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15 Minutes of Heat: Brady Hawk on Kyrie Rumors & Klay’s Role | 5 Reasons Sports writer Brady Hawk joins the show! The crew breaks down Miami’s early-season rhythm, wild Kyrie Irving trade chatter, and Klay Thompson settling into the starting rotation.
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00:00Brady Hawk joins us there, Miami Heat reporter and analyst for Fiveron Sports, and now WPLG.
00:05You guys will be able to see Brady on the Heat TV broadcast for some road games.
00:09What are you on, Brady, for this upcoming road trip?
00:12We got you on at all this upcoming trip?
00:14Yeah, it looks like I'll be on for most of the road trip coming up, but it's all different with
00:20the come of the deals,
00:21so it's not going to be post-game, I don't believe, on most of the road trip, but it's pre
00:24-game at halftime we'll have on WPLG.
00:26Very good, man. Well, I know a lot of Heat fans are fired up to have you.
00:31What stood out to you most about the last win with finally getting off the schneid and beating the Hawks?
00:37I mean, I know it was your birthday watching that game, but I felt like my birthday watching pick and
00:41rolls back in a Heat offense.
00:43It's been too long. It's been way too long, I think.
00:47Look, they had to do what they did last year, fit the roster of going to the screenless, fast, five
00:51-out offense,
00:52but when they looked at, you know, well, Giannis runs, you know, Giannis is a transition player,
00:55Giannis is a downhill player, maybe this makes sense for him too, but I think we quickly realized it was
00:59hurting a lot of the other guys.
01:00Like, they had to get back to what worked for Bam Adebayo, first of all, as a pick and roll
01:05player,
01:05for some of these handlers as just, you know, finding certain shots and also just slowing down a little bit.
01:10I know they were just out the gates running at an exceptional speed.
01:12They still did that in Atlanta, but at times, I mean, this team can run half-court offense.
01:16I mean, this isn't a case where when you have a top-five player in the game and you have
01:19other guys that fit that realm,
01:20I just thought it was good to see them get back the handoffs for their shooters, pick and rolls,
01:24running a bunch of stuff off screens.
01:26Like, I thought it just settled them offensively.
01:28The defense is going to work itself out.
01:30I'm not overly worried about the defense.
01:31They need to be better on that end there, for sure.
01:33Even the Atlanta game, they won.
01:34I didn't think they were particularly great on the defensive end.
01:36They got lit up from three once again.
01:37It feels like every time they face anybody, it's a 40-plus percentage for three for these other teams.
01:44So, like, defense will figure itself out, but offense is my biggest takeaway,
01:47other than just individual guys, was that they got to get back to a little bit more screen and roll.
01:52Brady, is this a situation where if they had won three of the first four games,
02:00then this is something that would have shown itself or reared its ugly head maybe at the wrong time?
02:07So, the fact that this happened now where they had to reset and come up with this scheme now
02:16instead of later on if they were having some success that was kind of not real success.
02:21So, it's good it happened now versus in December or in January.
02:27This change is inevitable.
02:28I mean, they were always going to get here, to your point.
02:30So, like, even if they went 80-2 in the regular season,
02:33they could have ran into this wall in the playoffs.
02:35And then I think which is going to be even more needed,
02:37when they play these good teams in the playoffs,
02:39it's not going to be as fast as it was in the first of four games.
02:42It's going to have to slow down.
02:43You're going to have to run a little bit of offense.
02:44So, you're right.
02:45If we're looking for a positive from an 0-4 start,
02:47it's that they got it out and ahead of this.
02:49I don't think this was a one-game adjustment.
02:51I think they fully have to lean into this for their guys.
02:54It just – I'm watching the way Giannis can dominate in so many different ways.
02:57It doesn't have to be him dribbling up the floor
03:00and breaking somebody down one-on-one every single time.
03:02This guy is dominant as a roller.
03:04Last game, they pretty much said, okay, well, Bam's –
03:06we want to get Bam going as a roller.
03:07We're just going to stick Giannis down by the basket in the dunker spot.
