After serving as the Heat‘s starting center for most of the season, Meyers Leonard has fallen almost entirely out of the rotation during the playoffs. His starts in place of Bam Adebayo in Games 2 and 3 of the NBA Finals were just his second and third appearances of the postseason, and even with Adebayo sidelined, his role has been limited — he played a total of 22 minutes in those two games.
Meanwhile, Derrick Jones, who averaged 24.5 minutes per contest in 51 games prior to the NBA’s stoppage in March, saw his minutes cut back during the seeding games and again during the playoffs. He has been a DNP-CD in four postseason games and has averaged just 6.8 MPG in the team’s other 14 contests.
Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel wonders if the reduced roles for Leonard and Jones as of late signal that the two players are likely to leave the Heat in free agency this fall. At one point, Winderman writes, it seemed likely that the team would attempt to re-sign both players, especially if they were open to one-year deals. That no longer seems likely, in Winderman’s view, though he suggests the club still could attempt to bring back Jones if Jae Crowder signs elsewhere.
Here’s more on the Heat:
- In a separate article for The Sun Sentinel, Winderman speculates that the Heat will, at the very least, present Goran Dragic with a “sizeable” one-year contract offer this offseason. Dragic was one of the team’s top producers earlier in the postseason while playing with foot discomfort — now that he has been sidelined with a more serious foot injury, Winderman expects Miami to take care of him once he reaches free agency.
- The Heat’s return to the NBA Finals this fall happened two years ahead of the team’s hoped-for schedule, according to David Aldridge of The Athletic, who notes that Miami’s plan involved using its 2021 cap room to land a star who could help make the club a title contender. Given this year’s success, the Heat may be an even more appealing destination to those top 2021 free agents.
- In case you missed it, Bam Adebayo (neck strain) plans to return for Game 4 of the NBA Finals on Tuesday. Goran Dragic (torn left plantar fascia) is expected to remain sidelined.
I don’t see why the Heat would want to resign Leonard. Olynyk is better at he is at just about everything and is pretty much a lock to pick up his player option. I mean, I suppose if they think Olynyk will walk, but I don’t see that.
The Bucks should give Dragic/Miami a call – would be significantly cheaper than CP3/Jrue.
Why has Miami gotten so far? Because Riley has always refused to tank. Lakers may have tanked a while back, but it was to get a player who doesn’t. IDK why LJ tried so hard to get in during his first year in LA after an injury in his weak area, and surrounded by kids who thought him mostly a threat to their future maxxes.
The media seemed to side with the kids’ view. It was hopeless.
Miami is here cause they draft and find talent. Better than any franchise in NBA. That’s how, tanking is a media word. Most top teams who could didn’t want to sign Jimmy. Miami knows how to find players and winners. Have done it since the Mourning yrs. This team is young and ahead of schedule. Now they sign a key FA and they are at top of East for yrs. But it will be fun to see what they do with Drajic. Maybe he takes less money. Heat have had rumors about Gallinari.
Olynyk and Leonard should be playing. I would have started Leonard and Bam. Keep Howard off the paint. This way they keep Bam fresher too.
That’s too vague. The same could be said for any team that got far. What is different?— a culture based on winning now not future winning. No timelines, no matching players by age. Top conditioning. No coddling, at least after Riley traded away his favs, Richardson & Winslow, for playoff experience. That took guts… of course he had them overrated, most fans do… he beat his own home bias!