- 11 months ago
Locked on Heat host, Wes Goldberg, shares his takeaways from the Miami Heat's roster moves over the last week including trading Haywood Highsmith and signing Dru Smith. Plus, why the Heat looking to trade Terry Rozier shouldn't be a surprise.
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00:00I'm excited to have Wes Goldberg on.
00:01He joins us on the Toyota of Hollywood Hotline.
00:03Appel is very jealous of Wes's lettuce.
00:08It's the first thing I said to him.
00:09It's the first time meeting.
00:10Unbelievable set of lettuce from Wes.
00:12He covers the Miami Heat for the Locked on Heat podcast.
00:15I always recommend following the work that Wes and his co-host,
00:19David Romil, do on Locked on Heat all year long,
00:22especially during the season, but really all year long.
00:25Wes also is a host on Real GM Radio, covers the NBA.
00:30Wes, I'm just going to throw this out there
00:31because it appears to be the topic of the day in Heat land.
00:35We take a quick detour from Dolphins to the Miami Heat.
00:41Apparently, Ethan Skolnick from Five Reasons Sports
00:44reported that the Heat are looking to trade Terry Rozier
00:48like any way possible, but it's not necessarily a secret, is it,
00:54like that the Heat are trying to move Terry Rozier?
00:57It's not going to happen, is it?
00:59Like, do you realistically see a team just saying,
01:03all right, fine, we'll take Terry from you?
01:05No, not right now.
01:07And, you know, nothing against what Ethan reported there,
01:12but it is a little bit of like a, yeah, you know,
01:14that they've been trying to do it.
01:16Now, it isn't by, just to clarify,
01:19and I didn't necessarily read exactly what Ethan wrote
01:22or listen to, like, the word for what he said,
01:24but just to clarify some things on that
01:26in case there's any confusion,
01:27it isn't by any means possible,
01:29because by any means possible would mean
01:31that they would attach an asset to Terry Rozier.
01:33And they've had opportunities this summer
01:35to attach an asset to Terry Rozier
01:36to get off of him and haven't done it.
01:39So they're not going to do that
01:41because Terry's contract comes off the books
01:43after this season.
01:44So to attach another asset to a guy
01:46who you used a first-round pick to acquire
01:48in the first place,
01:49which now looks like a bad trade in hindsight,
01:51they're just not going to sink more money
01:54into this thing, basically, right?
01:56Like, this is done.
01:57So if the worst thing is that Terry Rozier
01:59just is out of the lineup
02:01and then comes off your books next summer,
02:02okay, like, you can still walk away clean
02:04with all the cap space that you need.
02:06They don't want to attach any other assets
02:08to get off of Terry Rozier
02:09because that's going to take a lot more
02:11than that sort of, that second-round pick
02:13that they needed to get off of Haywood Highsmith.
02:16It's going to take a lot more than that
02:17to attach to Rozier's $26 million going out.
02:21I wanted to talk about that, obviously.
02:23I did just want to specify,
02:25I'm not criticizing Ethan Skolnick for that report.
02:28And the quote was,
02:30they're willing to trade Terry Rozier
02:31for, quote, just about anything.
02:34I think Ethan, you know, he has his sources.
02:37He's usually right about this type of stuff.
02:39I just think it's funny
02:40that it became the topic of the day
02:42because, like, Ethan probably was just,
02:44I didn't hear it either,
02:45but he's probably just having a conversation
02:47on their pod.
02:49And, like, it became news
02:51because it's Terry Rozier.
02:52He's such a punching bag right now.
02:54That shouldn't be, like, a trending topic
02:57that Miami is looking to move on from a guy
02:59who probably had the worst season
03:02in a Heat jersey last year
03:03in a very, very long time
03:05and was under federal investigation
03:07for gambling.
03:09Like, it shouldn't be a massive surprise
03:13to anybody that Miami would be willing
03:14to move on from him.
03:15It would have been really surprising
03:16if it was, like, the Heat are trying to move on
03:18from Bam Adebayo by any, like, they'd trade him.
03:22I'm like, oh, wow, now that's surprising.
