Heat Check: Heat lessons from playoffs? And NBA Draft talk

Heat Check: Heat lessons from playoffs? And NBA Draft talk

hello and welcome to the heat check the Miami Heralds Miami Heat show I’m David wison and I’m joined as always on the other line it’s Anthony Chang our Heat beat writer here at the Harold Anthony what’s going on up David how are you I’m doing all right um offseason mode a little bit right yeah I mean this is uh second week of the offseason I’m gonna grow up my beard right now like we have some time we have more than a month before the draft month and a half until free agency yep pretty much almost two months until summer league like there’s some time before before things really start going even though I mean there is no like the NBA offseason never really gets quiet right there’s always rumors and speculation and all that but yeah we have some time here before really you know things start to heat up yeah and obviously draft combine going on this week we’re going to talk about some draft stuff uh later on in this episode um but first let’s just check in on the NBA Playoffs um we are kind of the uh the final four is starting to clarify I think a little bit um we are recording this uh Wednesday afternoon um last night Denver and New York both went up uh 32 in their respective series um Boston could potentially and probably will close out Cleveland tonight um and then obviously we’ve got Dallas and OKC looks like it could be headed you know could could go go a long way could that that one could go the distance it seems like um we talked a little bit last week just kind of hinting at you know some of the stuff that maybe these these title contenders this year all have in common but um is there anything that you’ve been watching over the last week here or whatever that that you think is applicable to the heat situation um it helps to be healthy yeah it helps to have your best play like if you look at the teams right now that are either in the second round they look to be moving on to the Eastern Conference Finals you know Boston has been one of the healthier teams all season porzingis is out but they still have Jaylen Brown and Jason Tatum probably their two best players still and also drik white I guess you could argue he’s one of their two best players at this point um Brunson with the Knicks and nicks is did with their own injuries obviously yeah they’re they’re the excep really they’re the exception right um but they do have the best player available which the heat did not the heat also dealt with injuries last playoffs as well Tyler hero and a few other guys um but they had Jimmy Butler and that matters Denver with Jamal Murray and joic um yeah so it just helps to be healthy right that’s number one number two I would say is you look at I mean Denver is so unique but the way they win games I think this is kind of what what makes the heat offense like so good in the like much better in the playoffs in the regular season it’s not about really like volume of threes or making a bunch of Threes it’s about generating quality shots and making tough shots like I think Denver at one point last night had like 15 three-point attempts like with three minutes left in the game or something like that they they still need to make threes to win because obviously have the best player in the NBA who is so efficient inside the three-point line um but their defense is really good like defense basically defense wins in the playoffs yeah and that’s what makes that’s kind of what’s made the heat a really good playoff team and plus Jimmy Butler like getting all those mid-range shots and getting to the foul line like that’s what wins playoff games and the Heats still have that but yeah they have to be healthy it’s F the Nicks are I think doing the closest thing to like a heat impression in this playoffs right they’ve got they they’ they’re have a lot of injuries which like you said the heat obviously had some injuries last year um and then they play great defense and they just have the best right now like Jaylen brunson’s been the best guy in the playoffs probably Jimmy B run right now yeah exactly like he is um he get he gets to the free throw line a lot too um and he makes tough shots obviously he’s he’s shooting the three better you know better than Jim you know they’re different players he’s he’s a point guard he’s got to be able to do that um but yeah I think I think you’re right that there is still like you watch this you’re like heat can do some of this they can’t be you know Denver is just way better than them um you know I think all Heat fans kind of feel like that in the East they could certainly be doing like what the Knicks are doing like if the bracket had broke in a certain way um but yeah I think you are seeing like that the fundamentals of like what the heat do come playoff time um stuff that maybe hurts them a little bit in the regular season um but the fundamentals of defense and just like let your best player do what he can do like that still works to this extent we’ll see like you know I don’t expect the Knicks to beat the Celtics though right that’s going to be like the problem is is we might still see that the stuff the heat does well is good to get you