03:10And he's just going to just kill everybody on the boards
03:12because he's just stronger than you.
03:13You're just going to go and grab – and play a different role.
03:16That's what you could do with a top five player in the game.
03:18It's not one-dimensional.
03:19You could put him in so many different spots.
03:21So, I do think it was important that they ran into this.
03:23They have to be able to get some of these other guys going
03:25that don't fit the isolation scheme.
03:27Another guy comes to mind.
03:29I don't love Wiggins in that offense.
03:31Like, yes, it kind of forces him to put the ball on the floor a little bit more.
03:34I don't love him having to handle a ton.
03:36I like him coming off some curls.
03:38I like him coming off a couple of screens.
03:39I like him getting to his spots down low.
03:41So, I think they're just quickly going to realize, yes, Giannis,
03:43when you're this great, you can play in any scheme.
03:46But it's more so the second, third, and fourth guys that I'm noticing
03:49that just need a little bit of pick and rolls in their life.
03:51Even the guys last year used to talk about it.
03:52They're like, well, like, you know, I wouldn't mind a pick and roll here
03:55once or twice.
03:56Like, they were saying that under their breath.
03:58I think a lot of the guys now after a number four start were saying that.
04:00I mean, we did see this happen with Memphis, right?
04:03Like, they kind of burned out on this whole idea of it.
04:06And, you know, so it's probably, like, one of those things where it's another
04:10pitch that Spoke can go to.
04:12Like, they have it there if they want to.
04:13But, you know, ultimately, you don't need to be as different when you have a guy
04:19as good as Giannis, do you?
04:21Like, this is not trying to soup up a bunch of young guys and, you know,
04:25Tyler and Norm.
04:26No.
04:27And saying this doesn't mean you have to stop playing fast.
04:29They have to play fast.
04:30They have to play off turnovers.
04:31They have to maximize Giannis, who's the best, might be the best transition player
04:34we've ever seen in the game.
04:37I'd like for every time they pass half court to find that guy and not have these
04:40other guys attack when you have Giannis on your team, give that guy the ball
04:42past half court with numbers.
04:44Like, that guy's just going to run you over and go dunk over the top of you.
04:46But, yeah, like, I think they're just still going to have to still play fast.
04:49And they can get back to it.
04:50I think there's certain cases where if a certain guy goes out, maybe in December
04:54and maybe the pick and roll stuff isn't working anymore because that ran out,
04:57they can always come back to this.
04:58Because, I mean, the whole point of this offense was just to figure out the spacing stuff.
05:02It was just about putting guys in the right spot and figure out where to go.
05:04But I think quickly it realized was, like, with this version of this team,
05:08with Giannis being so high usage, it was like, oh, wait, is Bam Brook Lopez's role?
05:11Like, we don't want that.
05:12We need Bam to be Bam.
05:14We don't need him to stand on the three-point line all game.
05:16Right.
05:16How about now with the rumors about Kyrie, this pick and roll looks even more appealing
05:22because he is really good at that.
05:27Yeah.
05:27I mean, you couldn't put somebody in a better spot.
05:29I mean, he's an isolation player too.
05:31But, yeah, if you've got Kyrie in the building, we're talking pick and rolls.
05:33I mean, that guy's going to break you down and do some stuff.
05:36I'm interested.
05:36I'm interested to see that just because I like what we're seeing out of the offense in this last game.
05:41I think the defense will figure itself out.
05:43My one question about this team moving forward is I still know how much I trust them closing games.
05:47Like, when it comes down to a tight game against a good team, who are they going to?
05:51If you're down three with ten seconds left, you're not going to Giannis.
05:53You're going to have to run a play for Klay Thompson or Tim Hardaway Jr.
05:56If you get Kyrie in the building, you have a closer.
05:57I mean, you have somebody that can just ice games down, especially in the playoffs when they get to that
06:01point.
06:02So, I don't know how the assets are going to look, how they would pull that off.
06:04But that's an interesting move just because I think that solves a lot of their problems, right?
