Bam Adebayo’s All-NBA Case and Miami Heat Trade Deadline Approach with Brian Windhorst

Bam Adebayo’s All-NBA Case and Miami Heat Trade Deadline Approach with Brian Windhorst

We’re joined by ESPN’s Brian windhorse to talk about his recent feature on bam a bio and his quest to be considered among the best big men in the NBA plus we talk about Miami’s ability to lure free agents how the league values Heat players and the latest reporting on

Donovan Mitchell all that and more on a special episode of Locked on heat 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 I’m West

Goldberg editor of all can heat.com and joining me as always is longtime NBA reporter David ra however you’re tuning in on YouTube Odyssey or your favorite podcast app thanks so much for making lockon heat your first listen every day LinkedIn jobs helps you find the qualified candidates that you want to

Talk to faster post your job for free at linkedin.com lockon NBA that’s linkedin.com locked on NBA to post your job for free terms and conditions apply excited today to be talking to Brian wior who wrote a great feature on bam atab bio for espn.com called Miami’s bam out of Bio

Once in on the NBA’s list of elite big man if you haven’t read it uh we’ll have a link to it in the show notes um but I want to get to a bunch of stuff with you Brian about uh the heat what they’re looking at ahead of the trade deadline

And all those things but first uh F well first first thanks for coming on were you at the game last night um and and what did you think of the Heats when I was not at the game last night I am recovering from a fall earlier this week

Where I cracked some ribs oof wow and so um I am in LA and uh I am I am on the uh I’m on the injury list I guess I was doubtful I don’t know um six to eight weeks yeah I know I’m I’m afraid I’ve actually been texting with some MBA

Players who I know have had this injury and the reports back are not good for what I’m in what I’m in for so so um yeah uh so no I didn’t get to I wasn’t at the game but I watched it and um you know at ESPN I don’t know if you

Heard but we sometimes talk about the Lakers so we broke it down in agonizing detail for less of you know 17 hours so yeah well what about the Heat’s perspective because a lot of the conversation is uh around the Lakers and what’s going on with Darin ham and all

That kind of stuff but it does feel like the the the Heat winning without Jimmy Butler and all that kind of stuff to your point did get get swept on the wrong rug at least a little bit nationally well it was a little bit difficult for darham to come out and say

Well you know the reason we’re 17 and 18 these are I’m paraphrasing he didn’t actually say these exact words but you know we’ve had all these injuries we’ve had to change our lineups and you know it’s been really hard and it’s like okay I mean that’s a reasonable explanation

But the heat started their 19th lineup uh the the the Lakers started their 10th and you know quite frankly I mean I really think highly of um n iic um got to see him really star this summer in Manila um so I’m not surprised by him

I’m at I’m a Believer in his future but you know still there started a guy who was playing in the G League a couple weeks ago right and um you know I know highe hakz isn’t your average rookie but still he’s a rookie and you know you’re playing eight guys and you’re basically

Playing Zone because you’re trying to hide a couple of them are terrible Defenders um and the Heat won the game kind of going away on a night when they didn’t even like look if Tyler herro goes 12 of 15 you know if uh you know Duncan Robinson has one of his hot

Nights where he goes seven to nine from three well look you it happens but the heat didn’t even shoot the ball well they just they just um stitched it together in one which is what the heat do and so um it was just a wrong night

For Darin to make that uh you know to offer that up as a reason why they’re not better because um you know by the way the players at least you know some of the standout players they were basically not using as an excuse but um you know the heat believe in that they

Have enough that’s their Mantra sometimes it’s not true but that’s their Mantra and um on this night it was and uh you know you can say a lot of stuff about the heat but you can’t say you don’t respect them and you um got to respect the way they approach the game

And I swear spoler loves winning games like that more than he does oh yeah full power you know oh yeah 100% 100% I was just thinking last night as he was getting on that bus leaving I’ll bet he had one of those you know you know bleep

Eaten grins right on his face just like a little like a little Tiger Woods fist bump just like a little one in the front seat big dog yeah big dog to uh to Nicol yic big dog um you mentioned the word uh respect there and that and that ties right into

The story story that you just wrote about bam and I I want to ask you about a specific thing in the story that I don’t even know was the best part of the story uh I don’t know that it was even the most interesting part of the story

