The Heat won half of their first 50 games this season. Considering the extended Jimmy Butler drama, coach Erik Spoelstra is relieved that the team’s spirit didn’t crumble before Butler was dealt to Golden State.
“It was six, eight weeks of not having full clarity,” Spoelstra said, per Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald. “But I think that helped our team develop some grit. Even though our record isn’t where we want it to be, it could have been a lot worse. You go through a lot of circumstances like that, I’ve seen a lot of teams just fall apart. So we were able to develop some grit that I really like when you have those opportunities during a regular season.”
We have more on the Heat:
- Armando Rivas, listed as an assistant athletic trainer, has submitted his resignation, the South Florida Sun Sentinel’s Ira Winderman writes. Rivas served as Butler’s de facto personal trainer during the forward’s tenure with the Heat, joining Butler from the 76ers during the 2019 offseason.
- The Heat plan to explore the buyout market, according to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. They’ll take a cautious approach, since they already have a full roster and would have to waive a player, most likely either Alec Burks or Keshad Johnson, to bring someone new aboard. The Heat’s deadline moves allowed them to move below the first tax apron, meaning they can sign any player who’s bought out, regardless of the player’s pre-waiver salary.
- Andrew Wiggins, the biggest name among the incoming players in the Butler blockbuster, believes he won’t have any trouble fitting into the Heat’s lineup. “Golden State had a unique style, especially playing with Steph (Curry) and Draymond (Green),” he said, per Chiang. “There are similarities with Tyler (Herro) and Bam (Adebayo). So, looking forward to getting out there, being one of the older guys and just getting it started with them.”
- The deadline additions will create some interesting decisions regarding the rotation. Winderman speculates that the only rotation locks are Adebayo, Herro, Wiggins, Kel’el Ware, Duncan Robinson, Davion Mitchell and Nikola Jovic.
The Heat absolutely win this trade…
Wiggins had a bad couple of years dealing with a toxic locker room and a lot of jocks ripping on him for his time away for his father…
The Heat are exactly what he needs to refocus… A professional organisation…
Spending years under Glen Taylor and Draymond Green and finally make it to a professional franchise with work ethics… That can only do wonders for his mental state and consistency… Wiggins was always durable physically…
He’s already planning his vacation…..
Draymond?
Yeah he’s not far from another game off from too many techs… Or has he been too injured this year?
The players and coaches for GSW supported Wiggins and never complained about him. I don’t know where you get your information from but it’s 100% wrong. Kerr loved having Wiggins on the warriors.
Kerr enabled Draymond but otherwise isn’t the problem…
Keep making up excuses that has 0 to do with Wiggins.
It’s all to do with Draymond’s toxicity…
Wiggins was just an unlucky bystander who is now in a better location…
People have said the the Heat is a toxic situation too. So should we believe them that Wiggins is going to a toxic situation?
Warriors are very happy to get Butler for Wiggins. They have been trying to trade Wiggins for awhile now. Players have lost confidence in Wiggins. He was awesome in the last Title run, but he had to go. I’m already disappointed with Wiggins in Miami saying Herro and Bam are like Warriors trios. Gimme a break! He’s the veteran, he’s the Champ, he’s the #1 pick, he’s still in his prime! Tale charge and try to be a leader for once.
Dubs fans, don’t let this troll bait you into saying negative stuff about Wiggins, a solid contributor and great teammate on the Warriors.
Let’s fondly remember Wiggins as the key piece in a trade for a huge upgrade, superstar Jimmy Butler.
Keshad is unfortunately the person that would have to be cut. Burks has been used so infuriating this year, and is super important right now, so unless they get a massive upgrade on the wing/at the 2/3, he needs to stay, and actually play more
Heat need help at the 2/3, potentially 4/5, and maybe even the 3/4 depending how Wiggins looks…I would prioritize that 2/3 position, though multiple teams have needs there, and they can’t even grab 1 of the options, being Richardson, so hopefully they can address that spot…they have a couple of guys in theG-league i also may have considered if the return in the trade was slightly different/they had an extra roster spot…Ben Simmons could have been really interesting for them, but maybe there will be someone that can actually fill their need
Wiggins is right about the similarities, as I’ve outlined before…this is his opportunity to be the best version of himself he can be, or he’ll be exposed; that’s Heat culture. He claims he understands that this organization is about coming to work, and hopefully he decided to take that challenge, and be what he always could have been, what I never thought he wanted to be