Q: The Dallas Mavericks simply traded the tip of their bench plus the twenty sixth decide for Christian Wood. How may the Heat entrance workplace be asleep on the wheel and never put collectively a greater deal to acquire Wood, who has averaged practically 20 factors and 10 rebounds the final two seasons and who would have been the proper match subsequent to Bam Adebayo? – Greg, Jacksonville.
A: Because whereas the Heat may have provided an identical draft slot (they maintain the No. 27 choice in subsequent week’s NBA draft), they don’t have the same expiring contracts that Dallas despatched in its package deal to the Rockets for Christian Wood. First, I extremely doubt the Heat would have been prepared to incorporate Tyler Herro in such a package deal (nor, on this view, ought to they’ve). All the contracts that the Mavericks despatched to the Rockets expire after subsequent season. For the Heat to have matched Woods’ wage, it seemingly would have required Duncan Robinson being included, and he nonetheless has 4 years left on his deal. So, sure, whereas I agree that Christian Wood alongside Bam Adebayo would have been intriguing, you additionally need to have the requisite fascinating property to make the maths work. The Mavericks had that, the Heat didn’t. Sometimes the maths will get in the way in which. And that’s no knock on Wood.
Q: I used to be disenchanted that you simply stated if Jimmy Butler would have hit his shot on the finish of Game 7, the Heat could be enjoying for the championship. There had been 16.6 seconds left within the sport and the Heat would have been up by just one level, loads of time for Boston to attain one other basket? Maybe the Heat would have stopped them, however we are going to by no means know? – Phil.
A: I stated they might have been enjoying for the championship. But additionally needless to say the Heat had been on an 11-0 run on the time of Jimmy Butler’s 3-point try in Game 7, the Celtics and not using a basket for greater than 4 minutes on the time. So momentum definitely was all with the Heat. But, sure, there was extra sport to play. But the Heat’s probabilities additionally definitely would have grown exponentially with such a conversion.
Q: Ira, imagine me that had Erik Spoelstra used Duncan Robinson for a couple of minutes within the closing sport, and had Robinson made one or two 3-point photographs, we’d have been enjoying within the Finals. – Masoud, Tucson, Ariz.
A: If nothing else, the playoffs made Duncan Robinson arguably probably the most polarizing Heat participant of the postseason, or at the very least up there with Bam Adebayo. Then once more, such is life with 3-point specialists – love ‘em when they’re hitting, detest ‘em when they’re lacking. It’s akin to closers in Major League Baseball, with little center floor.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com