But it’s just the one that I read it and immediately stuck with me and I’ve kind of been thinking about it you were talking with bam and about some of his goals and what he wants to do to to get better and kind of be in that

Conversation with the elite big man in the NBA and he says I’m looking at my statline and I’m like how can I be better and he goes on to list his averages before and what he could do now he says can I average 23 points can I

Average 11 rebounds can I get the five assists instead of three instead of 0.8 blocks how do I average 1.4 yeah and and Brian I don’t know if you had the same reaction as I did but quite frankly I didn’t even know that Heat players knew that they recorded individual stat in

The Box Score because they just never talk about those things right it’s always about heart hustle get on the floor dive for loose balls team wins are the only stat and so to hear bam talk about that quite openly was jarring and I think it’s the reason why it’s

Sticking with me what was your reaction when you heard that obviously you thought it was important enough to include in the story I liked what he said I don’t want to average point eight blocks I want to average one point something because it’s it’s a weird

Thing to say I don’t want to average point8 something yeah I mean um the thing about bam is I think he’s um he’s very perceptive and he’s very aware and he knows the score like I think the way he plays he plays a very others I others F he plays a very team

Centric game you know um he’s asked to do a lot of stuff that a lot of players wouldn’t really want to do and you know it’s one of the things when Chris Bosch played center for the Heat and Eric spola was asking him to to Really Work

Hard defensively it kind of wore Bosch out um you know Bosch was already playing Center which he didn’t really want to do and he was already kind of playing a style he didn’t love um and they just they were making him trap on pick and rolls and it

Required him to move his behind so much and it was exhausting you know and Eric spoler asked him to do that in November it’s one thing to do that in game four right um and they’re obviously a lot different players but what the heat

Asked bam to do is it’s a lot you know they ask him to do a lot on defense they asked him to do a lot on offense and sometimes he just takes it in the chin he is undersized like 90% of the he’s either undersized or slower than the guy’s

Defending and like they just they it’s just expected he’s gonna do it and you know like he he is never going to have the profile of joic and embiid or Anthony Davis it’s just not going to happen I mean he wants that profile he wants that money I mean

I don’t think it’s like driving him the money but I mean who I mean you know sure I asked him about it and he gave a very affirmative answer about wanting to get the supermax um and I just you know so you don’t get that you don’t play that way without

Being you know team focused and perceptive to know like this is how I’m going to work and this is a guy it was funny when he was talking about he knows that they’re Expos ra he knows when he’s laying awake in his hotel room after a

Loss he knows Eric spola is in is always awake too and um I said do you text him like at 4 in the morning you know do you text him he goes no no I wait till the morning but that right there is a Heat player yeah who lays up after a regular

Season game in the middle of the night going over a loss and is thinking about his coach doing the exact the exact same thing um and uh you know one of the things that’s happened for me this is my 21st season covering the NBA and The more I’ve gone along the more I

Enjoy uh being around the heat you know I lived in Miami for a few years it was um high intensity times I don’t think every you know I love being around the Heat um and it’s you know in the playoffs I have last couple years earlier this year

I missed him here in La this week but uh I was in Chicago with Miller this year for a few days and you know wonderfully nothing ever changes like spola is the exact same I mean maybe his techniques are slightly different and everything but he is the exact

Same the team ethos is the exact same the team support staff is the exact same yes the players change but the way they role doesn’t change you know I mean there’s a there’s a similarity between the way Udonis Hasam and bab bio approached the game they’re very

Different type of players sure and um it’s comforting their their um their way of doing business even though it’s um so unique is is to me comforting to hear IRA winderman ask a question that annoys Eric Bolster after the game Ira asks 95% of Iris questions have an have

An or in them they’ll say and and and the and the the second half of the question will always sort of be the like the the the offramp it’ll be right Eric were you guys absolutely horrible in that third quarter or was it just a matter of their team hitting

Shots right and sometimes Eric’s you know you can just see it in his eyes you know um so I find the heat like uh like apple pie it’s it’s just so comforting right and um and uh you know I I I just have come to really really respect the way

They handle their business and and Bam to me is a guy who is just the epitome of that you know he handles his business and yeah yes he knows the stats but he also knows that he’s not going to chase the block to get to 1.4 he’s still going to play the

