Miami Heat entering season’s most important stretch | Five on the Floor

Miami Heat entering season’s most important stretch | Five on the Floor

Welcome to this episode of five on the floor in the five re Sports Network thanks for joining us on your favorite podcast app Google podcast Apple podcast Spotify and red circle also the Five Reasons YouTube channel make sure you hit like subscribe and turn the notifications on also check us out on

Off the floor that’s our Discord $2.99 per month got nine channels on there we’re considering adding a tenth talk about that more here as the episode uh goes forward but check it out again this is where you can communicate with Heat fans all day and night long and us we

Pop on there with host updates we also pop on to the various channels so if you have questions you get us answered directly from us check it out it’s off the floor that’s our new Discord the link is posted right here on the podcast feed the YouTube feed at the top of the

Five reasons Twitter page also check out the great sponsors of the five reason Sports Network ere Wheel Fix that’s with a U at the beginning UB braak Wheel Fix it’s Miami’s Premier wheel repair and refinishing company 20 years of experience repairing and refinishing damaged wheels from Curb rash bends and

Cracks juice up your car with a fresh look with C custom powder coating colors to set you apart from the rest you brake Wheel Fix is located in North Miami off abys gain and Northeast 143rd Street fast turnaround times minimize your car’s downtime catch you break Wheel Fix

On all social media platforms or contact our guy Mark at 35748 0112 that’s 35748 0112 and now today’s episode five on the floor ride for my dogs where here the thing you can check the score Hustle Hard couple scars wear bubble frog just like brother say you in

Trouble y check the FL plan got it all B y’all seen the block stop with one hand and P trust it’s have the guts we here to bring the heat y’all can hang it up welcome to five on the floor a daily Insider show on the Miami Heat and the

NBA featuring Ethan colet Greg sander and Alex Toledo plus others from the five reasons Sports Network welcome back to five on the floor here’s today’s floor plan I’m Ethan scolnick and follow me Ethan J scolnick and at five reasion sports my lingering cold continues so I apologize

For my voice we have Greg sander you can follow him at Greg sander and what we’re going to do right now is set you up for what looks like the most important stage of the mightbe Heat regular season uh the heat coming to this point three

Games over 500 they’ve now one two in a row after losing seven in a row so they’ve actually lost seven out of 10 they have beaten Sacramento and Washington during this recent stretch the Sacramento win is a good win can’t take anything away from that the Washington win everybody beats

Washington so I’m not going to put too much stock into of that is pretty much Jimmy Butler who showed up and not a whole bunch of others but now the Miami Heat played 10 games before the end of February eight of those 10 games are against teams that have been better net

Ratings than them so they are 18th in the league in net rating coming into tonight’s play We’re talk recording this on a Saturday they’ve beaten very few teams so far this season with better net ratings I actually counted seven wins I may be off by one or two there but there

Was the Cleveland win there was the Golden State win barely better than them uh this year the Sacramento win we mentioned Philadelphia but no embiid um they don’t have a ton of signature wins they haven’t beaten Boston they haven’t beaten Milwaukee they haven’t played Denver yet they’re going to see them

They lost to OKC they lost to Minnesota so they kind of have the same problem the Dolphins had this year where like they cleaned up against Bad teams Miami actually has put away most of the bad teams this year but they have not really punched up uh very well and they’re

Supposed to be one of those teams that other teams are punching up at and instead when you’re 18th in the league out of 30 teams in net rating you’re not in a great spot um and again these next 10 games they play eight of them the

Only two that are not are the Spurs and the Blazers they get the Spurs this week they get the Blazers towards the end of the month you would hope that they would get those but they got to figure out a way to get three or four of the others

And the other part of this Greg and I know we’re gonna weave this in and we’re going to do a lot more over the next few days is this comes during a stretch where the trade deadline occurs and the allstar break so all of these things are

Kind of coming together in February the trade deadline is February 8th they have three games before that conceivably they could be 500 they could be six games over 500 by that point and then they’re going to have more decisions to make and then they get a couple of days off

Actually which is nice uh before they play Boston and we see if they get hammered again and that’s on Super Bowl Sunday so I’ll go to you with this um what is the most important thing that they need to get out of this stretch I mean they basically need to

Ensure that they continue to have fun and I’m going to really boil it down to that uh because you’ve seen the difference when this team isn’t having fun and when they are and and they can at least remain competitive you need to get through the stretch above 500 I

Don’t think you can backtrack in the standings this is their moment where they actually as they’ve now kind of um gotten up off the mat from that seven game losing streak they actually have a chance to not only jump Indiana in the standings but also jump Philadelphia

