Heat Check: Where Miami Heat roster stands after free agency

Heat Check: Where Miami Heat roster stands after free agency

hello and welcome to the heat check the Miami Heralds Miami Heat show I’m David Wilson I’m joined as always on the other line by Anthony Chang our Heat beat writer here at the heral Anthony what’s going on uh 10 days into July kind of done with for agency I think for now um so things are slowing down how are you David pretty good finally a busy week of of Heat news right last over the last few days uh after a very quiet start to free agency as we talked about last week um Caleb Martin heads to Philly Haywood heith comes back to Miami um did it make for a uh more chaotic July 4th weekend than you were hoping for um I remember July 4 waiting I there there have been some bad ones Gordon Hayward yeah yeah Kevin Durant there that happened on July July 4th used to always be the big day because yeah Hayward Hayward Durant I believe signed on July 4th right ear it was early that day but when he signed with the war years I think it was early that morning I think he didn’t he post it like on July 4 or was it I think it was July 4th but it was early in the day so missed out on him he didn’t have to worry about waiting at least yeah yeah this year I was waiting on Caleb Bon and Haywood heith until like July 7th so yeah a little different yeah um that kind of sums up I guess where the heat are right now um and NBA for agency frankly although it was obviously a busier period as I think we we talked about last week then maybe we’ve seen in the last couple or yeah I guess the last couple years obviously there been trades but between Paul George going to Philly obviously Demar D rozan technically going on a trade to the Kings but really you know he was a free agent um on a signning trade um and then the heat were not really in the mix for guys like that and we’re hoping to bring back I guess as much of this group as they could around Jimmy Butler and D and and kind of keep the waiting game going and instead uh they kind of go one for two and I’d say the the Miss is going to be much more impactful than the the hit for them um they lose Caleb Martin to the Sixers who really kind of loaded up this offseason I think uh and we’ll see they still haven’t been past the second round but like on paper this this looks like the best team they’ve had probably since that they had Jimmy Butler um how tough a for this is is the heat how tough a loss for the heat is this and especially because he’s staying in the conference and going to uh Philadelphia which was a team that looked like they were maybe on Miami’s tier and now could be potentially ascendant I think it’s it hurts for two reasons uh one obviously you mentioned it he goes to a Eastern Conference Contender right yeah Philly gets better on paper Philly probably has the second best team in the East I would think yeah um behind Boston I feel like they’ve already passed Milwaukee and New York up just getting Paul George and Caleb Martin resigning UB and adding you know Eric Gordon to a lesser extent but still just adding you know role players to that you know really talented core um they just look like really obviously top to bottom a very good roster and I also think it’s painful because I think entering for agency we really didn’t expect Caleb to be back right we kind of thought he would be priced he would be priced out because he was supposed to get 134 million $15 million kind of like a max shw type contract it was one of those things where the heat just couldn’t compete but the heat made a really good offer $65 million over four for five years you know by op you know if they would have gotten him to opt in and they they offer him that extension again that would have put him 65 over5 Caleb ended up going for a lot less than we thought like 8 million a year 8.5 million a year to Philly like the heat could have kept him right and some of that not the Heat’s fault some of it’s just Caleb had a decision Caleb and his agent had a decision they they bet on themselves and you know he opted out became a free agent thought he would get more in free agency and obviously that didn’t happen some of it just out of the Heat’s control right they can’t make a player just opt in and take the contract um but I just think it hurts because you want the Philly and also you probably should have been able to keep him like looking back in hindsight like you probably he probably should have decided to stay in Miami um considering what he got from Philly yeah yeah I mean you it seems like that’s um what the heat are probably most frustrated about right is the like they um they you know kind of tried to do right by but obviously it would benefited them but they they also probably feel like they tried to do right by Caleb obviously like you said it was like kind of a calculated risk for Caleb to not accept that contract ends up financially not paying off although you know it’s not like he didn’t get you know he still got a pretty nice contract from Philly and still will get to play for you know it’s not like he had to take less money and then go to like I don’t know the Spurs or something alth maybe that would have