to the Eastern Conference Finals or something like that but not good enough against Premier ultimately like we’re going to probably look at it’s probably going to be Boston and Denver in the championship and those two teams um you know Denver like you said they don’t shoot a lot of Threes but those two teams are just talent-wise kind of in I think a class above everyone else right now yeah for sure um one more thing about the Knicks before I move on to the draft is there something to be learned about what they did in the mid-season where I know some of these guys aren’t available right now with donovic and and OG and all that but they they traded away some of their asset some of the young players RJ Barrett quickley who like you know they were part of the young core that the next had built and cash them in for pieces that maybe fit better around their best players right now um and it I mean it worked right when OG’s healthy like’ been dominant um is there something to be learned by that of like maybe cashing in some of these young chips for guys who better complement um your best players even Josh Hart last year when they tra you know when they traded for Josh Hart like they’ve done a good job of that yeah I mean in some ways the heat tried to do it right with with Lillard obviously they didn’t give up weren’t willing to give up as much they probably kind of dodged a bullet there it seems like right now but yeah I mean there’s like still certain guy like I don’t know if I would part with haime hakz he seems like to well one he’s like an older rookie or going into a second year now who who seems to be such a good fit around like as a comp like he’s Josh Hart right like he is that kind of that exact type of like um can give you just enough on offense like fights his butt off on defense and and rebounding all that kind of stuff um but yeah like if the heat are committed like well we talked obviously last week all about Jimmy Butler’s future with this team and if they bring him back you know if they extend him they’re like we got two years now like then I know yic is like really impressive but um maybe you cash in on him and you know Tyler herro who knows what his value is and he’s in a different you know he’s in a different situation a lot of young guys but it’s not that different of a situation like RJ Barrett was right I think the difference with the Knicks is like RJ Barrett kind of seemed to like be tap doubt on what he was going to be for them um and you know I think whereas yic still like kind of feels like the sky’s a limit with him yeah he’s 20 there’s upside there this is pretty much his first real chance to play the hero like what they do with Tyler hero potentially which you know and we we hate to always be throwing Tyler herro into trade rumors but like annual tradition David I know but like that that’s the parallel to me of like an RJ Barrett type trade or even you know an AEM manual quickly he was also an older uh even though he was early in his career I think he was a little bit older so it’s um you know it’s a little different than yovic and hakz I think because hakz frankly like accomplished already more than a lot of those guys um and yovic is so young but um yeah I mean the heat I think the ultimate frustration with a lot of Miami people is that the heat just they keep holding on to their cards for the perfect holding on to their chips for the perfect hand and you never know if the perfect hand’s going to come yeah not that we visit a conversation we’ve had probably a thousand times of last two years but they’ve tried to cash in some of their chips right like they you know they have like Tyler Hero has been included in trade talks for Kevin Durant and Damen Lillard and I’m sure some of the other young pieces you know were as well whether it was yic or hakz like I’m sure their names came up in those discussions um especially last year I mean hot haaks wasn’t on the team during the Kevin Durant thing but my broader point is they’ve tried to cash in some of their younger assets for stars I guess the question now they’ve been pickier with the star like the Knicks traded RJ Barrett for OG and anobi who’s like that’s the question like do you now just say well we just got to go in go in and make like another not a lateral move but a not a move for a superstar per se but a guy who maybe could just improve the depth around bam and Jimmy and could fit better around you know your two best players is that the move now or do you still wait out a star like Donovan Mitchell or Kevin Durant if he really is unhappy Phoenix or somebody like that I mean that’s that’s kind of the question because the clock if they do extend Jimmy and Jimmy is here next year the clock is ticking right he’s going 35 in September like this is it we say it every year but this is really it I don’t know how much longer he could be the best player on a championship Contender someone arguing not yeah exactly so they it is obviously a very interesting offseason for a lot of different reasons but I think that’s one question we’ll find out the answer to this summer if if they’re as picky of who they go after with their young pieces yeah it’s got to be the right guy certainly um but I think also