06:10Right.
06:11It does, for sure.
06:13Let me get you to this because plenty of people, the first thing they want, the thing they want now
06:18fixed,
06:18now that they've got a win, is how long is Klay Thompson going to be starting?
06:23I'm not ready to bench Klay Thompson yet because, first of all, I think you just got a good Tim
06:27Hardaway game in his role.
06:28So, I'm happy just getting one of them feel like they're going.
06:32Is it a little like Kevin Love-y?
06:35Like, it's like, hey, just have him there for the vibes.
06:37He's there for respect.
06:38And then, like, if you don't have to go back to him, you don't have to go back to him.
06:41Or do you think this will eventually get to a head where they have to, you know, take Klay out?
06:46Because people are still scared of him shooting.
06:48But I obviously see that, you know, offenses kind of light their eyes up a little bit when they see
06:54Klay Thompson.
06:55That's the weak point you're going to try and attack.
06:57Yeah, like, they still respect him as a shooter and they're not going to leave him.
07:01But I'll tell you, like, Klay's had some great looks over the last few games.
07:04I mean, it hasn't been him shooting a ton of contested shots.
07:06He's had a lot of wide open ones that I do think it can turn.
07:09Like, I think it takes one game where he has a 4-5-3 game and maybe it opens up
07:13a little bit for him for a stretch.
07:14Now, I'm not saying it's going to be like that consistently throughout the season.
07:17But I think it's going to be he just has pockets.
07:18He's going to have hot pockets.
07:20Not the food, but he's going to have hot pockets.
07:22He's going to have cold pockets of the season.
07:24That's what it's going to be.
07:25Now, for the people saying starting lineup change, like, Pella Larson at the two makes a whole lot more sense.
07:30I like that lineup a lot.
07:31But it doesn't mean he has to start.
07:33Like, we don't care about the first five minutes of the game.
07:35Klay can get some.
07:36And I don't think, Toby, I know we talked about this in the game.
07:39Is there a point in the game where Klay gets up more shots than the first two minutes of the
07:43game?
07:43Like, I think every game they come out and Klay gets up three threes.
07:46And it's like, okay, I'm going to chill out for a little bit.
07:48Like, it's like, I'm going to take a step back.
07:49And then third quarter starts, three threes.
07:51Like, he comes out the gate firing where that's honestly not a bad thing.
07:55That'll tell you pretty quick if he has it going tonight or not.
07:57Then you know if you want to lean into his minutes a little bit.
07:59But Pella is ultimately going to be the spot holder for Klay in the closing lineup.
08:04But I said before the season, I was like, all right, well, they have a lot of options to go
08:07to with the closing lineup.
08:08Then go this route.
08:09Then go this route.
08:10I'm already at the point where I think I know who they're closing with pretty much every game.
08:13Because that's just the way it's looking.
08:14They're not going to lean into these specialists unless they really have it going.
08:18Just because of what we're seeing defensively.
08:20Specifically with Tim.
08:20Like, if Tim has it going exceptionally, maybe you lean in Tim closing.
08:24But the defensive stuff we've seen over the last few games, I don't see Spoh leaning in Tim Hardaway Jr.'s
08:28direction more than Pella or Wiggins.
08:31Did you become more of a believer that the Bam Giannis thing can get itself worked out?
08:36Because it was obviously ugly for the first, the winless run there.
08:40But do you think that they figured some things out along the way?
08:44Obviously, getting the win will make it seem like that.
08:46But do you feel like they can coexist?
08:49I do think they can coexist.
08:51It wasn't promising.
08:52Like, I'll keep saying with the verge of that offense.
08:54Because it was just, it literally was Bam as a spot-up shooter the entire game.
08:57It felt like it really, never really felt like he got to any of his spots down low.
09:01When you're running a traditional offense, I just, I like it a lot more.
09:04Now, I'm not going to say they ran a ton of Bam and Giannis.
09:06Because a lot of Bam's success in that first half in Atlanta was by himself.