03:24That's news now.
03:25It's like, okay, yeah,
03:26we know that they aren't exactly thrilled
03:27with Terry Rozier.
03:28And by the way, like, after re-signing Drew Smith,
03:30this is even more, you know, prevalent here
03:34because where does Terry Rozier even get minutes, right?
03:38He can maybe earn something in training camp
03:39and in preseason or whatever,
03:41but I do think it's an open question
03:43to figure out where Rozier stands.
03:45Now, one thing that we talked about
03:46on Locked on Heat yesterday was,
03:48could you just waive Terry Rozier?
03:50Because his contract is mostly guaranteed,
03:53all but $1.7 million of it.
03:56If they were to waive Terry,
03:58they would actually create enough space
03:59under the luxury tax,
04:01which they just got under by trading Haywood Highsmith,
04:03even after re-signing Drew Smith.
04:05They would create enough money under the tax
04:07to sign another player
04:09and still remain under the tax.
04:12It'd be about $3.5 million,
04:14which is enough for a veteran minimum.
04:16Now, right now,
04:17they would have to wait until mid-season
04:19to sign a minimum player to a prorated contract
04:21if they wanted to add another player.
04:23So that's a conversation that we're having also is,
04:27hey, do you just waive Terry Rozier?
04:29But I also think that there is some value
04:31in keeping Terry Rozier
04:32as much as Heat fans might not want to hear it
04:34because, again, that contract is expiring.
04:36And by the trade deadline in January, February,
04:39when maybe there's a superstar who decides,
04:41you know what,
04:42I don't want to be where I'm at right now,
04:44the Heat could potentially use Rozier's $27 million contract
04:47as a ladder to get up to matching salary.
04:50And for any team that's then trading away a superstar,
04:53then Rozier's contract becomes a lot more enticing
04:56because you only have to deal with it for two months
04:59and then it comes off your books
05:00and you walk away and you start your rebuild.
05:03Wes, I'm curious.
05:04You know, there was so much turbulence
05:05with the Heat last year just through the Jimmy Butler saga
05:08and there's no doubt that that affected
05:10the team's performance over the course of the season.
05:12You know, they finished eight games under .500
05:13back in the play-in round.
05:15And I know this is a generic question,
05:17but now that they move past that
05:18and it's almost like a clean slate
05:19that they get to start next season with,
05:22where should the expectations be for this team?
05:25So Vegas has it pinned at 38 and a half wins.
05:30That's crazy, man.
05:31I think it's a gross underestimization.
05:34Is that a word?
05:35Underestimization?
05:36It sounds good to me.
05:37That works on this show.
05:38That works on this show, man.
05:40That's great.
05:41Keep making up words.
05:42Look, I think maybe the losing,
05:48not necessarily getting rid of Jimmy Butler,
05:50but getting rid of the Jimmy Butler situation
05:52might be the most underrated addition
05:55or subtraction in the NBA all offseason, right?
05:59Because even after they did the trade in February,
06:02they were still just reeling from all of that drama.
06:06And I don't even think the Heat really fully understood
06:09how traumatic, and traumatic being used in sports terms,
06:13but how traumatic that whole experience was
06:16for that locker room and everything.
06:17And as reporters and stuff, we could see it.
06:19We could see it taking its toll in the locker room
06:21while it was happening from December
06:23on to him actually getting traded.
06:26Like, it was, you could feel it in that locker room.
06:29But even us and even the players
06:31couldn't really understand and comprehend
06:32just how traumatic that event was.
06:34That team just needed like therapy.
06:36That team needed to touch grass
06:38after the end of the season.
06:39They needed to get away.
06:40Bam needed to go to Greece.
06:42You know, all these people,
06:43everybody had to get away
06:44and do their things that they needed to do
06:45in order to just come back a little bit more refreshed
06:48and put all that fully behind them.
06:51Because even in the moment when it was happening,
06:53they're still being asked about it.
06:54What is it like without Jimmy Butler now?
06:55All these things are still trying to figure out
06:57what is the post-Jimmy Butler team?
06:59We're trying to build this plane
07:00in the middle of the air now.