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Around me because of it is that really what it is or is it really just I need this to make all NBA I don’t think he’s stat focused but I think that the way he he uh can sort of measure monitor Improvement yeah fair enough one of my favorite you know

Things I had in the story and I I related it to Bam and he actually smiled I had talked to a scout who was one of the Scouts of the teams that they played in the playoffs last year and he basically gave me their Scouting Report

You know on bam and he told me you know it’s evolving a little bit although since I did that interview you know the story was supposed to come out in December and then bam got hurt so we waited until you know there was a national TV Heat game basically that’s

Why we put the story out when we did sure he was shooting a little bit more from the mid-range then than he is now he you know early in the season he really came out and was shooting more mid-range shots he’s still shooting more than he

Did last year but it’s not his it’s not as much as part of his game but um he liked that he liked that I that I was telling him what the what the Scouting Report is and that they may have to re-evaluate that so I think it just goes

To the idea that he’s in the portion of his career where he’s trying to add stuff sure it’s not easy to do that and yeah if it comes along with getting the awards and getting the money Ian he’s gonna get the money he’s you know he’s going to get another giant contract if

Not two um but I I do think that it’s a way for him to chart the way he’s getting better and I also think that he probably was a little disappointed by the way the finals went last year I know he had a couple of good games the order was impossible MH

What he was being asked to do in the finals he was playing against incredibly incredible big man at the top of his powers but I think that he you know wishes he was a little bit better equipped I mean I didn’t even get into the story about the 2020 finals

Obviously I mean I didn’t need to go over all ground obviously when he looks back at that finals he there’s a whole giant amount of wh ifs for him right sure um and the whole team but um you know he’s just talking about this one

Saying like look if I had just been a little healthier maybe I would have had a better shot against joic and so you know he’s trying but you know the interesting thing will be with the 65 game requirement like on one hand he’s saying that he’s thinking in November about

June and on the other hand he’s playing through this hip injuries to the point where SPS tried to sit him down and yank him out of the out of the active list and so like that’s the thing like he wants to make all NBA but he also wants

To be healthy at the end of the season so it’s an interesting you know you know challenge for him that you know sometimes being the tough guy is is is willing to sit is is sitting down where does he rank among the top candidates for defensive player of the

Year because I think there’s a concern from Heat fans that he’s never going to be really I know realistically considered for because his defense just as you pointed out like he just does not accumulate those statistics to the point where if you don’t watch the Heat religiously you might not notice what

Bam does for 48 minutes while he’s out on the floor so where do you think he ranks and what would it take for him in order to generate even more attention as a realistic candidate well you’re asking the wrong person because two years ago I voted for him for for a defensive player

Of the year you were right um I and and I mean the way I came to that was I don’t remember my memory isn’t photographic like this I was struggling with the decision and so I called like three or four head coaches and this is something that a

Coach will call you back on you know um Tom Tibido won’t call you back on certain things but if you say coach tell me who who you you know is your I should vote for for Defensive Player of the Year my phone rang like

That uh and I mean I mean you know I don’t get betraying but tibs told me to Bam you know I talked to you know several guys and Bam’s name kept coming up and so I mean first off what it takes to defend all five positions I mean the thing about it is

Like I don’t trust my eye enough to know who the best defensive player I mean there’s certain things I can see and say man this guy really really works hard like you don’t have to be a genius and ex’s a nose guy to watch Drew holiday

And say my God you know what an incredible player um or Giannis because I think maybe Giannis isn’t as good as he was a couple years ago but you know what Giannis does defensively has been pretty great um but the guys who are breaking down the film and also understand the coverages

Because you know that’s a big thing like sometimes you can be quote unquote get a defensive statistic and actually not play the correct coverage so right when it comes to defensive the the all defensive teams you know used to be picked by the assistant coaches and I would not be opposed to it

Going back to that the problem is is that there’s so many politics like the thing about media voting um anybody wants to say anything about media voting for awards you can say whatever you want I promise you it’s the least evil I promise you because I’m telling you one

Of the biggest scandalous award voting out there is the executive of the year which is where the executives vote for each other and over the course of the years there have been some heinous stuff go on that executive of the Year voting including the year that the signed LeBron and Bosch

