Q: So you spent two hours there twiddling your thumbs without asking a single hard or difficult question (except when it came to ripping Jimmy Butler, someone who is not even there anymore). Why not ask Erik Spoelstra about not having any trust in the players that Pat Riley gave him other than Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro? This team was set up to lose. – Louis.
A: First, I’m glad you enjoyed the questions, and I am sure the Heat enjoyed the clicks on their YouTube channel. Second, what exactly would you expect any coach to say about his personnel, especially if it is possible for his front office to turn that personnel into something that fits better? Beyond that, and this I know to be true, Erik Spoelstra truly had respect for those who fought to the finish. It might not look that way when he is pulling players such as Kel’el Ware and Jaime Jaquez Jr. out of the rotation, but his players, including Terry Rozier, stuck it out together, and fought the good fight with what they had left. Was it enough? No, not nearly. That was self-evident against Cleveland. But if you truly want to know what both the coach and the front office think, stay tuned. The Heat’s offseason actions will tell you exactly that. And even if moves aren’t made, it will come out, through the typical NBA channels, about who had been made available.
Q: Given the trades, personnel choices, position against the cap and current composition of the Heat roster, shouldn’t the front office be held accountable? The team is lousy, the outlook is not great and the opportunity to improve the team in a material way looks questionable at best. – Brian.
A: They should and they are. It will be interesting to hear Pat Riley attempt to justify the outcome of the Terry Rozier trade or what was secured in the Jimmy Butler trade. Fully agree that answers are needed and must be offered. And yet, answers, alone, don’t rectify anything. Actions will speak louder than those words.
Q: Why were the Heat so overmatched by the Cavaliers? There is no 50-point player on the roster, so I do not think another scorer would have been the answer. Then, what could have been the solution? – Igor, Doral.
A: But there was another 20-point scorer who no longer stood as a scorer at all. At one point, the Heat thought Terry Rozier would be that player. Then he became unplayable. And there was a 12-point scorer last year who this year fell out of the rotation. As in Jaime Jaquez Jr. And there was a career 18-point scorer who against the Cavaliers gave the Heat 11.5 per game. That’s where it fell short with Andrew Wiggins. So was there a single scorer who could have evened the score against the Cavaliers? No, but when so much went so south, too much combined scoring simply wasn’t there.
Originally Published: May 2, 2025 at 6:05 AM EDT