62 Comments

Bottom line, it wasn't so much that it was a fluke for Miami, it was that teams with superior personnel choked "BIG TIME!" Specifically, Milwaukee and Boston. They have nobody to blame but themselves!!!

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Game 1 NBA finals 8:00pm tonight.

Heat vs Spurs.

How will Spo game plan for Wembanyama?

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Kneecap him in the first period and go from there. Dude is very talented but very fragile. Kind of like DJJ on stilts.

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😂

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Adebayo is a decent player but he's not that guy he lacks foot work and shot selection is not that great skills to handle the ball needs improvement as well overall he's a solid 🪨 player

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3rd best center in nba but 2 levels below joker and embid not 1 level

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Wishful Thinking 101:

If Phoenix can trade Chris Paul for Jordan Poole, maybe Miami can trade Kyle Lowry for VanVleet.

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yezzzzz

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This team is such a fluke that they've made it to the Finals twice in the past four years, and were one shot away from making the Finals a third time. They're such a fluke that they manage to be a fluke every year!

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Miami got to the NBA Finals because: 1) the team refused to quit; 2) the players were accustomed to late game pressure in close games; 3) the team was not expected to win so they played like they had nothing to lose; 4) the team found it's mojo and 3 point shooting in the playoffs after ranking near the bottom of the league all season; 5) the team added reinforcements (primarilly Love) whose experience and demeanor positively impacted the overall camaraderie and sense of calm ; 6) Butler played out of his mind during most of the playoffs; 7) the team was coached by one of the top two coaches in the league.

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It’s always a fluke when the Heat have a good season (insert sarcasm font). SMH!

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While I agree, Miami of late rarely gets recognition for it's successes, I think there was a lot of flukiness with the 2022-23 NBA season for the Heat.

They went from one of the best shooting squads to one of the worst in the regular season

Nearly every shooter regressed from 2021 to 2022.

Then all of a sudden, guys started hitting shots. Players who were locked on the bench, started getting minutes and putting in work. Caleb Martin, who is a solid player, played a 4/5 game stretch as a star.

This season, was fluky. I'm okay admitting it. I don't know if it was the regular season, where they under performed, or the post season where they over performed, but those two delineations don't really mesh.

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I pretty much agree 100%. However, I feel you can look at any number of teams who have great years and find a reason to say their season was also a fluke, but the pundits more often are quick to malign the Heat for some reason.

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The capo is usually an important piece, much more is the grand capo di tutti capi . How about trading him to Portland for Damian. For those who don't know who that is, I mean UD. Portland will be getting 20 yrs plus of experience, in this league where experience is weightier than cut diamonds. 😏

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UD e capo di banda, da vero signore. Lillard non e nell questo levello e UD.

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Elton deserves a super max jail cell for these crimes.

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Elton Brand Summer ‘19:

Extended Ben Simmons (5 years, $170M)

Signed Al Horford (4 years, $109M)

Re-signed Tobias Harris (5 years, $180M) pat riley suks 30 man?

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Good point

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Simmons and Harris were trending upwards until a sharp dive or somewhat downward spiral happened to them. Classic example of players not fulfilling their side of the contract. So I dnt blame the gms much. Though they're also accountable if they give ginourmous $$$

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I'm more impressed by Daryl Morey, who has been a GM since 2007, never made the Finals once, and is considered one of the best GM's in the NBA.

Meanwhile, Pat made the Finals 6 times since then, including being in the Finals 3 weeks ago with a group of g-leaguers.

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That's a pretty impressive list. I wonder how common that is league wide. And, I wonder what the correlation is between the amount of bad contracts and winning, if any.

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Ayton?

"The Phoenix Suns want the Philadelphia 76ers to facilitate a multi team trade for Tobias Harris where a 3rd team takes DeAndre Ayton!" (via Philadelphia Inquirer)

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Paul Reed and VanVleet?

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For me not enough to give up Bam.

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joker and embid are the only two good centers going.sort of like russell chamberlain.bam is 2 levels below them

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Just a fun question:

If you could trade Bam with any player (regardless of situation) who would it be?

