Q: Ira, you don’t make sense at times. We don’t need more sampling of Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro together. What we need is honesty. This team lacks true game-changing stars and neither Tyler nor Adebayo are that. We have an opportunity to rebuild this team around Kel’el Ware and Tyler. Trade Adebayo for draft picks and play for Ping-Pong balls in 2026. Then use the draft capital we can gain from Adebayo to trade for a superstar to join Tyler plus Ware and keep your Ping-Pong pick of 2026 and get a future superstar in 2026. That is a quick fix that we can all endure. In fact, get some additional picks for Andrew Wiggins and Duncan Robinson. I much rather see what Tyler and Ware and others on this team can do to grow next year knowing we have a better plan that will not be sending more picks. And please don’t bring a Kevin Durant that is closing in fast on age 40. Pat Riley needs to shift gears into this new NBA style which is really drastically different than years ago. – Jerry, Miami
A: First, I still do not see the Heat tanking next season to maximize a lottery pick. That’s not who they are, nor who they ever have been. Plus, in the East, you can be pretty bad, win a pair of play-in games and still be in the playoffs, and therefore out of the lottery (See Miami Heat, 2024-25). That is why I have somewhat come around to perhaps trading one of the leading men for a top-tier draft pick (thus the suggestion of Bam Adebayo possibly for the Spurs No. 2 pick, as mentioned in yesterday’s mail bag; I don’t think Tyler Herro could net such a pick). Plus, I think you overstate Kel’el Ware as a core, foundational building block. I’m not sure that’s who the Heat drafted him to be or even thought he could become. So I guess my answer to Adebayo-Herro is that if breaking that up could get you to the top of a lottery, then you consider it. But with the two in place, I don’t think there is a way for the Heat to play themselves down into elite lottery level (which truly is an oxymoron).
Q: No New York, no New York, no. Everyone has Jalen Brunson as a superstar. The funny thing is I don’t remember him in the NBA Finals and I’ve seen Tyler Herro’s team there twice. – John.
A: The difference is Jalen Brunson is attempting to do it as a leading man, unlike Tyler Herro. And in one of his team’s trips to the NBA Finals, Tyler was sidelined since the first playoff game. I doubt you will find many, if any, in the NBA who would rank Tyler ahead of Jalen. But that also should not diminish what Tyler has done in his six seasons, half of which have been on a roster that has advanced to the conference finals.
Q: Ira, it doesn’t matter what you see about DeMar DeRozan. That’s what Pat Riley does, keep chasing players as they get old. We’ve already seen it with Kevin Durant. – Elvis.
A: And I’m not saying you’re wrong. It would be a very Pat Riley thing to acquire DeMar DeRozan (just, please, not at the cost of draft capital or a promising developmental player).