Sure they technically tied with the bulls for executive of the year but that wasn’t actually true because a lot of people gave John Paxton votes and then a couple people gave gar Foreman votes technically the Bulls got more votes than the heat they called it a

Tie I think because it would be so embarrassing if the heat didn’t get it the year that they pulled off the greatest offseason history of pro sports um that’s just one example I’m telling you the backstabbing and that stuff is horrible then you look remember remember

For a couple years the players did the players Awards yeah yes you know those went away fast because there was some embarrassing stuff going on there and then you just look at their their voting for the All-Star team every year right they don’t take it seriously so yeah and

Like the fans obviously they’ve almost voted for Zaza pachulia to start the All-Star game so yeah I agree it ain’t perfect it’s the best we got but when it comes the defensive evaluations I don’t think we’re equipped um you may know your team like if you’re a real

Conscientious beat writer or you’re a real conscientious fan you may know your team but I’m sorry you just I I know enough to know that I don’t know so on those Awards um I survey Co I use um so what you’re asking me is how can bam do

It give it back to the assistant coaches and the because I just because I don’t think he will as far as I mean should he make a because I think he didn’t even make the did he did he make second team last year yeah second okay on all

Defense yeah I think I put him on second team I I don’t you know he didn’t have a great post All-Star break last year right yeah so um but I definitely voted for him two years ago and uh and you can check the receipts unless my ballot got

Screwed up I definitely voted for him because uh but you know I think it’s going to be hard to answer your question well that was the year where he could have made it cuz that was the year Marcus Smart had it and almost felt like

You know we just sort of gave it to Marcus Smart on behalf of all guards um so you know that was that was a little interesting but uh the last question on on bam before we get to some other things here and zoom out but uh any anecdotes because I’m just fascinated

From the reporting aspect of a story like that any any reporting anecdotes that hit The Cutting Room floor that you feel like sharing I can’t remember other than I can’t remember that’s a good question the problem is I I actually wrote the story two months ago in December and

Then it sat around for a month and then I updated it right um but you know I really appreciated B first off bam gave me time on a game day oh yeah which um I say gave me time like we had a a sitdown interview on a game day um that doesn’t

Happen and I think the reason he did that because I think he’s like look I would not mind some attention for my play you know he was just killing he’s still having a great year but he was killing at that point yeah um but

Uh um I love how open he was and and and continues to be about I want defensive player of the year I want all NBA I want all those things like I said it kind of goes opposite of the heat nature but he can get away with it not everybody can

Get away with it but he can get away with it because nobody questions the work ethic or the dedication or the fact that it really is like okay I want to win and he wants to do all that like at some point you earn that ability to be

Like I want these things and I think that that’s okay it’s almost refreshing also I’ll say this he’s a max player yeah who won a gold medal that’s the other thing like I was there was almost nobody in Tokyo uh so I was I’ve covered Team USA for the last

Six years I I covered Team USA when they went to China uh in 2019 and while Greg papovich is a very difficult person to cover he was very kind and let us watch practices before that World Cup and and that they were still doing roster decisions that training I mean now those

Appear to be over appears like they’re going to name the team before training camp but back then they had a a roster fight and frankly papovich alienated some people because he elevated Derek white his point guard off the select team over some other guys like Trey

Young and um dearen Fox and you notice it you know they haven’t been in USA Basketball since um I thought bam was killing this this would have been the 2 summer of 200 um 19 I really didn’t know bam was as good as he was um I thought bam killed it in that

Um uh that uh that training camp and then they cut him right and uh you know bam gave team yose a gift by not playing for Nigeria you know Nigeria qualified for the right for the for the Olympics he had not played for Team USA his F I believe his father is

Nigerian yeah I my get I know the Nigerian team was a little bit disorganized Mike Brown was the coach but like I’m sure they could have got him a passport he he he gave the Americans a gift yeah uh by playing in Tokyo and so like that Tokyo

Situation my perception of it was that people really weren’t paying attention to it because if you remember the team was training like in between like during the finals right and then they immediately went and the Olympics was kind of off schedule and free agency in the draft