been kind of interesting but um yeah it it I’ll say it obviously works out less for the heat than it did for Caleb who does have to take less money but still gets a nice contract gets to play for a contender yeah um so yeah I mean might start might start that’s been the for a team that you know I think I think the Sixers with Caleb are closer to being a real Contender than the heat with cbar right so like in some ways it still works out for him I mean a lot of ways it still works out for him even though financially it doesn’t quite um and then obviously like we said the heat like they’re the clear loser in this whole situation because they have they lost him and they had no way really to replace him and and now they’re feeling that crunch certainly yeah yeah no it’s it’s tough blow I think the heat were really surprised that he turned it down I think they thought that that would be enough um and look to be honest with you like I know a lot of people are blaming the agent they made the wrong decision yes in hindsight it was the wrong decision obviously like it’s $30 million less I know it’s one the contract with Philly is one year shorter than Heat’s offer but still $30 million in that extra year is a lot of money that probably is not going to see in that fifth year even if he signs a new contract in four years um but like that contract was going to be that the heat offer was like 13 and a half million I think yeah 13 million dollar average per season for five years that’s a of money but if you’re Caleb before you test fre agency and you think you’re going to get 15 million a year or at least like a mid level like 12 or 13 that $13 million in four years like back end of that contract would have signed it with the heat that’s not that much money relatively speaking considering how much the cap is going to go up the next three or four years the mid level like in three or four years might be like $20 million at this point honestly so 13 million while it looks like a lot now I’m assuming like his agent was like look that’s a lot a lot of money now but in three or four years that’s going to be a bargain contract for the heat you know relatively speaking to the salary cap and what the mid levels are so I I’m I’m assuming that was the thinking of it like that that money is not going to look as impressive in a few years and this a long contract that we’re going to be locked into so I think that’s probably why he decided not to do it um but yeah like again he didn’t get what any of us expected yeah Market was even Haywood like Haywood ended up getu he got like 5.5 5 mil year on average I know play yeah I didn’t even know players got like I didn’t know that was like felt like lower than the minimum at this point is we talking about right like the veterans minimum and obviously Heywood doesn’t get that minimum is like what did we say last week like $3 million a year or something like it’s big money for on a minimum contract now so um yeah that’s I mean the the one year shorter Caleb will be 303 by the time this contract in Philly ends like you said he’s not going to get all that money back in that extra year but and there’s obviously a risk that he’s not even going to get whatever the 123 million that he was going to be owed in that last year but um you know he should be coming out of that after a couple prime years in Philly and be able to get some of that back and maybe one last long-term contract um this is a player option in the fourth year too that’s oh yeah that’s true right so he could actually out even earlier and try to make some of that back so yeah it’s like you said he’s not going to make all of it back especially when you factor in tax stuff but sure uh he’s going to make a fair amount of it back and like like I know Heat fans don’t want to hear it but Philly is a better situation than Miami right now if you want to try to actually win a championship yeah if he wins a championship in Philly as like and he’s like one of the top supporting guys top guys in The Supporting Cast like you’re going to make money right so if they win a title and he he’s like the six man or he’s a starter and averages 12 points a game and five rebounds and does all little things on defense like he’s going to make himself some money so yes I I I would think think I mean KB spoke to Philly media yesterday he was like look the past is the past sometimes you make a you you you make a Gamble and sometimes it works out sometimes it doesn’t so I think he’s kind of obviously referring to what happened with the heat but I think he’s ready to move forward obviously the heat kind of pivoted and brought back Haywood heith um after Caleb left so I think both sides already moov forward but yeah it was a surprise it was surprising the fact that the he made the off that offer and were really in a position try to keep thought yeah they thought yeah yeah and it was surprising that he end you know he ended up turning it down and that he ended up getting less money than I think all of us expected yeah um all right Haywood obviously comes back as the consolation prize I guess but obviously got the heat want to bring back as well um I don’t think it’s a coincidence that what was it the