Q: How many emails did you get about the Heat missing out on another whale, making no improvements for the future, having a front office that can’t improve the roster and what looks like a Heat team that seems destined to be middle of the road forever? – Chadwick, Lake Worth.
A: Enough that I will allow this one to suffice, so as not to be redundant. What struck me in the wake of the trade deadline and the Heat’s inactivity is that so few of the trade-deadline report cards even mentioned the Heat. It’s as if the Heat have become an irrelevant, as you put it, stuck-in-the-middle team, not good enough to be considered a contender, but also not bad enough to figure into anyone’s lottery calculus. You can’t spell Miami Heat without meh. So get your play-in tickets, perhaps hope for some magic in the playoffs, but also accept the reality of, at least at the moment, a go-nowhere outlook.
Q: Now that the fear of being traded is out of the way for all the players, a 10-game win streak is up next, right? In all seriousness, if teams are asking for picks for players not worth it, I can’t blame Miami for not taking the bait. – T.G., Queens.
A: Which I could agree with in some cases, including not mortgaging the draft future for an unknown as, say, Ja Morant. But on the other hand, the disappointment should be the Heat not adding draft capital by offloading elements of a roster destined for the play-in. This should have been your argument in reverse, soliciting draft capital for what is on the roster.
Q: Ira, I saw you said the Heat next will cut Terry Rozier. But can’t they keep him to keep his Bird Rights? – Sammie.
A: Technically yes, but that only matters if another team is looking to do a sign-and-trade deal during the ensuing offseason. And no one is looking to do a sign-and-trade deal for Terry Rozer. If Terry ever makes it back to the NBA, it assuredly would be on the most minimal of non-guaranteed deals, with even that the longest of longshots.