Was going on like literally there was a practice day and and papovich and kerr weren’t available to talk to the media because they were drafting players um so I feel like that you know it’s like oh yeah America won okay cool you know what’s on TV like they had to

Work their ass off to win that and Bam like was getting you know playing against all these lumbering European guys like I respected him I respect anybody who was on that team and went over in Tokyo and it wasn’t like the bubble in in Orlando I understand but it was it was close

You know yes they were allowed to like leave their hotel room but we were still in Japan and Japan was shut down um so I respected what he did there and I had watched him go from getting cut he could have played for Nigeria and didn’t played for the US and he brought

Home a gold medal so like what I’ll say about bam is this the man’s played in two finals he’s been an All-Star several times he has a max contract is he is universally respected by his peers maybe if you go out and ask somebody on the street who’s the best

Centers in the NBA they won’t list him and maybe he wants to be in that list fair but he has been he has worked hard and he has gotten Just Desserts maybe not everything but I’m not gonna lay awake tonight and say boy bam it’s not working out for him

Because I I I do think it is it’s very fair um the heat are 20 and 14 as we sit here that’s even with bam having missed 10 Jimmy’s missed 10 Tyler Hero’s missed 18 games they’re fourth place now in the Eastern Conference um kind of looking ahead trade deadline in February like

Are they content with the roster should they be content with the roster and where everything stands I will quote Eric spola we have enough yeah um they are not one of the three best teams in my opinion but I would have said that a year ago they will remain opportunistic um every time

The star becomes available the heat are an option um you know people remember the ones that they’ve hit on yeah they remember LeBron they remember Bosch they remember Butler but the Heat have missed out on a lot of guys too but they’re in it for almost every single one so you

Know like they’ll be in it and you know what they do is they put themselves in position um to where when they connect they’ll be ready to go and so what I would say to a Heat fan is they’ll give you a team that you’ll be proud to root

For maybe they don’t make it out of the first round this year maybe they make the Conference Finals maybe in February they trade for a superstar maybe they don’t do it till July you know um it was not the greatest summer for them when um they missed out on on Lillard and then

He goes to the team that ensures that jannis extends probably not their best day but you know no heat organization okay we’re GNA keep going that’s not you know they don’t uh they don’t process stuff like that they just keep going and you know they are they

Are blessed with the fact that they’re in Miami and they have those advantages yet they never lean on that so um uh they will remain a factor and so we’ll see spoler will have those those uh those those sleeves rolled up um no team changes from November to to

July April like the heat do every single year the heat you know you talk to these Scouts typically by midseason or so the Scouts have the teams down they know what they run when they’re when they have to come back and recheck them it’s sort of an easy you know it’s an easier

Night not with the heat they have to go in fresh in March just like they do in November because bolstra does it so like I don’t even know what the heat are going to look like in March like even if they don’t make a trade they’ll be a

Different team like how do I know yic isn’t going to come alive you know and like that’s what people should have been in La should have been talking about last night they should have been talking about not that there’s anything wrong with hood chafino like he may end up

Being a quality player but H shafina went 17 and hakz went 18 right and you know I don’t even follow the draft I don’t have I don’t have the bandwidth because I do the playoffs I don’t have the bandwidth right now to like know what Isaiah CER is doing like

I talk to Executives and I talk to Scouts and I talk to like Jonathan gavone and he briefs me a lot of guys I don’t even see him play until summer league okay now obviously the top players I make it my business but like even doing surface level analysis

Just okay the finals ended I got to get ready to do some draft work it was like boy haime hakz is a Heat player so when they got him here’s the other thing you know Riley spends a lot of time in LA um Chad camer who’s their longtime Scout lives in

La um if you’re good player in La the he’ have seen you a lot of times right and you know it was funny um recently it was bronny James’s first game or maybe his second game uh or whatever he was playing in alurn and um this guy that I know who

Works in Alabama sent me a video of bronnie warming up and right behind him in the first row taking notes as Adam Simon you know the heater out there doing it so soon as I you know again I didn’t know Hai hakz his game like I couldn’t like

Say oh yeah great pick but like I knew just surface level I like that is a Heat player right and um so it’s not surprising at all that he’s worked out although he’s obviously better than anybody thought he would be but I remember the first time I got to see him

