Q: Glad to see Kel’el Ware make All-Rookie. Now Erik Spoelstra has to start him every game. – Anthony.
A: Which, at the moment, would appear to be the plan. But this also could be a fluid offseason for the Heat’s lineup and rotation. For example, if the Heat do land Kevin Durant (and assuming Kel’el is not part of such a deal), then you likely would be looking at Durant-Bam Adebayo as the starting power rotation. Same with a Giannis Antetokounmpo deal (as highly unlikely as that would appear). Same with a possible deal for Zion Williamson. Kel’el is a promising, intriguing component, but also is not one locked into the starting lineup at the cost of an overall roster upgrade. Similarly, while Bam might be best suited as the starting power forward going forward, you still have to create the best possible lineup, regardless of positional desires.
Q: Ira, instead of pointing out what the Heat need to add in the offseason, let’s look at what they have to shed. Too much dead weight drags a team down. – Elliott.
A: The difference is that this is not the NFL, with contracts that are mostly non-guaranteed. In the NBA, you either have to eat salary and waive such a player, or add a sweetener to offload such a player. And at the moment, with most of their future second-rounders dealt away in previous salary moves, it’s not as if the Heat have much in the way of sweeteners. Yes, in a perfect world, there would not be the salary ballast of Terry Rozier and Duncan Robinson, or, at this point, even Kevin Love. But because NBA trades also are balancing acts when it comes to the salary cap, there remains value in maintaining such contracts for such potential moves, rather than waiving them or mitigating the immediate cap hits by utilizing the stretch provision. Similarly, a case could be made for the $9.2 million due Kyle Anderson next season being better spent elsewhere (such as on impending free agent Davion Mitchell). Waiving Rozier, Robinson or Anderson does not create cap space or wiggle room.
Q: Ira, with all this talk about trades upgrades and Kevin Durant, it seems to me that the Heat have either given up on keeping Davion Mitchell or are unwilling to pay him what he deserves. Davion is a true point guard who is impactful on both ends of the floor, and the only point guard on a team that badly needs one. Tyler Herro is an outstanding player, but he is not a point guard. To quote Shaquille O’Neal, who said during halftime of a playoff game, “What top-notch team in this league doesn’t have a good point guard and an able backup?” It is clear that the answer to that question is “none.” – Bill, Palm Beach Gardens.
A: But this also goes somewhat to the question above. The reality, at least at the moment, is that Terry Rozier still is under contract for $26.6 million next season. So if you were to re-sign Davion Mitchell to a substantial deal, your payroll in the backcourt (especially if Duncan Robinson is retained) would get sideways in a hurry, still without a proven star-level talent alongside Tyler Herro (with all due respect to Davion). That is why the Heat do need to first thin something out in their backcourt (as difficult, as mentioned above, it would be). At the moment, the tangled web of the Heat’s payroll has far-reaching tentacles.