day after Caleb signed that contract that Haywood comes back right like the the heat one it took like they were clearly holding on to some space right for Caleb um yeah but also there had like certainly some urgency once he missed out on that to make sure you didn’t lose um the guy who’s potentially going to be his replacement in the rotation or take on obviously he Heywood was in the rotation but G to take on kind of a Caleb Martin is role and they need him they need a three and D Wing three and D forward I mean he would I think I don’t think it’s overstating like I think he’s an elite Defender I I think he’s one of the top probably 20 perimeter defenders in the NBA and he yes and he shot 40% on threes which is obviously impressive low volume I don’t know if he can obviously shoot 40% on seven attempts a game probably not but the point is that he can make an open shot and he’s a very very good Premier Defender and he needs that right because they they have a roster of you know Tyler hero You’re Gonna Play rotation of Tyler hero Terry Rosier dun Robinson Kevin Love haime Like Nico like there’s a lot of guys that aren’t like very good defenders in that rotation so you need at least a couple like bam obviously Jimmy and then now you have Haywood to add to that mix that you could you could put out a defense lineup out there so I think Haywood at the price point of 5.3 million starting out like that’s that’s a very good contract I think for the heat um and he fits a need um and he’s a guy you know he’s a guy you’ve developed you know and and that’s important you know what he brings he knows the system he’s kind he’s bought into you know what how he does things so all that makes sense for them bring it back especially at this point of fre agency when there aren’t many you know great options left and the heat don’t really have much to offer outside freedance anyway yeah the I think you make a good point with the someone they know because it feels like when the heat have been at their worst in these last couple years it has been when um there have been big changes to the um to the rotation to you know trying to fit in guys who don’t necessarily maybe don’t fit and you never know if a guy fits until with what the heat want to do until you’ve seen it and so you know the heater obviously um you know on paper they’re gonna be worse than they were last year um they didn’t they lose they lose Caleb right they lose you know they don’t find a way to they didn’t really add any significant pieces um but they will have continuity at least right you have I mean and we we talked all through last year about how tough it was for them to get any continuity because of the injuries um but you know the key guys are still the same key guys as last year basically and you’re you know the the path forward for the heat is get more from Jimmy Butler just in terms of volume of games played um you know get continued improvement from bam although I think we’re probably reaching the point where bam kind of is what he is but you know he’s playing for Team USA this Summer that often tends to help guys and he can still continue to incrementally improve his game um get you know Improvement you know Tyler hero should still be improving get improvement from hakz and and yovic and um the guys who are you know your youngest players and then kind of trust um that guys like Heywood heith and you know Duncan Robinson like kind of those core rotation guys I guess or role players um can give you can you know just with the continuity will continue being steady there as a opposed to some of the last couple you know some of the worst years for the heat over the last few where um it felt like the role players just were not you know that it’s honestly it’s been the difference between the best heat teams and and the worst heat teams over the Jimmy Butler ER is you know Jimmy at least come playoff time has been so steady bam is so steady um it’s been what do those role players give you and and the Heat at least have some continuity there yeah I think the only new faces on the standard roster are their two picks obviously khil and and Pella and then Burks that’s it everyone else is returning and I know fans are like really like that we’re going to do this again but like when this team has been healthy like to their credit when this team has been healthy they’ve usually been one of the best teams in the East now you could say Obviously Boston’s gotten better Philly got better yeah I’m still not particularly optimistic about this team as a contender but um yeah we’re just I’m trying to put it in a positive light I guess yeah right but like if if Jimmy’s healthy if bam isth healthy if Tyler stays healthy and you have Terry Rosier for a full season this team should be obviously a winning basketball team they should be a good basketball team are they Elite uh relatively speaking to other teams in the east on paper probably not right like this team seems slotted like in the fifth like that fifth to seventh eighth range at this point but like you said they they’re going to rely on internal Improvement they’ve done this before we’re like how are they going to get better how they better then all of a