Play in person was in Chicago this year and um he was matched up against P against Patrick Williams and Patrick Williams is the guy who picked n age 19 incredible athletic gifts right iy hwz is picked at age 22 not as incredible athletic gifts but you watch and like literally hakz does

Everything better his footwork is better his ball handling is better his positioning is better and Williams is in his and I’m not even saying this to um drag on Patrick Williams I’m just saying like these two guys are the same age one of them’s been in the NBA for six weeks

One of’s in the NBA for four years and hakz like does everything more proficiently um but but that was interesting to see hood chafino and hakz play against each other and and um so that would you know it’s who knows where he’ll be by March if you’re trying to eat a little

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The off season and I think a lot of Heat fans are kind of a little upset about how the national uh fan bases and media have portrayed Miami’s assets and I’m curious from your insiders perspective knowing these front offices as well as you do how do other teams evaluate

Miami’s talent because you see even players that have been in the league for a while let’s say Gabe Vincent like he can go and join a Lakers team and obviously he’s been dealing with injury but it just seems like they find a way to thrive in Miami and can’t Thrive

Elsewhere where so how do other teams evaluate and value what Miami has on their roster in terms of whether or not they are actually talented enough to play at a high level it’s a mixed bag because the heat are always careful with overpaying role players I think stru is

Doing pretty well in Cleveland sure um and um I certainly think that um they appreciate his professionalism I think he’s brought a lot to them just more than just being their starting small forward right um I think PE from the moment that hero signed that contract thought it was a

Little bit a little bit high now subsequently you’ve seen some other guys get paid in that realm and it doesn’t look out of line um I think the hero contract for a guy who’s viewed as a one-way player you know I think hero is what he is but I

Think that contract is a little bit of an issue and I you know you it’s funny that you’d think about that if you were Portland because they gave you know Anthony Simons another one-way player you know not quite as much money but um you know they already invested in that

But um I think people like hero they just you know they’re not sure about him although there’s a ton of one white players out there um I think every team in the league would take adab bio in five seconds I think any any any trade discussion with the

Heat you have to at least ask for bam until you’re told no I think he’s I think he’s a extremely highly value player because not only ises he guard one through five but he can pull the ball off the rim and go down and start your offense that’s the

New frontier big men it was expected that you know okay big men now you must shoot well now big men play like Nika jic get the rebound go down and if even and even if you can’t start the offense like bam can go down there and operate

The offense be a be a Creator so I think bam is you know I know Bill Simmons used to do that uh trade value thing bam would be way way up in my view he’s probably the most valued player on the heat I would value yovic I saw yovic

Shoot the hell out of the ball in Manila and I know he is so young and he’s got a lot to work on he’s 610 right he’s 20 like to and I would never ever ever put myself up as a Personnel evaluator I I know what I don’t know but

If I was looking at the Heat and I was having a trade conversation yic is way high up there yic hakz b meta bio three extremely valued pieces um without question um after that you know you could get into a debate you know they have a couple of first that

They’re still holding on to um but you know the what they have really is the expiring contract right you know is is Kyle’s expiring contract so we’ll see what if that yields anything but but that’s you know those are you know um you know I rank I I you know without

Doing like serious Research into it that’s off top of my head yeah last question Brian we really appreciate the time here but uh we we we have to ask Donovan Mitchell you’ve been all over this this story what what’s the latest on him is this something that could

Happen before February uh is this more of an offseason topic uh what do you got so I don’t know if you got I’m sure you guys did but uh this season um before the season uh Calvin Booth from the Nuggets gave this interview to the ringer to Kevin ‘ Conor yeah right it’s

Probably the best if it’s not the best it’s one of the best interviews I’ve ever seen in executive give now he apparently thought some of it was off the Record yep but in that thing he said overlap is a silent killer he was talking about the um Lob

City Clippers if I’m not mistaken yeah uh where you know Griffin and DeAndre Jordan were just super talented but they couldn’t stretch the floor and you know and um JJ reick and Chris Paul I mean Chris Paul’s a Hall of Famer JJ reck is uh you know one of the best Shooters of

His era but they neither of them could defend uh bigs they were too little undersized not big big men but you know big wings yeah and 20 years into my career very rarely do I hear a concept in basketball where I’m like oh my God stops and makes me