07:02I think it's a huge factor
07:05in what's going to happen for the Heat this season.
07:08It's really the first time we'll see
07:10what this looks like post-Jimmy.
07:11I'm with you 100%.
07:13I think it was outside of Miami,
07:15but even here with some of the fans,
07:17it was downplayed a little bit.
07:18Like, how much of a distraction that really was.
07:21Still no excuse blowing 20-point leads to Charlotte
07:23in that 10-game losing streak.
07:25Like, I still won't forgive that team for that.
07:29No, it's like when you need therapy, right?
07:32You just start lashing out on people around you.
07:34You're like, whoa, where did that come from?
07:35Why are you screaming about me?
07:36Got to drop the plate or something.
07:37It's just like, that's what happens.
07:39It's like, wait, where did that come from?
07:40You just blew 20 points to Charlotte.
07:41Like, why did you do that?
07:42And they're like, well, I'm sad.
07:44That's why.
07:45That's why it happened.
07:46Those fourth quarters, Wes,
07:48like, just looking back to Chicago
07:50and then Charlotte, I think, back-to-back games,
07:52they're just mind-numbingly miserable.
07:55Like, those fourth quarters,
07:56watching them blow those leads,
07:59mind-numbingly miserable.
08:00Before I let you go, though,
08:01because we could talk about last season ad nauseum,
08:04what were your biggest takeaways
08:06from the Haywood Highsmith trade
08:07and then signing Drew Smith?
08:09I know there's a lot of Heat fans
08:11who are kind of frustrated,
08:12not so much that they traded H,
08:14but the timing of it all
08:15and attaching a second-round pick as well
08:18and then signing Drew Smith later on.
08:22There's, like, a faction of Heat Nation
08:25that kind of just feels like
08:26this is somebody that only Eric Spolstra feels
08:29has upside and nobody else does.
08:32I don't know if that's necessarily true.
08:33I understand the injury history complicates things,
08:36but what were your biggest takeaways
08:37from these two recent moves?
08:39There's so much to get into.
08:40Like, there's so much meat on this bone here,
08:42but just to keep it top level, I suppose,
08:45it's, you know,
08:46I understand it from the Heat's perspective.
08:49Their priority was to get under the luxury tax,
08:51and there are actual team-building ramifications to that.
08:56You guys know this,
08:57but if people are wondering,
08:58why should I care about Mickey Harrison's money, right?
09:00You hear that from fans all the time.
09:01It's, well, you shouldn't, number one.
09:03And number two, you know,
09:04this actually has team-building ramifications.
09:06Had they had to be,
09:07if they were in the luxury tax again this year,
09:09they would have triggered a repeater tax,
09:10which would have just had
09:11a bunch of team-building constraints.
09:13You can go look up the new CBA
09:15and you can kind of figure out all that boring stuff.
09:16But it was important from a team-building perspective
09:19to avoid the tax this season.
09:21So they do that,
09:22and they reset the clock on the repeater tax.
09:24That is a hugely important thing, right?
09:26And we're seeing that across the NBA.
09:28Teams just trading away good players.
09:30And this was the first instance in a very long time
09:32that Miami got worse
09:34in order to reduce payroll.
09:36That's not something the Heat usually do,
09:38but you're seeing it across the league now
09:39because of this new CBA.
09:41Boston is reducing payroll.
09:42Go look at teams.
09:44They are all taking step backs,
09:47doing the calculus.
09:48Hey, is this enough of a step back
09:49that it's worth the money that we're going to save?
09:51Or are we going to take too much of a step back
09:53just to save this amount of money?
09:54That's a new thing that front offices have to deal with.
09:56And so that's what Miami decided.
09:58They said, okay,
09:58we can either have Haywood Highsmith
10:00and be over the luxury tax
10:01and keep this second-round pick,
10:05or we can get rid of Haywood Highsmith,
10:08get rid of the second-round pick,
10:09get under the luxury tax,
10:10and then bring in Drew Smith.
10:12And those were the two things
10:13that they had as options.
10:15They had to get under the tax.