sudden game Vincent shoes are starters in the NBA finals and Caleb Martin comes out of nowhere and Hae Haka you know so like you just we have they’re they’re going to really rely on obviously the Improvement of haime and Nico yeah uh they could say well Josh Richardson coming back from injury is like a minor addition right you know that’s gonna help Jimmy Butler playing more than 60 games is gonna help Terry Rosier for a full season not out for you know the playoffs many how many games did Terry even end up playing for the Heat won maybe but like he played the so but Jimmy bam Tyler and Terry played 10 games together all season the hope is they’ll play like closer to like 70 games exactly yeah and so it’s like we really don’t know yet weird to say because this CT has been together for so long but because the addition of Terry because the rookies we still don’t know especially with Terry like what this group can be with another guy in there like Terry Rosier so I think that’s what they’re relying at this point I’m not say saying they’re content I’m not saying they’re happy with kind of maybe where everything stands at the moment I’m sure they would like to get better um but the the bottom line is they really didn’t have the resources to get better this offseason we’ve been kind of saying that now for the past few months they just were in the situation to get better so right now they’ll most likely some unless you know an unexpected trade comes up they’ll go into the season with this roster and we’ll see what happens do they trade Jimmy at the trade deine because things go bad and he’s he’s kind of on an expiring contract if he Ops out maybe do they make another trade to maybe they make a trade to improve the roster around jimy I think this is what I think they’re doing I think you know we’ll see what happens next off offseason but this could be the final year of this SC especially with Jimmy’s contract and how it lines up they’re trying to continue to buy time to hope that some other star becomes available and ass out and they can finally add that piece they’ve got basically six months right now to either like go all the way in or decide this is the end um right and we’ll see what happens we they’re trying to push it all the way up to the edge and which is I think is the right thing you know Jimmy Butler given his age and all that like whenever you trade him away it’s not I don’t think you’re gonna get a um I don’t even think you’re gonna get like a Rudy like if you trade him at the deadline are you even getting the Rudy goar Hall like I know he’s a much better player than Rudy goar but like given his age and contract situation like you know you’re pushing up to the edge but I think it’s I think it’s the right move because you do have the BAM pivot uh to go to at some point here um as far as where they stack up in the East like yeah it’s hard to say that you know obviously Boston is kind of I think on their own tier right now the Knicks and then on paper I think the Knicks Sixers bucks and obviously the Knicks are kind of a new group we we’ve been talking about the heat in the same tier as the Sixers bucks Celtics right that those have been their peers in the East you had the Knicks in but I think all three of those teams right now are kind of clearly ahead of Miami who is now I don’t even know if they’re on the bottom end of that top tier I think they might be at the top end of kind of the next tier um which is obviously like a massive uh departure from where they have been for basically the en entire Jimmy era um so we’ll see but I mean this Heat team has obviously proved us wrong a lot um you know I don’t view them as a like real title Contender but I view them as a team that like you said like if they just play like if Jimmy Butler just plays 65 games or 70 games or whatever then think this team should be a top five the team should at least be out of the play um in the last couple years I agree I think people are are saying well they’re a playing team for sure like I don’t know about if they’re healthy I still like I I think those top four kind of yeah I’d be surprised if any of those four in the play and barring an injury which is obviously with the Sixers always got to mention it um and to me it’s like you know Miami Orlando Indiana like that kind of feels like the next little group to me and I don’t think Orlando’s still so young and Indiana I know they went to the east finals but that was kind of like a by default made it to the east finals kind of thing to me like they they don’t they got swept out of the East finals and um so yeah I think it’s it’s a long they need to make a huge move to get back to title contention but as you said they’re still just trying to buy time I think yeah I agree I think that next group is yeah Cleveland Orlando Indie oh yeah Cleveland I forgot yeah and I I think if they heat are healthy they could be the best team in that group they they’re certainly the most accomplished out of that group yeah it depends basically what depends what you think Jimmy Butler is at this point right like I think it is fair to wonder if he is we this is a conversation we’ve had a million times we’ll have a million more time