Kyle Lowry looks at the Heat’s loss in the conference finals as a “waste” of a season, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald writes. Lowry missed eight postseason games due to a hamstring injury and struggled to regain the form that made him so effective in Toronto.
“I wish I would have been able to play a little bit better, at a higher level, but I didn’t,” Lowry said. “It just adds fuel. You don’t know how many more opportunities you will have to get back to this, so for me, honestly it was a waste of a year. “I only play to win championships. It was fun, and I appreciate my teammates, and I appreciate the opportunity. But for me, it’s a waste of a year. You’re… not winning a championship, it’s a wasted year.”
Lowry has two years left on his three-year, $85MM contract.
We have more on the Heat:
- Jimmy Butler scored a combined 82 points in Games 6 and 7 but the Heat still came up short. He vows that Miami will be back in the Eastern Conference Finals again next season, according to Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press. “We had enough (pieces),” Butler said. “Next year, we will have enough and we’re going to be right back in the same situation, and we’re going to get it done.”
- P.J. Tucker only played 17 minutes in Game 7 and coach Erik Spoelstra hinted it was injury-related, Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald tweets. Tucker had been listed on the injury report with left knee irritation but it’s unclear if that was the issue. Tucker can opt out of his $7.35MM contract for next season and become a free agent this summer.
- Max Strus had a 3-pointer overturned after several minutes of game action during the third quarter of Game 7. The NBA replay center in Secaucus, New Jersey deemed that Strus was out of bounds. Spoelsta was frustrated about the length of time between the shot and the overturn decision, Nick Friedell of ESPN writes. “I’m sure they will look at that, and we’ll probably be the case study for it,” Spoelstra said. “I’m OK if it happens the way it used to. They would look at it at the next foul or break and look at it and notice it, but it was probably 10 minutes of real time — somebody check on that.”
IMO
Heat could trade Lowry
Nets would trade Simmons and a First for Ayton and filler
Way to go there Sillivan, great thoughts as usual!
Trade Lowry for what?
Why would the Suns have interest with Simmons? They have two ball dominant players and really just need rebounding and to be surrounded by shooters.
Lowry and Duncan Robinson for Westbrook and a top 14 protected First
The heat need more shooting not trading it away for the worst shooting point guard.
The Heat need someone with size at the 4 that can defend and shoot, like Paul Millsap, not Markieff Morris, or someone that can do those things, but also play small ball 5. They also need to replace Caleb Martin, who they will unfortunately be losing. Trading Duncan Robinson makes no sense unless the roster is drastically different
Sillivan, the Lakers are not going to trade an expiring contract WITH a first-round future pic. They’re not going to do it.
They will ride Russell Westbrook’s contract out and give this team another shot to see if they can get it done. They have to make the bed they slept in. There’s no fixing this until the end of the year by trading Anthony Davis.
If the Lakers are totally lost by the trade deadline they’ll trade Davis at that time. Also perhaps Westbrook and his expiring contract would be a benefit to some team if the Lakers get back a couple of quality guys in return that the other team doesn’t have a fit for.
Lowry is Fat & Old. Bad combo. Heavy athletes fall off quick.
Lowry was in much better shape this year and literally got injured a couple of weeks ago. He is also still one of the best 2 way guards in the NBA, and there is no way Herro or Strus would have been what they were for the Heat this year without Kyle Lowry
One of the best two way guards? In the NBA? Really?
Yes
No
Play happened in the 3rd quarter, and the scoring change with 7 minutes left in the 4th quarter. Its supposed to happen during the next timeout or at the end of the quarter. That being said, that isnt even the issue. The issue is that it was wildly inaccurate b/c he was never out of bounds, his foot wasnt in the line, and you could see it from every single angle in photos, video, and the actual live play.
Kyle Lowry couldn’t even walk, PJ Tucker had multiple leg injuries, Butler was hobbling around, they had multiple other guys on the injury list as well, and Herro with the groin issue, etc
My main issue was use of the rotation, especially then with PJ out in the final game. I dont get how Herro gets off the bench, but not Duncan Robinson, and then when Tucker was hurt, not Highsmith. Also in lineups against Horford/rob williams, Yurtseven would have been usable, and could have given them help scoring in the half court, and obviously rebounding in certain situations
All of that being said, you cant miss 8 fts in a game that came down to the final possession, and that is something that killed the Heat for like 6+ years. Make or miss series, and they missed a lot, some of which is b/c of lack of spacing without Duncan Robinson and Lowry being hurt, but you cant miss that many FTs in a game when you’re also not knocking down shots.
The play at the end is what it is. I thought it was a bad decision, but I understand why Jimmy rose up for it. He was trying to stpe on their throat, but he should have used his momentum to drive by Horford, with nobody in the paint behind him, and tie the game (which really should have given them a 3 point lead, but that’s not the point). I’ll live with it, but I’m left wondering what might have happened if he didnt take that off balance shot in transition, and regardless, there is no way I’d blame Jimmy Butler for the result. This dude is 1 of the single biggest embodiment of Miami Heat culture of all time. He is already a Heat legend
Heat have to get past a (maybe) healthy nets, 76ers, and bucks teams. Think jimmy might be wrong about them back. I could easily see any of those 3 teams knocking out the heat
So Kyle… we can safely say that your career has been a waste, at least 94% of it, right?
I’ve watched the replay of that Max Strus 3 about 30 times now… HE … WAS… NOT… OUT.. OF… BOUNDS! That being said… it’s disgusting they took those points away almost 10 minutes of physical time later.. giving the celtics GIANT momentum (the score went from +8 to +13 on the FT line)…….. this horrendous call by some idiot in New Jersey not only cost the Heat a conference title.. but it cost the NBA an all time finish. Put 3 points on the board for the Heat… Jimmy Butler doesn’t take that 3… instead the Celtics foul with around 10 seconds left… the heat are up by at least 1 (hopefully 3 if they make their 3pt’s) and the Celtics go for a a last second shot to either win or tie the game. The net outcome is a game 7 coming down to a final shot, or overtime…. the NBA was robbed of this, and the heat were screwed….
Everyone knows he wasn’t out of bounds but stop acting like one play in the middle of a quarter was the deciding factor.
In this case.. it literally was the deciding factor of the game
Not true. If heat keep those points maybe Boston doesn’t waste their final 5 possessions
There are going to be a lot of narratives spewed moving forward, but all you can do is keep the reality in your own mind/heart and move forward. Sometimes that’s just sports
Nobody will ever win a ring with Jimmy. He’s a “me” first player. Not saying he’s not great, but he’s not “the” player to lead a team to a ring
Boo
Every one of his teams overperformed with Butler.
Rofl this is what I remember seeing from Bulls fans at the time, and I said at the time i would love him on my team, and look at that, now he is. Jimmy Butler was always a Miami Heat player
Lowry, Robinson, & 1st sign & trade to the nets for Kyrie