Heat off-season wish list

Game 3 loss was “sobering”

The Cavaliers are a well-coached team that is ready to compete for the Eastern Conference title. They have easily attacked Heat weaknesses (weak defenders, inexperienced players.) The Heat have tried to counter but were unsuccessful. This series has been simple to understand.

Cleveland outscored Miami 60-30 in the paint. They dominated second-chance points 22-10. They outrebounded Miami by 17. The Heat did well to win the play-in tournament. Chicago or Atlanta wouldn’t have done any better against Cleveland.

Observations on the Heat players

Bam Adebayo is a puzzle. He is “the quarterback of the defense.” The Heat would be a poor defensive team without his presence. He “hits the ceiling” on his skill set when he is expected to be an elite-level two-way player. Bam is not “a scorer.”

Tyler Herro is not an elite-level two-way player. Tyler Herro cannot bring the ball up the court to initiate offense. He has tried to play more off-the-ball this season or has claimed to be adding off-the-ball actions to his shot profile. Herro could excel at playing off-the-ball similar to Reggie Miller or Ray Allen.

The Heat need “more physicality” on their team. The loss of Jimmy Butler has shown that the Heat are soft. Outside of Adebayo, there is no player who can absorb contact and “get a team to back peddle.” Jaime Jaquez Jr. can contribute to the team here but is in a “log jam” with many other wing players.

The struggles of the Heat this season show that the “small ball era” of basketball is over. Teams that are at the top of the conferences exhibit the following patterns:

1. Two elite-level stars
2. Athletic big men OR
3. Big men who can rebound and exhibit physicality in the post.
4. Quick, “point of attack” guards

It is, in essence, a return to old-school basketball. The point guard passes, the forwards rebound, the stars are on the wings. Nikola Jokic is the sole exception who can do it all.

Off-season wish list

The following are some suggestions for the Heat this off-season:

1. Trade Nikola Jovic — For all that Nikola Jovic promises on offense, he is not very good rebounding and on defense. Heat bench players have a penchant for “staying ready” when coming off the bench. They have been lauded for not playing several games, then exploding with a great game.
2. Trade Terry Rozier — The trade now with Kyle Lowry was bad for both sides. Kyle Lowry didn’t help the Sixers that much. Terry Rozier didn’t contribute to the Heat’s playoff hopes last year. Rozier even admitted that the Heat’s game plan doesn’t fit his skill set.
3. Get defensive-minded interior players. The Heat have suffered from too many forwards who like to play on the perimeter. They need power rotation players who are assertive and authoritative to get rebounds.
4. Get an “off-the-ball specialist” to train Tyler Herro — Tyler Herro doesn’t know how to play off-the-ball. He needs to learn because he cannot dominate the ball on offense. He should pattern his game off of Reggie Miller instead of Steph Curry.
5. Resign Davion Mitchell — As of right now, Davion Mitchell doesn’t shoot well but he is a “pass-first” point guard. He is the best the Heat have right now. He scored 16 points in Game 3 and 18 in Games 1 & 2.
6. Explore possibilities of trading Herro, Adebayo and/or Wiggins — Not all three should be traded but a combination of one, two or three should be traded for assets. This crew doesn’t play well together. Wiggins can’t stay healthy. Adebayo sadly cannot be the second option on a team.