Coach Erik Spoelstra cites “an instant and inherent built-in level of urgency” for the Heat to reach the playoffs in Dwyane Wade‘s final season, relays Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel. Miami is stuck in ninth place at 26-31, a game behind the Pistons, whom they host tonight. Wade announced before the start of the season that this would be his final year in the NBA, and the organization wants to send him off with a playoff appearance.
Wade won’t be moved into the starting lineup, but Spoelstra plans to expand his role. Wade has remained productive in his 16th season, averaging 14.1 points per night in 47 games, all as a reserve.
“You can see what’s happening,” Spoelstra said. “He’s going to be starting to play starter’s minutes. We’ve made it through this far of the season and he’s feeling great. We’ve protected each other to this point — but now it’s go time. I’m going to keep the dynamics as much as I can the same. I don’t want too many moving parts this late in the season.”
There’s more Heat news to pass along:
- Miami will see a couple of players in the next three days who were traded just before the deadline, Winderman adds in the same story. The Pistons feature Wayne Ellington, who wasn’t getting consistent playing time in Miami, and Spoelstra said the organization worked with Ellington’s representatives to find him a better situation. “He decided at this point of his career he wanted to go to a place where he could play going into free agency,” Spoelstra explained. Tyler Johnson and the Suns will face the Heat on Monday.
- Goran Dragic will play tonight for the first time since having knee surgery in December, but his minutes will be limited, Winderman tweets.
- Wade is a strong proponent of lowering the draft age so that players who believe they’re ready for the NBA won’t be forced into a year of college basketball, Winderman adds in a separate piece. The NBA submitted a proposal to the players union this week to lower the draft age from 19 to 18, but the change that won’t take effect until 2022 if it’s approved. “I just think the rule should be that if a guy, if he’s good enough to come out at 18, at 17, he should be able to,” Wade said. “Just like other sports and other things in the world, you’re able to go to the war early.”
The biggest myth that has ever crept into pro sports is the belief that high school kids can play in the nba. 150 high schoolers have declared, 67 have been drafted, only 25 etched out 10 years in the league and only 13 made an all star game. High schoolers ride the bench for at least one year and in most cases 2 years. The only exception to that is LeBron, Amar’e Stoudemire, Garnett. This is bad for the league.
That was back then the training and physicality of the kids now would let more of them play right away. There’s guys now that get drafted out of college and have to sit on the bench. Might as well get a paycheck a year earlier
What are the stats for one and done players? In 2013, there were six freshman drafted, and only one of them is going to have a 10 year career (Steven Adams). I don’t believe any of the one and done players have been all stars either.
I think the NBA has just as hard of a time drafting 19 year olds as they would 18 year olds.
Cousins, AD, Wall, Kyrie, Tatum, Adams are just a few examples of one and dones who’ve had successful careers thus far.
Kevin Love and LBJ (obviously), also
2013 was unusual, not a good example of any draft category. AD came out the previous year, Embiid the next, one-and-done. (See later post)
With your own figures 37% of drafted high schoolers have atleast ten year careers in the league. That’s actually not so bad.
Yes a lot of kids are “good enough to come out at 18, at 17”, AND get drafted, but that is just to get stashed and their brains blunted.
“You’re able to get to the war quickly”??? Right let’s make Africa a role model.
There is enough infantilism in society without putting even more cocoon-people on TV.
what in god’s name are you talking about dude
Criticizing Wade quotes. But keep dreaming of fame and success without having to prepare.
Sorry,
1.Untrained 18 year olds will not likely play much, unless a great.
2.Why would anyone want to get to war quickly?– it happens in Africa, child soldiers, but that is not a good goal.
3.The people we see on TV live precious lives. Actors, newsreaders, celebs, various rich people who get pushed along and don’t have to work or struggle for a living. It’s not balanced.
Heat will not make the playoffs
a draft prospect quits attending class during his sr year of basketball season. then he drops-out to “train” for the draft, he goes undrafted and isn’t academically eligible to play ncaa sports and doesn’t have a high school diploma. reality
Useful stats on 18 vs 19 yos entering the NBA are hard because conditions change. Looking at HS-to-NBA players, the early ones performed highly because they were chosen rarely and were can’t-misses.
But in 1998 they started taking HSers in the second round. From 1998 through 2005, the record for HSers is poor, 5 all-NBAers out of 34 taken overall and a lot of whodats.
Six second-rounders were taken in 2005 alone, flyers that would have had a better chance with some college ball.
Given the trend, in 2006 one-and-done was instituted. They could proably have just banned HSers after about the #15 pick to prevent the abuses. The lowest an all-NBA player straight from HS was picked was #17, Jermaine ONeill, classic spoiled knucklehead forever because of what he did not do at 18.
Data from wiki
There were 35 (not 34) HS>NBA players drafted 1998 through 2005. So let’s count the first 35 players starting 2006 who had to be 19 to get in (one-and-done) and compare the all-NBA players.
All-NBAers, drafted at 18 straight from HS:
DarylDawkins, KevinGarnett, KobeBryant, JermaineONeill, TracyMcgrady, TysonChandler, AmareStoudemire, LebronJames, DwightHoward, AndrewBynum.
All-NBAers, drafted at 19, the first 35, 2006 through the last in 2014:
KevinDurant, KevinLove, DerrickRose, DemarcusCousins, JohnWall, KyrieIrving, AndreDrummond, AnthonyDavis.
Players who possibly still could be all-NBA: Conley, DeRozan, Favors, Beal, Adams, Noel, LaVine.
So, who do YOU want to be on the same team with? Who are the best role models, leaders, who has the most buy-in to society?
That’s for sure the first group with KG, Kobe, JO, T-Mac, Stat, LBJ & DH12.
At some point why not just draft 13 year olds and do away with child labor laws? We encourage kids to finish high school with truancy laws, why would we discourage this for kids who happen to be good at basketball?
Hoop dreams, guys. Perhaps the best is to let 18 year olds go direct to the G League and work their way up, the way baseball does it in most every case – I think Bob Feller was one of the few teenagers to go direct to the majors and have immediate success.
College basketball benefits off of developing basketball players who will go into the NBA with out paying them. The players who can be drafted lose eligibility if they declare but go undrafted. If HS kids were able to declare and still go to college if undrafted but the declared players have to stay in college for 2 years and the ones who don’t declare can declare after their freshman year I think college basketball and players could benefit.