Q: Ira, You’ve mentioned the Heat are in win now mode. If we can’t afford a free agent, is it too late for a sign and trade? – Rich, Plantation.
A: This somehow has gotten lost in the swirl of speculation: At their current payroll position, the Heat, by rule, are not allowed to bring in a player in a sign-and-trade transaction (they are allowed to send out a player in such a move). So unless the Heat first offload salary to get into a far better position against the tax aprons, adding any player in a sign-and-trade is off the table, regardless of what the speculation says. So for the Heat to do a sign-and-trade, first there would have to be a preliminary trade.
Q: Ira, with the Heat calling on players, why not any more intel? – Mark.
A: Because of creating unreasonable expectations. The Heat call about dozens of players through the course of the season. That’s what you do. As long as there are players available better than the last of your 15, you constantly are looking to upgrade. But that doesn’t mean such players are available to you, that you have the assets to close a deal, or that a team is willing to engage. With any quality player on a rebuilding team, there is an inquiry. Anything short would be front-office malpractice. Similarly, teams are calling about Heat players that the Heat have all but deemed untouchable. So what we have here simply is people doing their jobs, amid speculation of names, names, names.
Q: Ira, would you agree that the two biggest questions to be answered this year? Are the availability of Jimmy Butler to play a full season and how Terry Rozier and Tyler Herro learn to play together? Look what happened with Milwaukee and how Damian Lillard and Giannis did not mesh really well together. – Barry, Deerfield Beach.
A: The difference is the Bucks had ample time to mesh Diamian Lillars and Giannis Antetokounmpo. Tyler Herro and Terry Rozier have played 11 career games together. That hardly is a tangible sample size. As for Jimmy Butler, he long has been on his own schedule, so that becomes more of a wait-and-see scenario. What we do know is that given maximum player capital, Erik Spoelstra has a way of maximizing those possibilities.
