Q: Ira, how about a few “fake” trades with the Heat for Ja Morant? I’m sure you can come up with something. – Steve.
A: Yes, “fake” trades certainly have become a thing, a way to speculate while also making it clear that such conceptualizations don’t become aggregated as any type of legitimate speculation. Fair enough, I’ll illegitimately speculate, as you desire. Before getting to the numbers, there does have to be legitimate concern about how Ja Morant’s body has held up, as well as where his head is at. And considering the lack of NBA insight into what happened with the Terry Rozier gambling investigation, how close is Ja in the NBA’s eyes from yet another league suspension, should something go awry away from the court? It does seem, in that regard, that Ja is somewhere around two strikes. As for making math work, Ja is due $39.4 million this season, with two additional seasons left on his contract (at $42.2 million and $44.9 million), which is manageable money by NBA standards. As far as Heat contracts that could be put into play to help make the cap math work, you have Tyler Herro this season earning $31 million. Andrew Wiggins earning $28.2 million and Norman Powell earning $20.5 million. This is where it would be helpful to have Terry Rozier’s $26.6 million to put into play. Of Herro, Wiggins and Powell, it would seem the Heat would need Wiggins’ defense, with Powell’s price point perhaps too valuable to move. So Herro? That could be what it comes down to, particularly if the Heat take into account Tyler’s extension window re-opening in July.
Q: Will the Heat, and the media ever admit that drafting Kel’el Ware at No. 15 was a big mistake, not to mention passing on the Kevin Durant trade? – David, Pinehurst, N.C.
A: At some point you might wind up having no other choice. But this is not that point, not with a player who only less than a year ago moved into the rotation. The hope remains of getting something from Kel’el Ware long after Kevin Durant is done. Is it looking that way at the moment? No. Some players take time. The hope is that Kel’el might be one of those players.
Q: There has to be a world where we re-sign Norman Powell. Forget whales. A group of sharks can be just as deadly. – Dim.
A: Not in the NBA. This, for decades, has been a league where superstars win biggest. At the moment the Heat lack that superstar, with all due respect to All-Star-level players such as Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro (and perhaps this year even Norman Powell).