ASK IRA: If the Heat are getting ‘bored,’ what does that say about the Heat?
Q: Ira, I was listening on the radio on the way home, so I don’t know if you asked the question, but Jimmy Butler had me shook when he said the Heat had a bad first half before they were bored. – Ian.
A: Not going to lie, I wanted to double check afterward to make sure I heard it correctly. Jimmy Butler’s answer to how the Heat could be so indifferent in the first half against the Knicks and so different in the second half was, “We really get bored with the process and I can’t tell you why. We play hard and sometimes we get back into the game like tonight and sometimes we don’t.” And, yes, while the candor is appreciated, the truth also is eye opening. How can a team seemingly now locked into the play-in round afford to get “bored,” when entering with five losses in their previous six games? Boredom is the lack of motivation. How did the Miami Heat get here? I truly wonder what Pat Riley’s reaction was when he heard that. It seemingly is one of the most non-Heat things ever. Boredom is not the heat of a playoff race. It’s being done for the season before the calendar hits May.
Q: With the bad contracts of Duncan Robinson, Kyle Lowry and Victor Oladipo is a rebuild in order? If yes, who stays and who goes? With the brief window that’s left for Jimmy Butler, I don’t think he gets a championship with the Heat. – Bob, Boca Raton.
A: The problem with bad contracts is that you have to attach sweeteners to offload them, as even was the case with the second-round pick attached to Dewayne Dedmon in the trade with the Spurs. So then the question becomes whether using the team’s limited draft capital simply to offload is prudent. In many ways, that is like chasing bad money with more bad money. This is where the stretch provision potentially could come into play, but even that hampers your long-term salary cap. Generally, you pay a price after making mistakes. The question then becomes whether you are willing to pay an additional price to cleanse those mistakes.
Q: The wife and I have watched every game since Tim Hardaway and Alonzo Mourning. This year looks like burnout from last year. How do we get our swag and mojo back? – Jim, Bentonville, Ark.
A: By freshening up the roster. Now, whether that can be accomplished is another story.
