ASK IRA: Could it be as simple as prudence and practicality for Heat regarding Beal, Lillard?
Q: Ira, disappointing we had a good chance for Bradley Beal and didn’t go hard for him. It seems like we always are looking for the best player when we don’t even know if they will be available, such as the case with Damian Lillard. I know there is plenty of time to do something, but with no money to go after free agents, I hope we can upgrade over last year’s team through a trade. Otherwise, we’ll be re-signing our own free agents and adding a draft pick who might not be ready to help much. – Rich, Plantation.
A: There is no question that the Heat could have put similar expiring contracts into play for Bradley Beal as the Suns did with the Wizards (Kyle Lowry and Victor Oladipo instead of Phoenix’s Chris Paul and Landry Shamet). And it is undeniable that the Heat could have offered far better draft capital, had they elected to do so. So, in the void of the Heat ever discussing their maneuvering (as if their right), the answers here could be threefold: 1. The Heat wanted to save their draft capital for something better, as in Damian Lillard or someone else better. There is nothing wrong with dreaming big, as long as you can also tolerate a potential nightmare outcome. 2. The Heat insisted on the Wizards talking on the long-term money of Duncan Robinson as a means of somewhat mitigating the longer-term money being taken on with Beal. 3. The Heat decided that Bradley Beal was not worth entering into a luxury-tax threshold, under the new collective bargaining agreement, that is more punitive than any experience in any other sport.
Q: How do the Heat know that there will be a Damian Lillard derby? – Art.
A: They don’t. Or perhaps they do because so much is communicated behind the scenes by intermediaries. So perhaps a friend of a friend of a friend has relayed such intent. Because a Damian Lillard trade does not involve free agency, it is not the same as the timing matters that cost the Heat, Bulls and 76ers second-round picks in recent years for jumping the gun on such negotiations. You could say the Heat lost out on Donovan Mitchell because they had eyes on Kevin Durant. And you could say they lost out on others because they waited on Durant. But you also have to say that the Heat are coming off an appearance in the NBA Finals. So it’s not as if the Heat were capsized by such previous thinking, if that, indeed, is the case.
Q: The Heat will wind up with no one, as usual. – D.W.F.
A: Tap, tap. Is this thing on? The Heat are coming off an appearance in the NBA Finals for the second time in four years, having made it within one win in 2022 of a third such appearance over the span. Perhaps, um, they’re doing something right? Perhaps?