His defensive traits are here to stay, meaning the offense will always be the primary focus in an off-season. There’s no doubt the aggression will have to pick up in a more consistent manner, but Adebayo did his job this season, and that game 7 proved the focal points of this Heat group.Ĭlearly Adebayo is locked into contract and isn’t going anywhere, so what’s next for him is much more game-based. When they lose, it’s easy to look over at his stat-line and make that the reason it occurred, but it truly isn’t the full story. In the mix of things throughout the season, Adebayo receives a lot of blame from the public. Games 3 and 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals showed flashes again on the other end, mostly about the hope of what he would look like as a full-time third option on the offensive end. One of the league’s best defenders, even if the voters couldn’t recognize that. Offensively he may have his ups and downs on picking when to go and be aggressive, but his impact was felt from game 1 to game 100. Basically the playoff motto for the Heat in this recent run: get Jimmy Butler some help. Watching him put it all out there in this post-season showed one thing that we probably already knew: build fully around Butler to get this group over the hump. It’s just building a roster to get him that ring that he so very deserves, which was one of the primary reasons he landed in Miami in the first place. Yet for Jimmy Butler, it’s about just the opposite. When talking about the next steps for individual players, I’m going to do a lot of talking about simple on-court improvements or the next stage of a contract/trade possibility. Y’all can have fun with NBA player rankings, but Butler cemented himself as a clear top 10 player in today’s league. We all know about his defensive excellence when surrounded by strong defenders, but carrying the offensive load yet again to this degree was eye opening. And in Butler’s case, he capitalized in both of those fields.įrom MVP ladder rankings to begin the year to a 47 point masterpiece in game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals facing elimination, it’s no doubt that it was a terrific season. Sometimes a season is remembered by how you start, and other times by how you finish. When talking about the Miami Heat, you must start out with the headliner, which is clearly Jimmy Butler. But you can’t fully look ahead until you evaluate the past, so let’s take a brief look throughout the roster to establish both what happened and what’s next… So, now that it’s officially off-season time, it’s time to project forward. Business.Looking back over this season for the Miami Heat, they finished as the first seed in the Eastern Conference, yet capped out in the Eastern Conference Finals in game 7, one win, or one shot, away from another NBA Finals appearance. But also never get too caught up in the emotional bonds. So in that regard, figure on Andy Elisburg and Pat Riley having a bit more capital to work with. And Micky Arison previously has paid, and paid big, when it has come to his teams being in contention. The difference is that after a season that led you into contention, you also weigh the costs of the luxury tax. So it’s not about who you are retaining or trading or losing, it’s about shaping the best possible contending 15-player roster. From there, you then assess the competition, particularly the teams you view as leading contenders and competitors, and then assess the challenges they might present. Then you do what you always should do – take stock of every asset in place, from those under contract, to impending free agents, to draft capital. First you let the balance of the postseason play out, no matter how it plays out. Now, it’s as if the entire roster needs to be untouchable. Do you see any lost this summer to desperate teams throwing big money at them? – Jack, Valencia, Spain.Ī: The irony here is that in March and April, the external attitude when it came to the Heat’s impending free agents was to blow the whole thing up, not to double down on the type of move made with Duncan Robinson, or even before that when James Johnson and Dion Waiters were retained. Q: After showcasing their playoff skills, some formally “under the radar” role players will be unrestricted free agents.
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