you know the big the he you know the big threes don’t exist anymore and and they haven’t really for other than you know every Big Three that gets put together kind of feels like it turns into a mess whether it’s Phoenix or Brooklyn um so you know the heat in some ways like the smarter move might just be to find the perfect fit third guy which is also again like easier said than done I mean even though it’s easier to do than convince Phoenix to trade you uh Kevin Durant for 75 cents on the dollar it’s still hard to do yeah and and if you look at really the two times they made the finals um or at least some of the deep playoff runs the one time they made the finals in the bubble was after they made that trade for Jay Crowder Andre Gala which were kind of an example of that type of trade right where they traded Justice Winslow and a couple of other waiters for two guys who weren’t stars but Jay CR was great yeah he complimented the four best player during that playoff runas yeah he complimented fam and Jimmy like perfectly and then you have Andre Gala coming off the bench who gave them really important minutes off the you know as a reserve as an experience reserve and played really a lot of important minutes and then you know the year they were the one seed was when they got PJ Tucker who was a free agent it wasn’t a trade but that was another piece that not a star but came in and made a big difference so there is examples in recent seasons of like he making a type of move and it really work like working really well so I don’t know who that player is this off season but you I would not be surpris I know the focus is always on stars and the big names I would not be surprised if that ends up being the move this year where they find a way to get a p a player player or players like that um to help complement the core they have in place um all right do you want to get into some draft stuff yeah let’s do I don’t want to go I mean IE yeah I just want to talk about two names per se that have been like popular yeah comb going on this week as we said so um yeah all right you wanted to talk about Zack Edy and bronny James where do you want to start um let’s start with bronie okay yeah see us up I mean he I guess my question to you would be would he be drafted if he wasn’t LeBron James’s son uh he wouldn’t even be in the draft if he wasn’t LeBron James true that’s a good point which like and that’s not an insult like he was you know like legitimate he was like a top legitimate top 50 recruit like that I don’t know how high he wound up ranked but he was legitimately really you know really good in high school a legitimate Prospect um you know good athlete as we he was I think did very well in some of the testing um a very good defensive player um you know he would be a guy who would if he wasn’t LeBron james’ son he’d be a three or four year college player who maybe developed into a really good Prospect throughout his career and you know because of his size he probably was never going to be a first round pick unless he uh either developed uh a better jumper or like became you know developed in a really right now he’s kind of like an undersized defensive minded too um and you know that those guys don’t go in the first round generally um so would he be drafted if he wasn’t LeBron James son probably not but I also think like his career would it would be a lot less it would be like kind of be like more drama-free and probably smarter to have him go back to college and try to develop um and you know he was gonna tra the the USC thing was a mess obviously um I think what he was goingon to maybe transferred to Duke Kane was the rumor I don’t know what the I think it was like a one of LeBron’s uh formero Team yeah like part of that akan group was like one of the coaches there so you know the whole thing is just it’s impossible to separate one from the other the bronnie James and LeBron obviously for obvious obvious reasons but um yeah I don’t think he’s like a a total like zero as a as a prospect no definitely not and look I think he’s like probably projected go in the second round at this point right I mean yeah if he goes in the first round it would kind of be surprising and it probably be more there not to criticize Brony but it probably more because of the LeBron attachment right of like the chance of getting LeBron because Dro bron James like that that there there is that factor that I mean that’s part that would be part of why he gets trapped in the second round I don’t think he’s going to go somewhere it doesn’t seem now at this point he’s just GNA go somewhere because of um because of like LeBron’s not GNA just go somewhere because his son is there but if you draft bronny James it’s like it’s good marketing it’s like maybe LeBron in a year comes to play with you guys or after he retires he’s like involved with the franch like there’s there’s still that piece of it but he as a second round pick also I think brings a little bit of something to the table Yeah measured to your point about him measuring well at the combine um third best Max vert at the combine um just athletically really graded out well I think he came in at 61 which I think it was list like at 63 or 6’4 at USC so it