Q: Initially the Heat trade package was hot garbage and Pat Riley was too old and washed up to get Giannis Antetokounmpo. Then the trade happened, and Riley got scammed and gave up everything of value and the Heat are in the same boat. Then the Heat were desperate for LeBron James, Klay Thompson, DeMar DeRozan and everyone else. Then it comes out the Heat didn’t offer trades or contracts to anyone. Then the Heat get Klay, and, new story, the needle doesn’t move, and the Heat still need shooting, when outside of Bam Adebayo and Giannis, everyone can shoot from 3. This team will be abusing other teams. Bully Ball. Please do some I told you sos to your colleagues and keep some receipts. – Chris, Sarasota.
A: Or, who cares what anyone says about any of this? The results will be in the standings and in the playoff results. For now, everyone and anyone can say they are correct. And perhaps that will be proven. You don’t win games or titles on paper, nor do you win in August. Yes, the Heat upgraded this offseason. But it also is not unreasonable to believe that questions remain. Next up are the answers, or lack thereof.
Q: Prospectively knowing a player will clear waivers smells like team collusion. Entertain us. – Michael, Port St. Lucie.
A: Such is how the buyout market works, especially for a respected veteran who wants to land with a specific team. Yes, another team could have utilized a trade exception to add Klay Thompson, provided they possessed such an exception. But that also would have meant playing Klay his full $17.5 million for 2026-27. Among the reasons other teams don’t get in the way of such processes is that it affords them pathways to save money, as the Mavericks did, with Klay providing his $9 million-plus giveback.
Q: What’s your feeling on whether or not the Heat will succeed in building a championship-caliber roster during the Giannis Antetokounmpo years? Some of the pertinent factors include the second-apron penalties that have caused Denver to let Peyton Watson go, Oklahoma City to trade three rotation players this offseason, and Boston to let three centers go a year ago and Jaylen Brown this year. There’s Pat Riley’s track record of building rosters around superstars four times since he came to the Heat. Although they say that acquiring talent is more difficult these days than back then, one would also think that teams having to give up talent to stay out of tax penalties creates more opportunities for other teams. Also, the Heat could be going into the 2027 offseason with only eight players signed and about $50 million under the first apron and about $60 million under the second apron. – Morgan, New Orleans.
A: Among the reasons the Heat are well positioned is that in moving off of Tyler Herro and Jaime Jaquez Jr., they moved off those extension questions. Similarly, there now won’t have to be down-the-road such decisions off the rookie scale with Kel’el Ware and Kasparas Jakucionis. The Heat are well positioned to add the right talent at the right price. And, as Klay Thompson has shown, players remain willing to play on the cheap if it means playing for something with meaning. Up next will be how they handle a potential Pelle Larsson extension.