Phil if Philly starts um you know losing and they could maybe catch up there there not that many games back in the Lost column that’s kind of where you want to hope is to not be in the playin and to me this month of February is going to define whether you’re playoff

Fodder um in terms of being in the playin and having to fight for your life or if you’re gonna be able to rest through that stretch so to me I know that they have some cupcakes in March and spola has classic uh after Allstar break runs in his history so I don’t

Want to Discount what they may be able to do to Rattle off victories later in the season but I think what this stretch will show us is are they ever going to be for real or is this going to be kind of a midling team all the way through to

The end of the regular season well yeah they got three games against Detroit and March alone so I you know this is you know that’s an opportunity just collect wins you hope um but we talk about them you know making up ground I I think at

This point over the next 10 you’re just hoping not to lose ground you know they’ve lost touch to a certain extent with the Knicks uh which was not supposed to happen and now the Knicks are Knicks have injuries like the Knicks are are thin uh but they’ve played so

Well since they’ve got an anobi it hasn’t seemed to matter and Cleveland they really should have passed Cleveland I mean honest I mean you look at Cleveland not having Garland and Moy for a month or more and in that case it kind of thinned it out we’ve talked about

This with the heat that sometimes the heat are better when they don’t have a full roster it seems to clarify things for Cleveland quite a bit also where it was really about Allen and Mitchell primarily and they’ve run away from the heat a little bit too so you have those two teams have

Run away a little bit you have Boston you have Milwaukee and then you have the Philadelphia question which we’re still waiting to hear what the results are with MB but it doesn’t sound good so I mean like you said they could move up and catch Philadelphia it’s the one

Break that the Heat have caught but as the heat go into this they’re only three games they had a Chicago I mean like they’re they’re closer to teams that we thought would start to sell off in tank than they are to the best teams in the Eastern Conference and you know that’s

Why I say like you just can’t lose more ground like you have to uh six and four in these next 10 I would take that honestly you know you win the two you’re supposed to win and you split the other eight and they’re gonna have a hard time doing

Them and again I’m G to go through it you know specifically we we talked about it uh in the abstract here Clippers at home the heat haven’t played well against the Clippers in years not when the Clippers are healthy excuse me the magic at home they have handled the

Magic a couple of times so maybe that’s one you get we mentioned the Spurs Clippers at home on Super Bowl Sunday again I excuse me the Celtics at home I’m not expecting a lot there they go to Milwaukee and Philadelphia on a back to back this is where it gets ugly yeah I

Mean you could catch the Sixers there again depending on MB status you did beat them without embi once already but it is the second night of a backtack I wouldn’t put that in the win column necessarily um then you have Allstar now we know that for the with the exception

Of bam and hakz most of the team going to get a break there but then they come out of the break with a tough trip I mean I in New Orleans that’s a great place to go right out of an allar break right I mean you team that’s lethargic

They better fly in there and stay in their rooms that night uh then they get a couple of nights off I don’t know if they would go back to South Florida my guess is probably not they’ probably fly out to California and they get a back toback against the Kings and the

Blazers the Kings game that’s going to be tough uh in that building even with a couple days off the blaze are second night of a back toback you hope you get it but again a game that you’re hoping to get but it’s a second night of a back

Toback on the road with a three-hour time difference so we don’t know exactly how that’s gonna play out and then you end the trip in Denver thanks that’s the wor right I mean that’s the worst possible I mean honestly Greg I think you take it because they’re going to

Lose that game anyway right like we assume so might as well put that one at the end of a trip like I it used to always be when I would travel with them it felt like every single year they were finishing a five game West swing in

Denver on the second night of a back-to-back after coming from La I can’t tell you how many times I did that trip it was always from the Clippers too uh because they used to do it where the Clippers and and they wouldn’t put the Clipper in Laker games on the same trip

Which never made any sense to me they started doing that the past couple years yeah but we would fly into Denver I would see Dwayne in the locker room and he would just like shake his head like he wasn’t playing like we we knew like last game of the trip uh you know

Finishing it up in Denver with the altitude so that’s a loss but that would have been a loss anyway so actually you kind of take it but I think to go six and four during that stretch is a challenge it is and the way the Nickson and Cleveland’s playing like I would

Just say you’re just hoping to stay within Striking Distance at that point now let me ask you this and then we’ll pivot to more of this stuff after the break three games before the trade deadline okay so those three games how much do you think they’ll dictate what they do at the deadline

Clippers at home I’m not expecting a win on Sunday I’ve I’ve seen them play the Clippers too many times magic at home Spurs at home if they go any worse than than two and one it’ll hurt it’ll hurt um but but I I don’t know I I kind of feel like they