10:16Brooklyn was putting pressure on them
10:18in order to make that trade
10:20because they're the only team with cap space.
10:22Miami took no salary back in that Haywood deal.
10:24So, you know,
10:25that cap space is leverage that Brooklyn had.
10:28No other team has $5.5 million
10:30in order to just absorb Haywood Highsmith
10:32and help Miami out
10:33and create the space necessary
10:34to fill out the rest of their roster.
10:35Drew Smith or otherwise,
10:36had they traded Haywood Highsmith,
10:38they would have only had 13 players on a contract.
10:39They would have had to add another player.
10:41So, you know,
10:43Brooklyn had all the leverage in that situation.
10:45Let's also remember,
10:46Haywood just tore his MCL.
10:48So really,
10:48oh, you re-signed Drew Smith
10:49who was on a torn MCL.
10:50Well, or a torn Achilles,
10:52Haywood was coming off of an injury too.
10:54So, Miami basically had no leverage.
10:57They saw an out
10:57and they jumped to it.
11:00And anybody who had a criticism,
11:01people who criticized Miami
11:02for making that move
11:03and trading Haywood Highsmith,
11:04understanding that the priority
11:05was to get under the luxury tax,
11:06I have yet to hear another realistic way
11:09for Miami to avoid the luxury tax
11:11and all it costs them.
11:13And I hate saying this
11:14because I love Haywood Highsmith
11:15and he was a very important player on this team,
11:16but it costs you a,
11:20you know,
11:21not a fringe rotation guy,
11:22but not necessarily a star player on your team
11:25and a second round pick.
11:27And you were able to avoid the tax
11:28and you were able to bring back Drew Smith.
11:31Net-net,
11:31it's not a terrible piece of business for Miami.
11:34And they still have now flexibility
11:36to do some other things.
11:38I don't think I've ever seen Solana more sullen
11:41than when the trade for H was announced last week.
11:45It was a really tough time for him.
11:47So, at least now he got...
11:48Duncan's gone.
11:50Strews is gone.
11:51Gabe Vincent's gone.
11:52Haywood Highsmith is gone.
11:53Caleb.
11:53I think Caleb's gone.
11:55I think, correct me if I'm wrong,
11:56from the 2023 title,
11:58or I shouldn't say title,
11:59but Eastern Conference champion team
12:01that went to the NBA Finals,
12:02the only three players still here
12:04and Nikola Jovich,
12:06Tyler Hero,
12:07and Bam Adebayo.
12:08Do I have that...
12:09Maybe I'm missing somebody.
12:11Drew Smith on that team?
12:12Was Drew Smith on that team?
12:13Like, that's it.
12:15That's crazy.
12:16That's three seasons ago.
12:18And you lost all of those players
12:19for essentially nothing, right?
12:20You weren't able to get anything from Duncan.
12:22You were able to get it.
12:22Right.
12:23I think you got a second round pick
12:24from Cleveland
12:24in the Max Drew sign-in trade.
12:26That's it for all of those guys.
12:27Now, you know,
12:29I've argued that the Heat
12:30should have explored trading Caleb Martin
12:31before his free agency,
12:33and you should have explored
12:33doing a few of these other things.
12:35Now, Struis and Gabe Vincent
12:36were a little bit different
12:36because they kind of popped,
12:38and then they were free agents.
12:39You know,
12:40and so that was a little bit
12:41of a tougher move there,
12:42but that's...
12:45It's a tough look
12:45for a Heat team
12:46that kind of created these players
12:48out of nothing
12:48and turned them into assets
12:50and then lost all of them for nothing.
12:51On the same side,
12:53it's not as if Miami
12:54was unable to trade those guys
12:55before the trade deadlines
12:57or whatever it is,
12:58but they decided at the time...
13:01I remember even reporting
13:01on this at the time.
13:02They decided,
13:03you know what?
13:03Instead of trading,
13:04for instance,
13:04Caleb Martin in February,
13:06we'd rather just ride this thing out
13:08and see what happens.
13:09Right.
