Heat coach Erik Spoelstra believes the team will soon solve its offensive issues after losing five of its first seven games, Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald writes. The fact that they play six of the next seven games at home should help the Heat fix their problems.
“We’re closer than we are further away from it,” Spoelstra said. “But when you add losses to it, sometimes it can feel like you’re far away. But we’re not that far away.”
We have more on the Heat:
- The issue regarding Tyler Herro is not whether he’s worthy of a starting role but rather if he’s better off as a sixth man, Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel opines. What the Heat have gotten so far from Herro is a player still finding his way in that role. Herro is averaging 19.9 points and 2.9 assists in seven starts, compared to 20.7 points and 4.0 assists last season while playing the same number of minutes.
- Trading Kyle Lowry and Duncan Robinson to the Lakers for Russell Westbrook wouldn’t make any sense, given that the franchise is always focused on going deep in the playoffs, Winderman writes in a separate story. While Westbrook’s $47MM contract would come off the books next summer, that would only ease luxury tax concerns rather than opening up significant cap space.
- Max Strus is headed for free agency next offseason and he’ll get a huge bump in salary wherever he winds up. A mid-level taxpayer deal is a likely scenario, according to an executive interviewed by Heavy.com’s Sean Deveney. Strus says he’s not sweating the details. “If you get caught up in that stuff, it affects your play so I try not to think about it. I just do my best and put myself in a position for good things to happen,” he said.
Heat are getting worse next season
Strus is 100% getting more than the midlevel…probably something in the $14 million per range
I know spo likes to mess with rotations and lineups, especially early in the season, but with so much parity, and such little differences separating everyone, I’d like to see them just do what even they seem to know, based on things they’ve said, which is start Duncan Robinson and Highsmith/Strus over Herro and Caleb, and then hopefully they can figure out what to do at smallball 5, or finally admit it’s worth it to pay the small luxury tax this year, and get a 15th guy, and not worry about repeater tax down the line, or figure out another way to get below it later
1,000,000%
Strus is a stud.
Trading Robinson and Lowry for Westbrook makes perfect sense for the Heat.
You’re joking, right? This team was a semi-finalist in the East last year but in your mind, it makes sense to bring Westbrook into the mix?
More like Robinson and Kyrie to the Lakers Kyle to the Nets and Westbrook to the Heat.
Luxury tax relief is easily more important to the Heat than cap space right now. The about 10 to 12 million cap increase all are getting next year along with the luxury tax decrease will keep them out of repeater tax trouble with about six million to spare and a couple of the exceptions that go with them.