09:09And Giannis, vice versa.
09:11But they can coexist with the stuff I talked about earlier.
09:13If Bam's the one rolling, they can put Giannis down low.
09:15Where it's not always having to be five out.
09:17Like, that's what it was early on when Bam would get to those spots.
09:20And Giannis is on the perimeter.
09:21And that's a late cut.
09:22And then they're running into each other.
09:23How many times have we seen Giannis and Bam run into each other on these cuts?
09:26They just don't know each other yet.
09:28When you're running a traditional offense, it's harder to do that.
09:30Like, you just know where to be.
09:31And you know where to space out.
09:32So, I'm pretty confident they can figure that stuff out.
09:34And I think they're going to start working in a lot more stuff that both guys have done in the
09:37past.
09:37Both guys have run a ton of mid-post stuff over the years.
09:40Giannis Milwaukee and Bam Miami has run a ton of that.
09:43Where they run the offense through them as a hub.
09:45We haven't even seen that yet.
09:46And I think that's a card that's going to come where they could definitely coexist.
09:49As one person that's, you know, occupying the weak side.
09:52And one has the ball in their hand.
09:53So, like, I was just a non-believer of them figuring it out in that small sample size.
09:57When there was not a screen being had.
09:59Like, it was just all isolation and spot-ups.
10:01If you're getting back to some traditional stuff, Giannis and Bam 100% could coexist.
10:05And I think we saw that in Atlanta.
10:06That was some fun numbers.
10:07I mean, 48 points, 27 rebounds for the two.
10:10I mean, that's the type of stuff you can get to if you're just playing.
10:13I'm not saying slow because they're going to play fast.
10:16But just slowing down at times when teams like Atlanta and Minnesota are just trying to beat you at your
10:20own game and run you out the building.
10:22So, basically, you're saying, like, they really didn't have a half-court offense.
10:29Like, it looked clunky.
10:31It did look clunky.
10:32It's free-flowing, right?
10:33Like, that's the word.
10:34Like, it was just free-flowing.
10:35They're just going to just every possession down.
10:37It's like, oh, well, if Davion has an advantage, I'm going to go.
10:39And then the issue becomes with it, when you're playing so fast and you're attacking these spots, Davion goes to
10:44the basket.
10:44He misses a layup.
10:45What's the first thing that's going to happen?
10:46Davion's behind the basket.
10:48Now the other team's running a five-on-four out every single time, and they're taking the ball at the
10:51basket.
10:51I feel like I've seen that way too many times in the first few games where you're playing behind the
10:55eight ball because of it.
10:55You slow down a little bit.
10:57You can play into your biggest strength, which is not the opposite side of the ball.
11:00It's defense.
11:01Like, they have to figure out the defensive stuff.
11:02You have to be able to be better because they were not good at defensive transition in the first few
11:06games.
11:06They've got to be able to get back.
11:07They've got to be able to defend.
11:09But, yeah, and I still think they could get to some stuff because Giannis, naturally, is, like, going to get
11:13the ball and just attack people.
11:15Like, he's not looking for a screen.
11:16He's going to go do it.
11:17But I'm more so saying for the others.
11:19Like, I think it was putting Bam.
11:21I think it was putting Wiggs.
11:22I think it was putting a lot of these guys in uncomfortable positions.
11:23Even a guy in Pella that I thought had an amazing game in Atlanta where he had eight assists.
11:28He was kind of their ball handler.
11:30He ran more pick and rolls than anybody.
11:31Him and Giannis seem to have a really good connection that we kind of predicted in the offseason might happen.
11:36But if you're getting ball handler Pella where he's making that type of playmaking, because that's the next step for
11:41him.
11:41I mean, we know he can barrel into people.
11:42We know he can score.
11:43We know he can get to the line.
11:44We know he can do all that.
11:45We know he can defend.
11:45And if he's playmaking like that, and he's getting these guys involved, which is the way to do that, and
11:49not this version of the offense, I mean, that's the role that we expected for Pella when we were talking
11:54about most improved or sixth made of the year.