so I don’t think we need to go too in depth with it but yeah I think you’re right that the they’re just trying to buy time as much time as they can because they know they you know this team’s gotten really really close a lot um I total I understand why they want to try to like take one more swing at it even if it’s pretty low percentage gamble that you’re going to be able to get a another star in here um to complement bam and Jimmy and even if you do you’re gonna have to you’re G to have a really thin roster around them so although they have built up a nice nice little bit of depth where maybe if you do like what Phoenix does and trade everything for a star somewhere here then you actually have a fair amount of like competent NBA players we talked about all last year this the depth was way better than it had been in the last couple years yeah yeah know I I I I I think you mentioned like the importance of the role players and and yes that’s the case obviously we saw that PJ Tucker we saw that you know Jay Crowder over the years Caleb Martin all those that that matters but I think the main thing this year is really just Jimmy Butler I really do can Jimmy stay healthy how is he an all so an all NBA player if he is and he’s healthy the heat are going to be okay are they going to win a championship uh probably not but they’re going to have a good season you have two all NBA players are gonna be really good and that’s what they he’ have on paper yeah and they’ve tried to get three all NBA players right when whether it was Kevin Durant Damen Lillard like they’ they’ve been in the game it’s just I think the one thing you could say is they just haven’t had the assets yeah least at least according to those teams that were trying to make those deals they didn’t like the Heat’s assets to get those deals done and that’s the one thing I guess you can criticize the heat for is like in this Asset Management era of the NBA where like you need to trade for stars instead of going you know just getting cap space and getting him that way he just haven’t done that and that’s just the way they operate on for like For Better or Worse they’re always going to go for it right so that means constantly just sending out first round pick for Terry Rosier or Goran D like they’re always just going for it and that’s what that’s that’s how that’s what makes them one of the best franchises in the NBA year to year but it also hurts them in this case where right now like yes if I don’t know if Brandon Ingram gets traded like they probably don’t have or or Lori marketing gets trade like they probably don’t have enough KY is having an All-Star type season and uh look I I was G to bring this up and I forgot when you were talking but like who thought the Boston would get Dr in Camp like you you never know and it doesn’t have to be a like d is not a superstar but he’s a really nice player yeah he he don’t need a Kevin Durant to be a contender right they need um a goty you know an All-Star caliber player yeah a third second SL third star a guy who you know obviously Bam’s such a unique second option but I think both of us believe he’s like can be the number two guy in a championship team and if you still think Jimmy can be number one then you know you just gotta put some pieces around them yeah the point the point is like you just never know right like again you nobody thought Drew Drew was end up going from Milwaukee then end up on Boston yeah before the season and Drew holiday plays a huge role in helping Boston win the championship so I think that’s what the heat are trying to do here like right now this is the roster but I do think they’re like trying to position themselves as much as they can um if somebody becomes available if there’s an opportunity that comes about on the trade market to put themselves in the game because I I think they’re trying they know that you know like like you said this is coming up on the end here prior of this era and they’re running out of time to find that guy to add to this core and you could say it could be Terry right we we don’t know yet but they’re going to keep looking um you know until until the clock runs out um all right uh should we wrap up with quick summer league they’re playing we’re recording this uh Tuesday morning they’re playing tonight so um obviously Vegas is this weekend so or over the next week so that’s when we’ll see get our most chances to see some stuff but kle we looked pretty good uh um he got destroyed in one of these games um I do you I haven’t actually been able to watch any of it do you have any just quick thoughts on um early impressions of of we and and some of these young Heat players um khil we is very big and that size is going to be very helpful for the heat I think like it’s hard to know what’s going to translate from summer league right to the real NBA season especially like you know you’re playing a bunch of Love undrafted guys and rookies and guys looking for a job in the NBA or playing over like trying to find a spot overseas like it’s just the competition level’s different but the one thing that stands out that will translate because Kare is not going to shrink the Bas season starts is he’s going to be