Reconsider things and boy is that true he was talking about how they built the Nuggets you know they didn’t want to have any overlap they wanted to have everybody kind of fit together they didn’t and you look at the calves and their overlap is it’s all overlap it’s really problematic and what’s going

On right now now Evan Moy has been out and Jared Allen is averaging 226 and six six assists because in 2024 it’s really hard to have a non- shooting four and a non-shooting five and when Allen is has the floor spaced because they’ve been playing George neang who’s not headed to the

Hall of Fame but they’ve been spacing the floor a little bit more and and the Cavs have been winning at the same clip without Garland and and mo as they were before and that’s not an indictment on those two players it’s an issue of their overlap so they have two big men who

Overlap and then they have two undersized perimeter players who need the ball and don’t defend and that’s Mitchell and Garland and so overlap is kind I don’t say it’s killing them but I think it’s they’re not getting out of their talent what they need to get out of their

Talent and so I think they’re in fifth or sixth and maybe they’ll finish fifth or sixth but you know will Donovan extend under these circumstances not everybody thinks so and um you know can’t really let him go into the last year of his contract

So I think it’s going to be hard for the Cavs to come to that conclusion or decision either way whether it’s keep them or not by February because I think that they just I think they’d like to see this team out and I also you you know I’ve had a lot

Of conversations about would it be smarter for the Cavs to trade a player in February or wait till the summer and smart people disagree on that so it’s a really big decision um I don’t know if they’re going to be there when I say decision I don’t mean whether

I mean whether they’re gonna trade them or not I don’t know if they’re going to get there but certainly um one of the things that I think when you start to think about what the Knicks could trade for them you know the position that the Cavs are in

They don’t control their draft after this year they don’t control their draft for five years so um that’s going to Utah so they really can’t make a rebuild trade now that doesn’t mean you wouldn’t you know if you if the assets you take the best assets in a star trade even if

Those end up being draft picks but it’s very you know the concept of them sinking backwards isn’t appealing because they don’t control their draft so probably on the other side of any big trade whether it’s for Donovan or one of their other players they probably need

To have guys who can retrofit their team now and the Knicks the two players I thought would fit that bill would be Barrett and quickley certainly in any kind of Mitchell trade you would have wanted draft picks as well but those were the two players I thought that would fit the

Cavs one is a controllable player in rookie contract another guy on a you know know a starter quality player on a okay contract some people it’s bad I think it’s okay and then draft picks so the Knicks have now made that move so any sort of you know doesn’t mean

That they can’t find another way but I would think that the Nick’s chances of trading for Donovan were he to become available may have dimmed mildly which would mean that the Heat’s position if they want Donovan I don’t even know if they do would become a little bit more

Interesting um but you know again I don’t know where the Cavs are like on yovic and hakz like that’s you know those are the two names I’d be thinking about um so I don’t know I I think to be determined and I think when I say to be

Determined it’s not just a cop out answer I think the Cavs have a lot of very hard decisions to make and one of the things that’s happened as these two guys have gone out and they’ve watched Jared Allen like explode is they got to be really hard evaluating

What they’re going to do and I don’t know if they’re going to be able to get to any firm Decisions by early early February well Brian thanks so much for joining us we took up way too much of your time um for anybody listening that doesn’t know I you’re everywhere on ESPN

Um read the story Miami’s bam adab bio once in on the NBA’s list of elite big man again we’ll uh keep that link in the show notes but Brian thanks so much we really appreciate the time thanks guys have a great weekend you too you too thanks again to Brian wior for joining

The show thanks to you for making lock on heat your first listen every day hit that subscribe button on YouTube and follow us on your favorite podcast app locked on has launched the first ever National Sports 247 streaming Channel on YouTube locked on sports today is here

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ESPN’s Brian Windhorst joins the show to discuss his story on Bam Adebayo wanting to be included among the NBA’s top big men, his All-NBA and DPOY case, and more. Wes Goldberg and David Ramil are joined by Brian to talk about all of that, plus why Brian enjoys being around the Heat, what rival front offices think of the Heat’s assets and the latest intel on Donovan Mitchell’s future in Cleveland.

Story link: https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/39226359/miami-bam-adebayo-wants-nba-list-elite-big-men

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