Q: I don’t know why anyone is surprised by the current losing. Haven’t the Heat always been a team of overachievers ever since Jimmy Butler arrived? We have never been close to being the favorite to win the division or the NBA title. While we’ve been overachieving with our current roster, the rest of the current contenders have been vastly improving theirs, and we have only tweaked ours. Do you really believe the Terry Rozier trade changes much of anything? Are we really only another trade away before the deadline that magically turns us into a contender? We are who our record says we are, or worse if the losing continues. There’s a reason why the Heat play the most zone defense of any team in the league. As you have said before we probably have to let this current roster play out. For the last few years at the end of each season we have been told we are only a player or two away. At what point is it time for a total rebuild? Is anyone untouchable going forward? This current state of affairs is beyond frustrating. – Bob, Davie.
A: So this all comes down to whether you believe last year’s trip to the NBA Finals was fool’s goal. Or, for that matter, the Heat advancing to the Eastern Conference finals in three of Jimmy Butler’s first four seasons. Because teams that advanced to the NBA Finals in one season do not blow it up in the next. You let it play out. Now, is a similar finish as likely this season? It certainly does not appear that way. But go back one year at this time, and you would have been saying the same. This is a team that has mostly found its way during the playoffs. Now, if there is a flop there, then we certainly can resume this discussion at that point. But for now, you simply do not know what is awaiting beyond the play-in/playoff door.
Q: It looks like Tyler Herro and Duncan Robinson will be back. What happens now with Josh Richardson playing so well? – Andy.
A: You likely continue to start Bam Adebayo, Haywood Highsmith, Jimmy Butler, Tyler Herro and Terry Rozier, and then play Kevin Love, Caleb Martin, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Duncan Robinson and Josh Richardson off the bench. But that doesn’t mean you necessarily are playing two separate units or even going 10 deep. From there, you see what is working, you consider matchups against specific opponents, and you whittle it down from over the course of a game. And then when the play-in/playoffs arrive, you decide on a definitive eight and work from there.
Q: Are the Heat and Magic a rivalry again? – Stephen.
A: The standings say they are. And they will be on Tuesday night, with the Heat leading the four-game season series 2-1 and the head-to-head tiebreaker potentially at stake. And that could matter, with being a division winner having its advantages against other teams in potential playoff-seeding tiebreakers. So in many ways, Tuesday against the Magic will count more for the Heat than say Sunday against the Clippers or even Wednesday night against the Spurs.