very big he he makes a big impact around the rim on defense he had five blocks in the first game he only had one block in the second game but you could just see the way he like obviously uh affects the opposing offense just with his presence in the paint and around the basket which the heat really haven’t had that um maybe since Assan wh side I would say so that’s impressive um offensively in the second game he was very very good at just rolling to the rim he has nice touch around the basket still hasn’t made a three in the first two games um I think he’s like over five maybe the first two from three but he’s shooting at least he shooting them but I think you know every once talking about him playing with bam I don’t think that’s going to happen immediately I think his role as a rookie is going to be like kind of like a backup center right where he’s just like in certain matchups where he’s just rolling to the rim get lobs good lob threat clean do the dirty work inside set hard screens rebound block shots like almost like a you know I don’t want to say Derrick Lively because that’s like the that’s a lot to put on him but like that kind of role right like he’s not going to be taking four or five threes a game that’s just not going to happen immediately so I think the second game was encouraging because he played to that role obviously he’s not going to get like 17 shots or whatever he got in that game in a normal NBA game but like you could see the skill set around the basket the touch the um and just the size and and how much that impacts on both ends of the Court yeah I think as we T I think we talked about it last was last week when we talked about the draft or the week before it’s a I think there’s some short-term potential for we to be a role player but I think it’s a long-term vision for the heat of sure can he play with can he develop into the ideal kind of guy to play with Bam um yeah it’s not gonna happen immediately I I just don’t see it I don’t see I think that goes back to kind of the two track mind the heater uh have been kind of operating on over the last year basically basically going say miss out on Damen lard right the the the thought of the future and also wh now so also shout out to Cole Sider who like is shooting 71% on threes through leag leg he shot 47 I I didn’t realize this until I was writing about coer last week Cole Sider shot 47.1% on 10 three-point attempts per game in the g-league last season that is insane like T GNA be like you think he’s going to be on the Heat this year like do you think he uh could he be the next next in line for this team I honestly I thought there was a chance but once they filled that 14th spot with Haywood they’re kind of done Sig signing they could they have an extra roster spot but signing Cole would put him over the second apron which I don’t think they’re for Cole swier so it would have to be a trade to like open up more room um for that to happen or Cole I guess could return a two-way contract qualifying offer right yes but I but I I mean if he keeps playing like this I get a standard from somebody at the end of summer league you know like a a 68 shooter that this good as a movement shooter catch and shoot guy um has like already some experience you know under his Bel two years of NBA experience a lot of that in the G league but still there’s there’s definitely a place for him in the league so that’s the risk right now with the heat he’s a restricted free agent he could come back on a two-way but up I’m Cole I would expect him to probably wait it out a little bit and see if he gets a standard offer from somebody so we’ll see yeah all right I think we can close things out there uh you can follow Anthony on Twitter Anthony Chang uh what do you got coming well I’ll be in Vegas oh you’re heading to Vegas right in Vegas tomorrow um so I’ll be there for the next week obious you know summer league coverage from all the games practices all that type of stuff so is there any um well there still be Team USA stuff going on no so they play actually as we record this on Wednesday they play tonight against Canada I believe is that right uh in an exhibition and then they leave to Abu Dhabi tomorrow to continue the exhibition schedu they’ll just miss b spell I’ll just miss bam and spell but they’ll be like I know H is gonna stay out there H is on the select team other few players are going out there I think most of the coaching staff will be out there so there’ll be heat people out there obviously um but yeah bam and SPO who would normally be there will not because they’ll be uh doing Team USA stuff all right uh you can follow me on Twitter at DV Wilson 2 um we can wrap things up there thanks as always for listening um I guess we’ll talk to you Anthony next week from Vegas probably hopefully I won’t lose too much money between now and then yeah if you’re not destitute by then we we’ll talk then all right um thanks again we’ll talk to you guys next week

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

On this week’s Heat Check: Breaking down where the Miami Heat’s roster stands for the 2024-25 season after the NBA Draft and free agency.

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