assuming miami doesn't blow a 3-0 lead, this will be riley's 19th finals appearance as a player, coach, or exec that's nearly 25% of all the finals in NBA history
That's my concern. Addressing that need is expensive. We had a top 5 volume 3 point shooter and made the quote from Usual Suspects a reality by "convincing the world he didn't exist." Most players come here and can't shoot. I don't think Ham did a good job of implementing actions that benefitted him at all. I get doing that mid season isn't a great idea but if you're not, then you can't play Beas as much as Ham did. Maybe with a training camp, they can figure it out...I really don't know. Either way, it's an expensive role to properly address. Good ones are $15m+. Maybe Harris isn't in the Nets plans. Maybe Hawks move on from Bogi (probably not), but they've at least entertained the idea. Outside of that, you're looking at drafting a shooter. I've mentioned if we move Beas, that's the route I take just because you're getting one at 1/5th the price. And that's just one guy, if you're looking for multiples it's really an uphill search.
i'm ok with that; i just don't think it HAS to happen. and being the team that makes the fewest changes is helpful. look at the other 3 conference finalists. i think someone's going to offer him 20 per in RFA. not sure who, but that's what it would take. hopefully, rob works his magic and gets him on a kcp/kuz type deal. i don't like the narrative around vando at this point. he's an elite defensive player (his dbpm with us was on par with AD's, for example). his offense was bad, but it was basically a net neutral in utah. there are ways to use him there, and i don't get the people suggesting he's too low iq to do it--i feel like that's wrong. and yes, he can improve as a standstill shooter (and he already has). i'm incredibly concerned about his performance in the conference finals. he basically lost us the series. but we also wouldn't have sniffed it without him. obviously, you don't want to pay him 30 per for the next 4 years, but you can't have him walk out the door, and we absolutely cannot trot another lineup out there with a non-shooter at the pg spot. not with lebron and AD, and not with ham's preferred offensive scheme. cannot happen. so if russell and/or beasely can be turned into a reliable pg (tyus jones would be great here, for example), i'm listening. if not, i'd run it back and get him with a sports psychologist. people have overcome the kinds of problems russell has, imo. chris webber's a good example to me. early in his career, he was just anti-clutch, and he gradually became a solid performer in big moments, imo. i don't think we can go into the offseason with the idea that he must be replaced. reminds me a little of the kuz narrative, which scares me.
I don't think we have a system that makes it possile or guys to take good long range shots in rhythm. People don't just forget how to shoot in LA, there is something else that needs to be addressed. We'll have to explore S&T options.
Agreed. It was more a statement about how difficult it is for teams to build out a proper team with the massive increase in these salaries. The League needs to dramatically increase the tax threshold as well.
You don't only improve by adding pieces. You can do it too by building chemistry and natural player development. Reaves and Rui are set to have a massive leap next year. Vando is playing relevant basketball for the first time in his career and should develop too. I think his passing is underrated and we should use it more next year. Dlo is where he wants to be career wise and if he doesn't improve, he will be gone soon after his extension and without having a say on where too. I think he should be targeting the best offseason of his life. If you add on that all the chemistry and plays we will have with a preseason and a normal start of season, with clear roles and knowing the strengths and weaknesses of each other, the ceiling is really high for this team. It makes a world of difference for guys to spend all summer knowing who they will be and what the team needs from them, so they can work on their game accordingly and set their mindset towards that.
I don't think DLO should be allowed to take the floor tonight. The coaches need to tell him the court is lava.
To seriously answer the question, yeah I do legitimately think this version of Miami is a lot more dangerous specifically because of how well all those roleplayers have been playing. Plus we’ve been running on fumes compared to how we entered the Finals in 2020 I don’t think they’re better than Denver, and I do think we match up better with the Heat than Denver. By quite a wide margin. So had we made the Finals, I do think we’d end up winning the title. Just saying it wouldn’t have been a cake walk and Miami would have still had a legit chance against us
At his price point, you're not going to find anything close to his impact. When it's time to negotiate the next deal, that could get interesting. I do move him to the bench though to give us that jolt of energy, to prevent such a defensive drop off when AD sits, and because Rui is ready to be guaranteed a starting spot. I think Ham needs to be smart on when and how to deploy him. Again, hopefully training camp gives Ham time to hammer that out. Yeah, he really cost himself this off season, likely kept us from the Finals, and maybe from getting a ring (seriously... how much gas does playoff Jimmy have left, I hope enough to beat the Nuggets but damn). Really interested to see how negotiations go. Based on play, he's at $86m/4 years. Based on what you need to pay him for future tradeability, that's more like $100m/4 years. I think he entered the playoffs with a chance to get $112m/4 years if he played like he did in the regular season. You definitely can't let him walk, but I have no interest in going a dollar over $25m a year. Agreed you have to get shooting in return but it doesn't have to be from the pg spot if it's a multi player return and another starting position is addressed with shooting. I think we have the inside track on keeping Schroder because his relationship with Ham and that he's a high usage backup whereas elsewhere he might be expected to start and that's not good for either party because most teams don't have as many non PG ball handlers to pair with him. BUT if he leaves for more money and we keep DLO, we're in trouble. My fear is finding another high usage point guard for cheap who's up for post season play. DLO isn't that guy, so if you keep him, you have to find that guy. I don't think we have to move him either. But entering the playoffs, it was a no brainer to bring him back. I'm no longer there. I thought there was a zero percent chance we'd even entertain the idea of Kyrie or CP. Now both of those seem very real and frightening avenues. While i have zero interest in those two, I am exploring what replacing DLO looks like and if we don't like the market, then run it back.
Does ESPN hire the stupidest people in the world for their dog**** BPI model? Even now, they're still saying that Boston has a better chance to win the title than Miami. https://www.espn.com/nba/bpi/_/view/playoffs
What's your starting lineup/rotation today? I'm going with Schroder, Reaves, LeBron, Rui and AD. Stop messing around and start your best lineup Would bring Dlo, Lonnie, Beasley, Troy and Vando/Bamba from the bench. Dlo doesn't deserve to not play at all, would be kinda disrespectful if we want him long term, but benching him has legit rationale and it does improve our negotiation leverage for the new contract. But if he's the same, wouldn't extend him beyond. I think Beasley and Troy should have played already. Just giving them different looks and they can get hot from 3, it's worth giving them a run and see if they answer. Team looked gassed and Beasley/Troy/Bamba are real player, they ain't scrubs. Give them some run and maybe we are the ones going for like 6 triples in 3 minutes like they did last game
Finals will begin on June 1st. I just can't imagine that NBA on TV takes break of 8 days if there's two conference sweeps.
They have Boston at 25.9% and Miami at 74.1%. But to your question .... Yes and the biggest homers around.
Makes the every other day schedule look more absurd than before. Didn't think that was possible, either.
We're getting smoked tonight. No way any of our players wants to fly back to Denver. It is what it is
Pffft ..they get paid millions of dollars to play basketball. It's not like they are going to Ukraine to be on the front lines. They ought to be thinking about giving their fans at least one more home game. Cancun or Cabo can wait.