11:56I haven't trade machined this one yet, but all right, let's theoretically put the Kyrie stuff on for a second.
12:02Okay.
12:02So, like, what are the guys – Wiggins would have to be in the deal for salary, right?
12:06Because you can't make a four – you're not going to make a four for one type of trade.
12:10So, it's Wiggins and who?
12:12It would be the ideal piece.
12:14You'd probably have to give a pick in Conwell.
12:15I'd imagine it's kind of the arsenal that he'd have to give up young stuff.
12:20So, ideally, is it Wiggins and Jovic and you keep Davion?
12:25Do you have to – like, does a Davion-Kyrie backcourt work?
12:30What do you imagine?
12:34So, it's interesting because, first of all, does Dallas want Wiggins, like, with their timeline?
12:39Like, if they're trading Kyrie, like, is that a guy – or is that, like, there's a secondary move behind
12:43it?
12:43Is one of my first questions.
12:45Might be a three-teamer.
12:46Maybe.
12:47If it would have to be that.
12:48Maybe.
12:48But I know that makes it a little bit more complicated.
12:50I think they'd want the youthful piece of – I know Conwell's getting a lot of buzz anyway.
12:55Even if he's not playing, I know he had a lot of buzz heading into the year.
12:57So, maybe it's him.
12:59But then I – are they a wing short in that case?
13:02If they – even if they do get Kyrie, because to answer your question, I'm not a fan of a
13:06Kyrie-Davion backcourt.
13:07Like, I know they did Davion-Drew stuff in the past and they ran these smaller lineups.
13:11Yes, you can get away with it a little more if you're gigantic in the other three spots.
13:14If you're running Giannis Bamportis like they have at times or doing something.
13:18But ultimately, you'd want Davion as the backup point in that case to back up Kyrie to come in if
13:24that was the case.
13:25But are they wing short?
13:27Like, if you're running now Pella at the three and then you're off the bench, your backup wing is what,
13:31Simone?
13:32Like, that's when it becomes a little bit of a problem.
13:34Especially if Nico's the one going out in that deal.
13:36That'll be the question is some of the defensive stuff, who you're throwing at these guys.
13:40Because Giannis is not a wing stopper anymore.
13:44That's not his role.
13:45He's just kind of an anchor of a defense playing help side.
13:47That's not somebody you're throwing at somebody.
13:49You're throwing anything stopper, sir, to start the season.
13:51That's fair.
13:53So, maybe it's Myron.
13:54Maybe it's Simone.
13:54I don't know.
13:55No, that'll be the questions that I think we'd flip and find a new problem.
13:58But Kyrie would solve a lot of things offensively.
14:01And honestly, I think we can all agree it would be fun to watch.
14:04I mean, watching one of the most fun downhill players of all time with a guy in Kyrie that's one
14:08of the most gifted offensive players we've ever seen.
14:10It's like, that would be a fun version.
14:12As long as, because that Dallas game, he was kind of in and out the lineup.
14:16I mean, he did his thing in that Dallas game versus Miami.
14:18But I wonder what his usage will look like.
14:20If his usage goes up where he's relied on a little heavier, like, does he still have that burst through
14:26an 82-game season?
14:28I guess will be the question.
14:29But I think of Kyrie not for getting them through the regular season, even though they have to build up
14:33some ground.
14:34I just think about it in the playoffs.
14:35If you really want them to compete with these top teams, that's a guy you want in the fourth quarter.
14:41Go check out Brady Hawk's work.
14:43He does a great job with 5 Reasons Sports and SI.com.
14:46But now you guys can also catch him on WPLG for pre-game, halftime, and post-game coverage.
14:51You'll see him a bunch on the upcoming West Coast trip.
14:53Are you going to be boots on the ground tonight, man?
14:55I will be boots on the ground.
14:56All right, man.
14:57I'll see you later at the arena.
14:58Thanks for giving us some time.
14:59Yes, sir.
14:59Thank you, guys.
15:00Thank you, guys.