13:09And you could debate
13:10that that was a mistake,
13:13and it looks like a mistake
13:14in hindsight
13:14because they got swept
13:15by the Celtics
13:16or whatever,
13:17a five-game series
13:18against the Celtics
13:19later that year,
13:20but yeah,
13:22they always decided,
13:23you know what?
13:24We're going to chase
13:25that chance
13:27at another playoff run
13:28like 2023,
13:29and if Miami's at fault
13:30for anything,
13:30if this front office
13:31is at fault for anything,
13:32I think,
13:32during the Jimmy Butler era
13:33is thinking that
13:35that 2023 playoff run
13:37was more representative
13:38of the group
13:39than the 500-ish seasons
13:41that were most
13:43of that experience.
13:44It was like a different version
13:45of that 30-11,
13:4611-30 season.
13:48Right.
13:49Except you ended up
13:50in the NBA Finals.
13:51I will say, though, Wes,
13:52Jimmy Butler doesn't get taken out
13:53by Kelly Oubre that following season.
13:57Who knows?
13:58It's just funny how fans,
13:59and I get it, man.
14:00Like, you play the result.
14:01It's what we do.
14:02Hey, you're the front office.
14:04We play the result.
14:05Like, that's just the way
14:06this industry works,
14:07whether it's right or wrong,
14:09but it's funny how we speak
14:11in, like, these blanket ultimatums
14:14where, like, well,
14:15that team sucked.
14:15They lost in five.
14:16Not you.
14:17I'm just saying in general.
14:18That team sucked.
14:19They lost in five.
14:20They should have known.
14:20They should have traded Caleb Martin.
14:22It's like, if Kelly Oubre
14:23doesn't take out Jimmy Butler,
14:25do you really think
14:26that the Miami Heat
14:26lose that game to Philly?
14:28Because I don't.
14:29I think they win that game,
14:30and then they play the Knicks
14:31in the first round.
14:32Who knows?
14:33Right?
14:33Like, who knows?
14:34There could be another
14:34Eastern Conference Finals matchup
14:36between Miami and Boston
14:37after that season as well.
14:39Again, it, like...
14:40And the other side of that, too,
14:41I mean, you trade Caleb Martin
14:42in the middle of that season.
14:43You're like, what?
14:43So you're just giving up
14:44on the season?
14:45Look what we just did in 2023.
14:46So, again, it's easy,
14:49to your point,
14:49to just sit here and be like,
14:50you got nothing for all these guys,
14:52take each instance
14:52in its own sort of individual case.
14:55Then it's like, okay,
14:56well, that actually does
14:58make a little bit of sense.
14:58And, you know,
14:59they traded Duncan Robinson.
15:01They signed and traded him.
15:01They did get Simone Fantecchio.
15:02So it's not as if they got
15:03nothing back for him.
15:04We can see what Fantecchio
15:05ends up being.
15:06But, you know,
15:07each individual case
15:08is its own thing.
15:09And at the end of the day,
15:09those players meant a lot
15:10for the Heat.
15:11They developed them.
15:12They established themselves
15:13as the number one
15:14development program in the league.
15:15And you still hear,
15:16even in Vegas, man,
15:18like this summer,
15:18why did you join Miami?
15:20Why did you decide
15:20to be on the Heat
15:21and do your summer league
15:22with the Heat?
15:23They said, look at what
15:23they've done with all
15:24these other guys.
15:25That experience of
15:26developing those guys
15:27still paying dividends
15:29for this team
15:29in terms of getting
15:30some of the top
15:31undrafted players.
15:33Wes Goldberg,
15:33I really tell everybody
15:36every time he comes on
15:37to subscribe to the
15:38Locked on Heat podcast,
15:40YouTube,
15:41or wherever you get
15:41your podcasts.
15:43And again,
15:44listen to Wes
15:44on Real GM Radio as well.
15:46I appreciate you.
15:47And I'm sure we'll talk more
15:49as the season approaches.
15:50We're a month away, man.
15:51It's crazy.
15:52But we're like a month
15:52and a half away.
15:53It's crazy.
15:54Thanks for having me on, guys.
15:55Yes, sir.
15:56Wes Goldberg
15:56from Locked on Heat.
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