Me: Giannis (sorry Bam 😅)

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For me I would go either giannis,jokic,or doncic,and maybe booker.

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yeah, Luka!

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wemb joker embid tatum brunson luka murray. too old now bron butler kyrie ad steph kawhi .all these more talented than bam either now or before.bam is a great defender except vs joker .average rebounder average offense

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Homie said Jalen Brunson. Lmao.

I'm gonna say Luka and Murray are pushes. In a vacuum maybe, with the team we just saw no thanks.

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The fact that he said Brunson is blasphemous lol

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Por just showing off. Telling Dame, look we are trying to get better building around you. We tried ur friend Bam but his slave master called the godfather laughed at us.

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Btw, I do think Lopez would be a great pickup and I’m not overly concerned about his age. In watching him for several years, he looks to be in excellent condition. Over the last 10 years, he played less than 68 games only once and most years played 70+.

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rather have vuc?

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I’ll have to do more research

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dont bother rc take either one to help little bam

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The Heat has the core to win an NBA Championship, if it isn't broken up. Bam and Butler aren't going anywhere. It makes absolutely no sense to trade Herro for Dame. You'll only fill one hole and open up another one.

What makes more sense is to find players to fill the two starting holes without giving up a quality starter. Players who could be available for under market value are out there. Here are a few: Naz Reid, Tre Jones, Patrick Beverly, TJ Warren, Isaiah Stewart, Christian Wood, Brook Lopez, Jae Crowder, Jacob Poeltl, Bruce Brown, Coby White, PJ Washington, Moritz Wagner and others.

In addition, Miami may have a few diamonds in the rough, including Omer Yurtseven, Orlando Robinson, Jamal Cain, Hayward Highsmith, Jaime Jaquez, and possibly one or more of this year's unsigned players.

If Riley can somehow turn one or more of our bad contracts (Lowry, Oladipo and Robinson) into a quality starter and put together a good 8-9 man rotation, the team could be very competitive.

It should be a very interesting offseason.

GO HEAT!!!

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jims got couple years left dame maybe 3-4.u win rings with lillards not herros.future is now .id give up any 3 heat players besides jim bam for hof lillard.u add dame to this team your the fav in east.and 75% sure your playing in finals.prob need a big to to win it all. get mt lopez 50 50 to beat suns or nuggets.stars win rings not herros

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Uh, who's guarding Jovic and Embiid and who is your SG replacing Herro? Asking for a friend.

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we're shooting for the stars .embid makes only himself better.joker makes whole team better besides himself.we can handle phily they have james anyway.i can plug jim or caleb at the two got youngens cain hh waiting in the wing to release their abundant skills weve seen glimpses of but spo prefers experienced non athletic guys(max dunc).get me mt lopez vuc or kat to go with jim bam dame thats the goal.this is a tom brady 2-3 year run for jimmy and dames ring.

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Getting Dame would be a major upgrade over Vincent at the point or at the two over Herro, but the Heat nerd length and it showed against Denver. Towns is the upgrade I think the Heat need.

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major major major major upgrade.gabe vincents grow on every tree in every city.dame lillards dont grow on to many trees

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KAT?! Jimmy: soft

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Also his contract is terrible for a supposed star that can't get his team past the 2nd round and also goes missing sometimes.

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U still need a bigger guy to spare against the likes of Lopez, Jokic, Porzinghis, Embiid from the competition. Bam alone won't do it.

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Robinson is not a bad contract... he is my favourable player.

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Hey, that's my line!

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not any more.

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thats emilys boy vagibugi pick another player

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Lowry is not a bad contract?

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or Lowry is my fauvorite player... it doesnt sounds right.

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Yes, I am leaning the way of make an offer on Dame with a time limit so they don't have our offer to use for leverage too long. I say that because I agree that Lillard is a major upgrade over Herro and is our best move on the chesstable, almost no matter who else is included (of our remaining players, I would least like losing Martin) along with draft choices. And as long as the Blazers take one burdensome contract back.

