh if they readded this player to the roster while in his Heat prime, would this player make the current roster better? I think I know where you’re going to go on this. I’m going to say yeah, absolutely. Uh yeah. No, absolutely. I agree. Well, I I mean, you’re talking about a guy with high level passing skills and yeah, limited defensive ability, but honestly, I think it would probably allow you to play him alongside Tyler and allow Tyler to slide into that role without having to be the central playmaker. Norm would come off the bench, etc. You could still bring DaVon in to replace Jay Will. But yeah, I I I could see him as either a starter or a bench player, somebody who provides a spark. They haven’t had a actual point guard in this roster since when? I mean Kyle in that first season with the Heat and after that I mean it hasn’t really been much. So that’s a fair point. Um I know just cuz I didn’t see a way that he would get on the court. His three-point shooting is not efficient. It’s like you got him out there. Can you play him next to Tyler? Is that too big of a defensive liability? Um but yeah, maybe you’re right. if he can come in and he could just throw some lobs to Kell and to Bam and and and get these guys off the ball like Norm Powell and Tyler Herro. So yeah, in all fairness, I think he’d probably be a better three-point shooter in today’s game because he probably work on that a lot more. Uh final thing here versus pin this player against a player who came before him and asked if we got it right. Um Chris Anderson came in at number 24. Uh we’ve got Jason Williams here at number 23. I did in my ranking have Chris Anderson one spot higher. So I have to go no here, but they were very close for me. Yeah, I I’d say I didn’t have Jay Will at all. And maybe it’s just that I felt like he was so much more of a complimentary player, whereas Anderson actually did have semi-impactful moments there that I think were I don’t know, maybe I’m maybe I’m misremembering, but it just felt like Jay Will had a role to play and he did played it well. You could go either way and I’d be absolutely fine with it because Yeah, that’ll do it for us today. Coming in at number 203 22. That was 23 we just did. Yeah, we finally have somebody from the last 10 years coming in. That’s the next episode. Thanks for making Lockdown Heat your first listen today. For your second listen, find the Locked on NBA podcast. 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 Locked on NBA on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts. Part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. David, I’m looking here. It’s the first guy you’ve actually had ranked is coming up on our next episode. Looking forward to it.

Miami HEAT’s Schedule Released: Tough Start or Golden Opportunity?

Miami HEAT face a grueling opening stretch in their 2025-26 campaign, with 6 of 8 games on the road against formidable opponents. Wes Goldberg and David Ramil analyze the potential impact of this challenging start and debate whether it could be a blessing in disguise for Erik Spoelstra’s squad. The duo also continues their series on the top 25 Heat players of the last 25 years with a look at Jason Williams.

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