Mailbag: Will what’s next define the Miami Heat’s offseason?
The Miami Herald Heat mailbag is here to answer your questions this offseason.
If you were not able to ask this time, send your questions for future mailbags via Twitter (@Anthony_Chiang). You can also email them in to achiang@miamiherald.com.
Jason: If the Heat don’t land a big free agency name, it seems to me the Heat, as of now, will be going into next season worse in relative terms, to the top of the East compared to this last year. So, would you consider this offseason to be a failure if they don’t land anyone big, considering they’d be less competitive than last year? And do you think Jimmy and Bam will feel that as well?
Anthony Chiang: It’s hard to say the Heat is better if it brings back last season’s roster minus starting forward P.J. Tucker. Miami did add 19-year-old forward Nikola Jovic in the first round of this year’s draft, but it’s hard to imagine him making a Tucker-like impact as a rookie. So the Heat isn’t better right now than it was last season, although internal improvement could help close that gap.
And yes, other Eastern Conference contenders did make moves to improve this summer. The Boston Celtics upgraded their roster by trading for Malcolm Brogdon, the Philadelphia 76ers got better by adding Tucker, the Atlanta Hawks improved by trading for rising star Dejounte Murray and the Milwaukee Bucks are still elite.
Is this offseason a failure for the Heat? As long as the Heat has a core of Bam Adebayo, Jimmy Butler, Tyler Herro and Kyle Lowry, it’s going to be battling for a top-four seed in the East. A failure would be Adebayo and/or Butler demanding a trade from the Heat. That didn’t happen. But this offseason obviously wasn’t a huge success for Miami either.
The summer isn’t over yet, though. The Heat is still alive in the Kevin Durant sweepstakes and it’s in position to make a move for any other superstar who becomes available on the trade market. This offseason can go from underwhelming to one of the most memorable in team history if the Heat can pull off that type of move in the coming months.
@nonnahs23: Do you expect Mychal Mulder to still be on a two-way contract heading into camp?
Anthony: The better question is whether Mulder will still be on a two-way contract entering the regular season. One thing is for sure, Mulder will have to prove he deserves to keep his two-way deal because a few players on the Heat’s summer league roster already have made strong cases for such a contract. Guards Marcus Garrett and center Orlando Robinson are two names who have stood out for Miami’s summer squad and are two-way contract candidates.
While Mulder and guard Javonte Smart currently hold the Heat’s two two-way deals, they can be waived at any time to open a spot for another player. Miami is expected to open the season with 14 players on standard contracts as it faces the luxury tax, so it hopes to rely on its two-way contract players to contribute on the NBA level just like Caleb Martin did last season.