Made their move and I don’t know that they’re going to line up to make another one so quickly um I’ve received no indication that they’re close to anything either so like part of it is just if I’m going to go down this road I’m speculating like maybe they decide

That they’re gonna sell sell Caleb and when I say that it would really be flipping him for another player maybe that they can still be functional with if they don’t think they’re going to pay him but then there’s a part of me that thinks NOP that’s not what the heat do

They’re going to hang on to Caleb for the rest of the season so to that point I think the roier move was made I’m not expecting much so I don’t think that what’s done now will dictate what they were going to do I’ve said that I think

That ultimately this is going to land in a place where they’re gonna arrive at the decision that they need to make major changes but I don’t think it’s going to be at the deadline I think that that’s a summer conversation and so that’s just where I continue to stay and

I don’t think what happens now and in these next couple games like to to think that you would make decisions based off of just these next couple games that seems like a short-sighted approach and I don’t think that’s the way that they operate well I don’t think winning three

Straight would necessarily lead them to do something that’s for sure I think losing two or three of these next three could get you a pivot the other direction honestly like because I mean again the num the numbers are the numbers they made the Rosier move I

Likeed when they made it I still like it I think the shooting will come around I don’t think he’s going to be a 48% shooter with the heat but he’s going to be better than he’s been which is about excuse me 32% his overall floor game has been good

Has been good so so I think that you know there’s something to build on there and you do have the full roster so at least you’re getting the opportunity to evaluate with everybody we’ve talked about how hakz and Duncan now Duncan being out with the concussion again he’s

Going to miss again the game again on Sunday they’ve kind of receded a little bit here and they need to figure out a way I think to get hakz and Duncan more involved as they go forward over the next month um but I I think that I think you’re right

That the the Terry move is is the move but if I think of they lose the next three I absolutely could see them make a move to go backwards a little bit in the perception of fans like I I do think that you know then you you start to look

At the Caleb thing and say okay you know can we use the Caleb contract of what’s left of it um and I don’t know if he’s gonna opt out or not but I would anticipate even with the uneven year he’s had that he will opt out of it

Because it’s not a big number and he’ll take his chances out there on the market and kind of see what happens and it’s a guy who’s had really one contract in his career so he’s looking for a second one that was a little bit more lucrative um

And if you just get the feeling that it’s not a direction you’re going to go where you’re going to resign him then I could see them saying okay let’s try to pick up another asset here for the future or let’s try to get a little

Further under the tax or and I I don’t know you know you know what I’m saying I I feel like that’s I feel like if you have a bad three games here I feel like it moves more in that direction than it is right now I I I want to ask you and

Get your perspective on this um if they were to lose those games like you’re mentioning if they to trade Caleb Thomas Bryant and Drew Smith they actually would slide I think completely out of the tax and they wouldn’t be a tax paying team at all and like I hate to

Say it but I wouldn’t put that off the table either you know what I mean I think that it has to be explored at least can you get an asset back I mean I guess that’s a question can can you get a second round pick back or something

That could be flipped somewhere else I mean I that that’s how I would judge it if it’s just if it’s just to get out of the tax I I think it becomes you know sort of an open question about whether that’s what you do now but I feel like

If if you if you get under the tax and you get a small piece that can be included for something else later on it could be justified I’ll just say because mean let’s be honest this team has not performed they’ve not performed I mean like we can we can sugarcoat it

We can talk about all the injuries they’ve had they’ve looked worse since everybody’s come back you can’t say that a team that is 18 in the league in net rating is a contender they’re not they’re not I mean the only the only reason we’re even suggesting they could

Be is because they did the same crap last year and then they made a run from three minutes left in the second playin game against a bad Chicago team yeah and figured out and Jimmy went nuclear against Milwaukee right prior to that you would never put them in that class

Right no they were not they didn’t look like a contender all last year they don’t look I like the Ross better this year I liked it better coming out of camp and I like it even better now with Roser and their flowy because Lowry was the big issue for me

But they haven’t played like a contender the whole year like they haven’t beaten any like again we critical I know you follow the Dolphins obviously I cover the Dolphins in some capacity still people were saying this about the Dolphins the whole year they had chances to prove it over and over they couldn’t

Okay they didn’t beat any Cowboys game but then that wasn’t a good win anymore right they scored they dropped 70 on Denver and then that looked better in retrospect because the Broncos got their bleep together in the second half of the season but when the Dolphins played

Denver they were a horrible team you know they got better as the year went on under Shawn Payton they didn’t beat anybody when when push came to shove Baltimore destroyed him Buffalo destroyed him I mean that’s just that’s we’ve gotten used to seeing that right like and then Kansas City beat him and