shorter than expected yeah now everyone that’s also it’s always without they met that makes a difference yeah makes differ he’s probably what I think he’s probably more like six two six two and a half in shoes yeah which is a difference but it’s not like as crazy as it sounds when you see he measured 61 and was listed at 64 or 65 yeah I think at this point probably he his best trait might be on defense right like a Defender um which he loved those type of guys so in the second round the 43rd pick I think he’s expected probably I think he’s over under that I saw the betting line of his over under for where he’s going to get drafted is at 45 so it’s kind of right in that space um do he need another small guard probably not but it would be interesting right like as as a as a person covering the team selfishly that would be fun like to have bronny James on the roster and have all the all the stuff that comes with that and then all the Lebron James questions will begin so I know uh it would be kind of fun and I wouldn’t I I I mean they’ve obviously like the heat they Scout California really well like they’re always in La a because cck cameras out there who led their scouting department for years um now is taking a different role but still is like active within that um role um so I’m and I’m sure they’ve evaluated him many times and gone out to see him play so I don’t think it’s out of the question but you know we’ll see I think I think it’ll be fun to talk about leading up to the draft yeah he uh he does like he fits I think really well as like a develop you send him to the G League you let him develop um you know would would LeBron want his son to be playing in Sue Falls like I don’t know but he might have to like relinquish some control over you know I think a a problem has been how controlled his whole thing has been obviously and obviously you know with some of the the health scare like there there’s like real reasons for it but um I don’t know it would be very interesting to see what I like if you if you gave LeBron a li detector like where would he what what would his ideal outcome for bronny be I’m kind of or give him truth serum I’m kind of curious because the he like you said in a lot of ways check a lot of box they’ve done a really good job at developing um smaller point guards right like from Kendrick nine um Gabe Vincent um they’ve done a good job obviously you know they emphasized defense so the fit is natural there um sou Falls is a you know kind of out of the way right like of all the g-league markets they go to it’s probably a nice quiet place to not yeah um you know hard for reporters to get out there to do uh constant stories on find their way some will make their way but it won’t be like if he’s in Chicago Chicago even like Delaware right I think the Sixers are in Delaware like it’s a quick quick drive down from New York it’s hard to get out the two Falls I assume um so it’s not crazy to me this is obviously not a great draft um I don’t know a lot about what the consensuses is on like the second round type guys now um and you know the athletic traits are are real and I think there also is a little bit of a bet on not just the pedigree in that like he’s LeBron Sunny has those athletic traits but like you know LeBron is 40 years old and still like a freak of nature because of the work he has put in he’s G to retire soon um it’s not a bad like LeBron for as good as he was coming in the league like there’s still not a lot of players who have improved more from day one to like the end of their career than LeBron did um and I think you you can bet a little bit on like this is LeBron’s son he has those genes but he also like watched his dad put in the work for 20 years yeah and can one just can mirror him and copy what he saw him do but also like you know get lessons from him and get advice from him and you know we’ll see how he how he responds to like that pressure too like you know that that’s impossible to predict is like is he gonna be fine with just playing a couple years making a couple NBA appearances and then retiring or or you know never kind of making it or is he going to want to be like I’m LeBron’s son like I need to at least have like a respectable NBA career yeah and and there is some upside there right I mean he’s 19 yeah and like you said he had the the cardiac um with the hard situation he dealt with before the season and that seemed to impact him so you the further he gets away from that like maybe we didn’t see the I put basically no stock into his freshman year yeah like that’s that’s I mean between that and just how much of a mess that situation was like so so there is upside there there is like some element of like unknown of like if was that just because he had a late start because everything that happened and it was a mess over there he wasn’t playing as much as many expected like was there is there more there that maybe USC didn’t get out of him also I’ll leave this quote here by Rich Paul told ESPN I don’t value a young player getting into Lottery as much as I do getting him on the right team in the right developmental situation I don’t know of another developmental system that’s better or at least it’s more highly regarded than the