Q: Ira, LeBron James said he would have signed with the Knicks if they didn’t win their championship. Then he signed with the Sixers. Did the Heat waste their time waiting on him? – Anderson.
A: I don’t think so, because, by then the Heat already had added Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bobby Portis Jr. and Tim Hardaway Jr., and then they got their desired outcome by landing Klay Thompson afterward, as well as Nick Richards. Also, players often offer a revisionist history after the fact of how things played out. The Heat were in on a pitch to LeBron James’ people and were among the finalists. If they had missed out on another player in the interim, say Klay, then you could second guess the overtures. But, in the end, LeBron seemingly got what he wanted, and the Heat seemingly got what they otherwise wanted.
Q: Great player when healthy and wanted him here, but that man can never stay healthy. Very unfortunate. – Josiah.
A: This was in response to the news that Bradley Beal is ailing yet again, this time to miss time with the Clippers due to knee inflammation in the wake of his hip surgery. And, yes, the Heat did take a look before Beal re-upped with the Clippers. In the end, the Heat lost out on shot creation but also escaped the worst-case scenario of their scant space below their hard cap being spent on a player unable to play.
Q: Every day it’s a new player with the Heat. First it was Bez Mbeng, then Dennis Smith Jr. and now Lester Quinones. Tell us what it means? – Steve.
A: That the Heat are in the process of seeding their G League team with competitive talent, while offering preseason packages that can provide up to a $91,000 bonus if such players move on to spend at least 60 days in the G League. A bit more transparency would help, since the roster the Heat otherwise have had in place likely will be the opening-night roster.