The he that’s the reality now you could point back to say well the the 2005 2006 team didn’t beat anybody in the regular season I remember writing many columns about that and then they you know obviously then Dwayne went nuts to the playoffs so again if if if he officials

If he fans if heat media want to kind of cling to some things they’ve seen in the past and say okay this team can replicate some of those things I understand that I mean we go back and do historical precedent stuff here on the podcast all the time but I’m just saying

With what I’ve seen with my own eyes this year their top three players have not fit okay bam is an All-Star he’s not having a better year than last year in my view I think he’s having a worse year than last year prior to the all-star break because bam slippage came after the

All-Star break last year Jimmy has looked much better of late of late okay and Jimmy’s game picked up after the All-Star break to make up for bam last year so maybe there will continue to be an upward trajectory but he has not been consistent with his effort we’ve talked

About that at many times Caleb has not had a great year as a role guy um Josh has had a couple offensive games has not been as good defensively as I think we hoped he would be and again hakz and Duncan who were to me along with Kevin

Love the real positive stories of the first 30 to 35 games love got it back together in the last game but Duncan and hakz have not or at least you know Duncan has not had the opportunity to with some of the uh this stuff he’s been dealing with particularly again the

Concussion stuff so so they don’t look like a contender to me they just don’t I mean they had an opportunity to prove it against Boston and we saw what happened in that game they gave up like 150 right so again I’m not saying they can’t do it

But I understand if the front office looks at it and says all right let’s reposition a little bit yeah let’s just reposition okay they’re not trading a first round pick no I know at this point you don’t I I I think again you traded one for Rosier I like the move and

That’s why I liked it better than trading say two first round picks at yovic for dejonte Murray which I don’t think would have moved the needle enough to justify that so to me the Hedge move on Rosier was the right move and we’ll see if it gives them a puncher’s chance

All right we’re gonna get to uh the rest of the episode here in a second before we do want to mention a couple great sponsors of the five reason Sports Network excuse me our friends over at better Edge use the code five RSN that’s

Five RSN get $20 to play with we got a Super Bowl tournament going on right now join it because not only can you win the pot there first place prizes second place prizes third place prizes but I’m giving away t-shirts uh just to random entries you don’t even have to win go to

Better edge.com use the code five RSN get $20 to play you also get it with using the code five reasons or just check out our Twitter page I’m tweeting out the competition all the way up to the Super Bowl also check out prize picks use the code five FIV this is our

Fantasy partner our daily fantasy partner use the code 5 FIV you get your initial deposit matched up to $100 play the NBA the NFL and all the other sports pair athletes from different sports together go two three four five six players play the Goblins play the demons

They got all kinds of stuff over there prize.com from the Google Play store or the Apple App Store but make sure you sign up we know we’ve been telling you that a different code we are only using this code now sign up with the code 5 FIV win some money and additionally help

Us because uh we have a long-standing relationship with prize picks this helps us keep the content coming all right so let’s get to it and I know this is what people really wanted your prediction for what we’re what is six days out now five days out trade deadline what happens they do

Anything um today so this is on February 3rd at 8:40 p.m. Eastern Standard Time I say that we do not see them make any further moves I that’s where I stand today I’ll let you know if that changes every episode leading up to but that’s

Where I am right now I feel like they made their move um I just if they were to trade Caleb it would either be for a similarly expiring player that maybe FS a need in the front Court in a different way or it would be a player that’s on a longer

Term contract that may be a slightly lower number that you want to take a chance on or it’s GNA just be straight selling him off for nothing into a team’s cap space for instance or you know like that kind of situation or he gets you know folded into a trade

Exception or something like that and so those things are on the table but I’m not expecting it I’m going into the deadline expecting it to be pretty quiet from the Heats perspective uh do you where where do you stand I think the most likely scenario is they trade Drew Smith

I I I like and again it’s not going to count to most fans as a move but there’s a reason to do it and I feel like that’s the probable move here I don’t see a big move perhaps um we’ll see I mean I perhaps maybe well with a second to kind

Of clean it up a little bit I that something like that or Thomas Bryant I think that’s where we’re at I don’t I don’t think I know there’s been talk about Dorian fny Smith look some of the here and I don’t know if it’s just there are certain teams are completely

Unreasonable but some of the talk here about what teams are looking for or what they’re using you know Wan Shams for to get out there into the space like three first round picks for Dorian finy Smith the Nets turned down five first round picks reportedly from Mel Bridges I

Don’t even know if I believe that story but you Utah right I mean Utah I mean Danny a we know asks for ridiculous things all the time I I just because o Linux name has come up a bunch I mean I had a couple people ask me excuse me