Heats right so we’re talking about like how would LeBron feel if he would played in two Falls I mean if you’re looking for him to get into a development like a good developmental situation into a good you know productive system that has produced um guys undrafted guys into players now making 156 million in Max ru’s case or even more in dunan Robinson’s case like he is a good situation for him really think that respect so it’ll be interesting like I don’t again I don’t I don’t rule it out right like if he’s there at 43 and he want to take a flyer on him like why not yeah the only the only way I can see them doing or the only way I would like rule it out is if the heat if we’re if they go totally into win now mode and want to get an older guy in the second round because this draft as much as I the top of the draft is not that impressive there were there are a lot of older accomplished college players in this draft because of the covid year um and you know you look at some of these guys who could be like early midc round picks you’ve got like a a lot of them are guards so I don’t even know if that’s what the heat need but like Tyler kak uh ter Shannon um you know Baylor shyan like these guys who are all like All-American type talents who the ceiling not you know they’re not going to go high in the draft because they’re 23 24 years old but um you know we’re some of the best players in the country last year and that obviously doesn’t always translate but um if you’re looking for someone who can maybe help you out in like a small role this year and then be really like a contributor when you’re 25 or 26 in in the 25 206 season then like then there might be you know they could just decide it’s more valuable for us to get an old guy here who’s ready to go because Ronnie’s probably a couple years realistically a couple years away from being a real NBA contributor that’s fair you’re never goingon to take a second round pick because you’re like this guy’s our new starting point guard but like I was going to say that yeah yeah but there might be a guy that might the heat feels could be more ready to play as a like like a rotation bench guy yeah ex rookie or late late in his rookie year right I mean there’s not many of those in the second round like even I mean I guess Josh Richardson was one of them that like they got in the second round and he kind of was an immediate rotation player um I just think this is a little unique because of how many how how like few standout freshman there were across the country I mean the the seniors were really stars and those guys aren’t going in the first round for the most part so um I don’t know it it’s a it’s a very unusual draft we a lot of the biggest names at least in terms of like college accomplishments We’re not gonna be talking about until around when the heat are picking in the first round and then deep into to round two which brings us to Zach Ed yeah all right um he seems to be the new uh heat Twitter Fascination after uh pretty impress you know 73 is that what he measured in at at the combine 73 pretty much like an 8ot wingspan which is just I don’t I’ve ever seen that before like what it was Victor’s wingspan lash I I think this was like the second longest wingspan ever I think I saw like it’s right behind Victor um he shot it pretty well in some three-point drills um you know moves all right for a guy who’s 73 yes really height without shoes 73.7 so 74 almost without shoes yeah without with shoes I mean 7 five like five yeah at least yeah that big body big body for sure yeah uh I do you see any uh any chance that heat would take him at 15 I don’t think he’s I know there was like I think he’s gonna be a first round pick I do too I mean it seems like some teams have him in the lottery which is 15 obviously it’s right after lottery so yeah I think there most teams have them what I’ve seen one like top 20 pretty much yeah yeah um I mean the heat needs size right so that that’s kind of where like Foundation of like fans uh infatuation with Zack Ed like obviously he has brings the size like there’s no doubt about that um but is it functional size for what the he are trying to do is my is the question I guess I would I would raise right like can you can you play him with bamama bio um I know he shoted well at the combine but in college he shot two threes I think over his career one of two I believe um so I don’t expect Zach e just to come into the league and turn into like Dirk Nowitzki like that’s he’s not going to take four threes a game like I’d be surprised if he took one a game as a rookie um so unless you’re really unless you’re projecting bam to and maybe this will happen but unless you’re projecting bam and start taking three four threes a game which he did take more as the season went on last year I don’t know how you could play them together right yeah as a backup big like maybe right if you just want to have more size Off the Bench um but then you wonder like can you hold up defensively like in the heat scheme like to switch with Zack e it’s going to be more of a drop coverage um type of thing so can he fit in the in the heat system with the way SP likes to play like historically spo’s G the with bam at least as the center