But, if the Blazers waffle, move on quickly to plan B and try to get some of the players discussed here. Ths should be happening as soon as feasable to get the best alternative choices we can. Whale hunting has already burned us a few times. As the Who would say, "we won't get fooled again."

Of the players discussed, I like taking a gamble on Warren, who may not require as much back as other players, and would love to get Kuzma also.

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Dame is a great player, no doubt. But my concern is age - he is 33 and so is Jimmy. We would probably have one shot at the title. I am not so sure BOTH of them will be playing at today's level when they will be nearing 35. Maybe neither will.

And Dame has 4 years left on his contract and will make 58 mil. in 25/26 and 63 mil in 26/27 (player option). Do we really want to go all in for the 23-24 season? What if he turns into another Lowry or get injured. Too much risk. I say upgrade this core and keep Herro, Bam and when Jimmy retires or leaves we can still be a contender with those two in their prime. Or if trade Herro, then get an adequate player that has more than 1-2 good years left in him.

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Depends on what the trade for Lillard is.

The thing that tears me up is the idea of Bam being on his own post Jimmy and Dame. Herro being young and all.

But it's hard to not think, given the run we went on w/o Herro that trading him for Dame wouldn't be a massive massive upgrade.

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I totally agree. I am not buying the idea that we need to get a Durant/Lillard kind of player and give up half of the current rotation+our future by trading away all the draft picks. These guys have repeatedly proven they can make it to the NBA finals. We don't need a third star. We need to fix our shortcomings that we have been well aware of all season long. We need to get rid of Lowry's contract too (which should be possible now since it is an expiring one) and by doing so get a player that we need. This team should be upgraded, not rebuilt.

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You had me at " These guys have repeatedly proven they can make it to the NBA finals."

Same sentiments (in a way) that Pat gave in that speech after game 5.

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I like this approach as stated by a number of people here. Fill in the areas of need - pf/stretch center, pg - and add in athletes like Jacquez and Cain, along with Highsmith and Martin, and we’ll be in good shape.

Also, after watching these playoffs, I don’t see Duncan as a total liability any more, though the contract still stinks, just not as much as before. He showed good shooting, passing, driving, cutting, rebounding, and even slightly better defense (well, it couldn’t really get much worse).

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Honestly I would be happy either way, but I'm leaning towards Lillard just because we made it to the finals without herro ,plus even if Lillard is around the same age as Jimmy, I think his game will age better offensively because he's a shooter and the 2nd best pg playmaking/shooter after steph. Also he would better then Lowry at his age. Plus we're trying to win the finals not just get there. But I also would be fine with keeping the core intact and keeping herro because like you and others said if somehow we get us a pf/center like lopez,Naz reid,pj Washington, vucevic, woods,kuzma, grant,Barnes, etc. Also with another year of growth from are undrafteds, plus hoping herro takes another leap and becomes adequate enough on defense... then would help us contend for years. Additionally herro is still not in his prime so he could still be a running mate with bam to help us compete in the future when Jimmy is old and retired. So I would be happy with either scenario. Now I can't wait to see summer league I see how much jovic, Cain, and Robinson improved and our rookie.

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I agree. Christian Woods. Brook lopez, Kyle Kuzma and or Jerami Grant are my wishlist for Miami to acquire.

Two of my many concerns are Jerami Grant wants 130 m and will Brook Lopez still be a defensive threat this season and at 35 yrs old .,For how may years can he maintain it and with how much of a salary. I can imagine a deep drop coverage defense with Adebayo roaming around and applying help defense while Lopez waiting at the rim to block/alter shots.

I'll just need to be patient. Miami Heat always pull some miracles out of nowhere.

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I believe we need a center and a power forward, too. Caleb Martin can alternate at the PF position, but he cannot do it as a starter all season long. We should get a starting PF: Jerami Grant or Kyle Kuzma would fit perfectly and are my top picks. And unless Yurtseven can significantly improve in a short time (which I don't think he will) we should get a big center, too.

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No way!!! Bam is here to stay!!

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