About the Heat’s interest in him today but I I just think the prices are high I think the heat got a good price for Terry Rosier like I I feel like first round pick and expiring contract for a guy who was averaging I know it was on a

Bad team but it was on pretty decent efficiency there averaging those kind of numbers was that was good value for the heat I thought and it opened up their taxpayer mid-level exception like they moved far enough away from the second apron to where they can spend that it’ll

Be pro-rated but their taxpayer midlevel in the buyout market so that’s where they can continue to be players and I wanted to mention that because I’ve always been anti- buyout Market because they’ve gotten so little production out of it throughout the years we always make a big deal about

The Troy Murphy’s of the world or was it Rooney tur off one year that they brought in and everything else um but they did hit with Kevin Love last year so and I and I think what we saw with the trade market starting early early and so many teams especially in the west

Jostling for position and kind of seeing if they’re contending or not that I do think there will be more activity and also we look at the second apron uh and the more punitive stuff is coming up down the road here that also the cap uh was down what a million dollars from

What they anticipated there’s a whole bunch of things coming into play here but I I think ultimately what happens is there’ll be more trades I may be wrong about that but I think there’ll be more trades I AG more tra right but Greg that’s the thing though if there are more trades there

Will be more buyout candidates because typically in recent years the buyout candidates have been players like Kyle Lowry obviously he’s not coming back to Miami who have been traded to a team they can’t help at that point right uh and but may may be able to help somebody

Else and so the more trades there are the more buyout prospects that are going to be love was a different situation because that was more of a playing time issue and kind of them going different direction I still don’t really understand why they cut him loose but I

Think there’s going to be options for the heat there so I I think you can make the argument that they made their trade already the team didn’t respond the way you’d hoped at least not at first and you do have an otherwise healthy roster okay for the most part again Duncan

Situation will clear itself up and essentially you don’t really have to do anything else and you just wait to see if somebody comes up in the buyout Market who’s 68 or taller and can defend a little bit and maybe somebody you could put out there with bam in certain

Situations but I I don’t think they’re going to make a trade for a guy and I’m told this all the time by folks in their front office they if they’re gonna add somebody it’s somebody that Eric spoler can potentially close important games with that is their line okay Terry

Rosier fits that description they did not have a player like him to do the things that he can do turn the corn Corner get in the paint break down the defense create for himself and other people they did not have that guy Kyle is not that guy that is a useful skill

Set at the end of games okay they won’t add anybody who is just you know and trade another assid for a player who Eric is not gonna tap on the shoulder and close no they won’t do it they won’t do it it’s gonna have to be somebody who

Can crack their top seven at the end of games so think in those terms now I now look Dorian finny to me is the kind of player who might be able to would Royce O’Neal I’m not sure you take a look at some some of the guys around the league

I think use that as your line and I think then maybe they consider something but honestly I think that the team kind of made the decision for them I mean they lost seven straight and they looked awful during it like they Lo against the good teams they

Got blown out and then the bad teams they let him hang around long enough and lost two so you know I to me the front office did their part they got a guy in my view below market value um and I think that guy is going to help them not

Just this year but into the future and I think at this point you wait for the buyout Market I think that’s the most likely scenario right now that being said don’t aggregate me they’ll trade Tyler hero and some kind of Blockbuster and everybody will say we’re wrong but I

Just I don’t think that’s the direction that this is going all right for Greg choking I’m gonna end this year hopefully by tomorrow I’ll be able to talk to you guys uh without all of this uh stuff anyway have a good night everybody thank you for listening to the

Five on the floor on the fireing sports network after all someone needs to listen to my dad

8 out of 10 games against teams with better net ratings. The trade deadline. The All-Star break. It’s all coming up in February. Ethan Skolnick and Greg Sylvander discuss what’s at stake for the Miami Heat as a whole, and for certain players on the team.

Sponsors: UBreakWheelFix.com, BettorEdge.com (5RSN), PrizePicks (five)

Join us on our Off The Floor Discord server! Get exclusive insider information, along with updates/stats/insights from the 5OTF crew and hang out with other Heat fans! https://t.co/izwgN0SEt6

Sign up using the code FIVE to double initial deposit at PrizePicks.com (up to $100) Subscribe to our YouTube channel for Miami Sports on Demand!

Content about the Miami Heat, Miami Dolphins, Miami Hurricanes, Miami Marlins, Florida Panthers, NBA, NFL, MLB, MLS, college football & more!

If you want more exclusive Miami Dolphins content, join OnlyFins on Discord: https://discord.gg/onlyfins

If you’re interested in sponsoring Five Reasons, contact us at fivereasonssports@gmail.com