he’s got the best out of lineups that are smaller whether it’s PJ Tucker at the four Jay Crowder at the four like even Myers Leonard like he was eventually phased out of the rotation when it came to the playoffs Kell lenck that bubble your phas out of the rotation when it came to the playoffs like SP always defaults to the more athletic switchable lineup because that’s what that’s what B’s best at he’s best at switching so I I I just don’t know about the fit I I get the Intrigue because again the size he was you know the best player in college basketball probably last year right would you say last two-time player of the year yeah so I I get it I just don’t know about the fit yeah I don’t know about the fit either I think I guess I think what you mentioned a a backup big I think that the question is going to be in this draft teamed in the Heat’s position are you drafting a guy there because you are like this guy is a future foundational piece potentially or are you content to just draft a guy again part of what I was talking about in the second round too like because he can fit a role for us and um I know Zack Edy like you said like not a natural fit next to Bam not a natural fit with like a lot of what the heat like to do but like if you kind of view him as like a gadget player and you’re content to take that at 15 a guy who um you know will be the biggest player in the league um who will give you a dimension on both ends of the floor that you did have not had I since Hassan white side right like right um then I I think I think it can make sense I think um he’s an older another again older guy should be able to help you out I think right away um you know maybe he can guard you know it’s a center league right now it kind of feels like maybe he can help you in some of those big games against yokich or embiid or whoever it might be um but I I don’t to me he does not feel like a heat guy at all um because they’d have to play defense totally differently than they have um at pretty much any time in this like Jimmy Butler bam era yeah I think that’s why I keep that’s what I keep going back to I think he could be like score 10 points a game and get you know eight rebounds if he plays like 20 25 minutes a game I think that could happen right but I just don’t know if he I don’t know if he fits what he want to do now it would be a total like change up for the heat which maybe they’ll do maybe they’ll maybe they’ll do that’s what I’m saying it’s not like the offense has been great right like yeah we’re talking about the defense but the offense has been bottom 10 the last two years so and the other thing players like Zack Ed have not come around no and I don’t even know like he’s again there an 8 foot wingspan like it’s just he’s unique and again I I don’t know how it be defensively in the NBA like that’s going to be no doubt an adjustment for him and it’s probably not going to be a strength for him at least early on like we see it with guys even like Orlando Robinson right like who is not as big as Zach and it’s tough for him Omar Y which again I know they had Zach is a much better college player than those two guys but R Robinson and Omar y the main reason they didn’t get on the floor as big men because they were big bodies they haven’t got to the before much or Omar was on the team anymore but Orlando Robinson last few years has barely played is because on on defense they’re just they can’t hold up most of the time right whether it’s picking rolls or isos or just learning the heat system like and and Eric boser would not put up with that like that’s his number one thing like you blow a coverage one or two times while you’re in the game like he will pull you immediately it won’t put you back in the game so I just again I just don’t know if he’ll fit um on the defensive end for the heat yeah I think we’ll talk more more about the draft as we get closer to me there’s just better fits and kind of more exciting prospects and know it’s hard to be more excited more exciting than the 7 foot5 guy but uh better fits and maybe like more helpful higher even higher ceiling prospects that I think are going to be around yeah where the heat are um that we’ll we’ll talk about in the coming weeks for sure I I think if I I mean if you’re droing on need I think an athletic long Wing is kind of what the heat should be hard to find but hard to find and every team needs them but I think if you if you could find some you know somebody at 15 who could put the ball in the basket and is an athletic two-way Wing which again I know is in high demand that’s kind of what he need most I think at this point all right uh we can close things out there you can follow Anthony on Twitter Anthony Chang follow me on Twitter at DB Wilson 2 um yeah we’ll be back sometime here in the next couple weeks uh get dive into the draft at some point um but uh until then thanks as always for listening and we’ll talk to you guys later

Read More: https://www.miamiherald.com/sports/nba/miami-heat/article278350724.html

On this week’s Heat Check: What lessons can the Heat learn from the 2024 NBA playoffs? Also, addressing the draft buzz surrounding Bronny James and Zach Edey.

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