Over under with Bosh uncertainty I don't think that's crazy. This is a team with a lot of nice complementary parts that is missing the turbocharger under the hood.
I really enjoy watching young players develop. I'm really optimistic about Richardson, Winslow and Reed. While I won't go so far as to predict superstardom for Richardson and Winslow, I do think they have that potential. That's why I'm not as doom and gloom as some. I see Reed as a young Biyombo type. I also like Stokes, but I'm basically just curious as to what he can do going up a level. Kind of how I felt about Ennis last season.
Per Stein, Heat acquiring Luke Babbit from NO for cash and future draft considerations. Another RSHK hall of famer Good shooter. Some really nice depth developing. Now we just need a closer. If Bosh doesn't play not sure we have one
I think Babbitt qualifies for what Pat Riley was talking about with true asystematic three point players like Kyke Korver.
Babbit shot 40% on 3s last season His catch and shoot and EFG are good too. He's also a minimum salary expiring contract who is good trade filler later. We gave up nothing
A shooter! Huzzah! I like the Heat's roster but jeez Williams and Johnson didn't seem to be what they needed.
[video=twitter;752264689694965761]https://twitter.com/alexkennedynba/status/752264689694965761[/video]
Like I said I think the front office, which built a ton of street cred by uncovering the likes of Tyler Johnson, Josh Richardson and Hassan Whiteside, has been given the green light to acquire pet favorites en masse with the idea of letting the cream rise to the top and then either trading them away for proven players or building around them a la Whiteside.
I saw someone on Twitter may have been Winderman say there's growing thought that the Heat will actually match Tyler Johnson but take until 11:59pm to do it.
So it looks like the plan is to make a very solid roster where the pitch is we just need the superstar to elevate to the upper echelon. That or hope for Winslow and Richardson to blow up.
I hear something about amnestying him? Is that a thing? Not very up on the NBA salary cap devices. I have a vague idea what an amnesty is and know we did it with Mike Miller. Is the theory that we can amnesty Miller in the balloon years (3-5) if he just doesn't turn out all that good?
No one mentioned that Haslem got a deal too. 1 year less than 4 mill. https://twitter.com/IraHeatBeat/status/752240938798297088
Out of all of these moves, the one I'd be most excited about is Reed. I really hope I'm wrong on Bumpy. I just see Jeremy Lin as his ceiling, and non-rotation player as his floor. To me, paying that guy $20M two straight years is awfully scary. The bright side is, Pat is giving a giant middle finger to the Nets and their poison pills, and telling everyone not to **** with him in the process. I like the Luke Babbit move also, for no other reason than they basically traded away an imaginary draft pick for him.
I understand the idea of not losing assets, but this seems like a poor idea to me especially if there's some clause against trading him. I don't know if you can restructure his contract under NBA rules in a match situation? That's a big key to me since I thought the whole idea was to preserve flexibility for next season and the offer sheet he signed seemed designed specifically to limit flexibility.
By the way, Alex Kennedy says that the TJ move was not the one he was talking about when he heard they are not done. Considering they have 15 players, I wonder if this is McRoberts or Dragic. Ironically, this roster sets up pretty well to suit Dragic to the point where he could finally be an all-star as the main guy in Miami.
He was probably talking about Willie Reed Pretty sure the plan at this point is to drastically change our style to a full on "run n shoot". We'll be playing a lot faster and hoisting a lot more threes You're right that this style should suit Dragic and make him more valuable as a trade chip. I also think you're going to see a lot of lineups with Hassan surrounded by 4 shooters. He will be an all star if his post passing improves
Just imagining if somehow we land Westbrook and have both him and Tyler Johnson - that would be cool.
Still wouldn't be surprised to see them make an informal guarantee to Jarnell Stokes and sign him in December. We traded Jarnell Stokes to the Pelicans in exchange for the 2nd rounder we turned around and traded back to them for Luke Babbitt, and they cut Jarnell Stokes and now we may get Stokes back in December by promising more than one year of guarantees whereas everyone else will probably only offer one year guaranteed or perhaps only partial one year.
I was pretty torn on the TJ situation, but there's certainly good reason for the money. He's an excellent athlete with a solid jump shot who can defend either guard position pretty well. That profile is valuable nowadays. Then you add in the fact that he's a motivated guy who pulled himself up through the DLeague, he fought back from that jaw injury, and he's a guy whose work ethic our staff is familiar with...I like it. You'd hate to develop this kid all the way up through your system just to lose him. Oh and he's 24.
So what's the roster now? Goran Dragic Tyler Johnson Briante Weber Josh Richardson Wayne Ellington Rodney McGruder Justise Winslow Luke Babbitt James Johnson Chris Bosh Derrick Williams Josh McRoberts Hassan Whiteside Willie Reed Udonis Haslem Do I have everyone? I mean that's 15 guys so I must have everyone. Tough luck for guys like David Walker and Victor Rudd still fighting for position in Summer League. I think Rudd will catch on with someone regardless, and Walker may be able to play in Sioux Falls.
Ira reporting that Beno Udrih has a standing offer to return which he is likely to accept unless something better materializes over the next few days
Right. And it was heavily protected (I believe something like top 55), so it almost certainly would have never come to Miami anyway.
What stands out to me is that is a pretty big athletic lineup. Not to mention with J-Rich, Babbitt, and Ellington we have 3 knockdown shooters.
That puts us at 16 players I think, unless they have the ability to unload McBob. ...or unless they don't plan on Chris Bosh playing.
Zach Lowe said on his podcast that the Heat essentially picked Goran Dragic over Dwyane Wade and I think we now see that that's true. Dragic is going to be an all star this year.
He's the straw that's gonna stir the drink this season, with the anchor big and more shooters sprinkled around. We'll see if any of the young guys can become more reliable playmakers/initiators. JRich and TJ are gonna have to work on their PnR game.
