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Five On The Floor: Miami Heat/NBA

Miami Heat: Bam, Duncan, Jaquez, Martin thoughts after exit interviews

Duration:
43m
Broadcast on:
04 May 2024
Audio Format:
mp3

Instead of focusing on the players who didn't talk, Ethan Skolnick and Brady Hawk turn their attention to those who did. Bam Adebayo, Duncan Robinson, Caleb Martin and Haywood Highsmith are among those featured. What's in store for all in the offseason?


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Go to prize picks.com use the code five. And now today's episode. [MUSIC] Welcome to five on the floor. A daily insider show in the Miami Heat and the NBA featuring Ethan Skolnick, Greg Sylvander and Alex Toledo, plus others from the five reason sports network. [MUSIC] Welcome back to five on the floor. Here's today's floor plan. I'm Ethan Skolnick. You can follow me. Ethan J. Skolnick and I'm five reason sports. We got Brady Hawk. You can follow him at Brady Hawk 305. Check out the episode that I did with Alex Toledo. We went through Eric Spolisher's comments and also got into Jimmy Butler and Tyler Hero among others skipping the final media interviews of the year and our thoughts on that. I recommend you check out the episode. We went about 40 minutes and we did a deep dive on Spol's comments. I thought he was much more open and relaxed, I think. I don't want to say relief because certainly he wants to still be coaching at this point, but it's clear that this season for a lot of reasons was a burden on a lot of people, particularly the lack of availability, which is something that he addressed, I think, more openly than he has when he simply just says all the time, which he has to, we have enough. Brady and I have enough today, so we're going to get into the player comments and the guys who were actually there. So as I mentioned, there were 18 players under contract for the Heat that includes the three two ways. The only ones who did not speak were Jimmy, Hero, Love, and Rosier, that was their choices. Yovich, because he's 20, didn't know about it. So I'm sure we'll get an apology from him from the summer. That's just an eco. Josh Richardson was planning to speak. He was waiting outside the door to come in, but I guess it was too crowded at the time or someone was hogging the stage, so he decided he wasn't going to wait and probably went off to go watch soccer somewhere. So he didn't speak either. And I don't think a lot of this Williams spoke, is that right? Brady, yeah. So the other two ways Kane and Swider, both spoke, and then a bunch of other players. So we're going to go through the list of players who did speak. And let's start here with Caleb Morton, who has the most interesting contract situation. He's got a $7.1 million option. I think we've all assumed he was going to opt out of that deal when I spoke to him privately, and then again, when he spoke yesterday publicly, I still get the lean that he's planning on testing for agency, although he hasn't said that. And by that, I mean testing for agency to get rid of the contract and then kind of see what's out there, whether it's from the heater somewhere else. And he has said to me, and he said again yesterday, that he wants to be here pretty much if all things are equal, but that he would deal with it when the season is over. So I'll ask you this. From what he said yesterday, do you have a lean on that, on where that may go? And obviously he doesn't have total control over this. He'd have a lot of control over this. Yeah. To be honest, I don't think I take much or read much into his comments just because if you listened to Gabe Vincent and Max Scherz last year at this time, you would have sworn that they would be back because of the stuff that they were saying. And it sounded like they were almost leaning in my immediate direction. But ultimately, when it comes down to the offseason and the agents are in control, and it's all about kind of setting yourself up for the future, you have to do what's best for yourself. So I mean, as much as he sits there and says he wants to play Miami, I also asked him just the perspective of like him wanting to win. Because he always talks about that. Like I know he's like a younger player and he's trying to get his money first, but he always wants to play in the playoffs. He wants to prove himself. He wants to play this time of year. So I asked him kind of how much that factored in. And he was just kind of rolling, not really into the future. He was also talking about kind of the past and how much they're going to be dwelling just on what just happened. So I don't really get a lean to be honest with you. I mean, I don't really read much into it just because I feel like he has to say those things just to just kind of get a pulse check a little bit. But it's just a weird situation because we didn't think it'd be like a possibility. And you know, a couple of months ago, we thought he would kind of show himself, teams would kind of be throwing big money at them, kind of like to happen with Max, but he kind of had a kind of up and down year. He kind of had it up and down playoff showing. So it almost makes you think what will be his biggest number? What will be his price range? And can Miami kind of get in the conversation with that, with what they have the offer? So it'll be interesting. And I know we'll monitor down future podcasts. But just to recap, I guess that that was kind of the one thing. And then he was also talking about some improvements and wanting to be more in control, wanting to be more on the ball, which is tough to see. If you was to get money and go to a different situation, that would happen. So we'll see what happens. Well, I mean, there were reports out there and you never know where these reports come from. Sometimes they come from the agent side that he could be getting about $13 million a year. I mean, if that's the case, the heat are not resigning. I just, I don't see any way that that happens. I think this is another scenario where if you test the market and you see what's out there, and then you kind of come back to Miami. And look, the Gabe Vincent negotiations last year, like, they didn't stop. Okay. Like the heat, Max, there was never really a possibility. Once the money was out there for him, Miami, as much as they liked him, was not going to retain him and they knew they had Duncan to fill that role and Duncan until the back injury did fill that role more than capable. But with Gabe, you know, they made an initial offer. And then as we know, it was, they considered it a low ball. And then after they got the initial offer, then basically the heat offered more in the sense of they offered an additional year. And so I think it would have been like, if I'm remembering correctly, it was like one or two million more, but over one more year. So it was less per year, but a little bit more security going forward. And of course, if you were Gabe, you were like, well, I'd rather take the money and the three in whatever the shorter period of time, the three years, and then you have the potential to make more than that. Now, as Gabe's season turned out, we don't know where he's going to be in two or three years. And he may be a minimum guy at that point, in which case it's going to end up probably coming out relatively even. So again, you don't know how these things are going to play out. I'll say this for Caleb. He'd be better on a good team. I think that if he goes to a bad team, he doesn't have the type of skill set. I think that's going to be accentuated there. Like he's not a lead guy. He is what the heat had him at. He's a Swiss army knife type guy that exceeded the expectations when they acquired him. He was pretty much a body when they brought him in. You and I both talked on the very first scrimmage we saw him. We're like, oh, this guy's going to stick. But we weren't saying he's going to be the runner up for Easter Conference Finals MVP. So I think his best role is on a team like the Heat or maybe an OKC, maybe even a rising team like Houston that could use a glue guy. Like those are the kinds of teams I would look at. If he goes to a Detroit for the money, I don't think it's going to be a great situation. And I'll say this too. I know he's still close with Max and Gabe. And I asked him that question specifically. And if he talks to those two guys about their experiences, they've had two very different experiences this year. I mean, Max has had a good season. I think Cavs fans are frustrated with him right now. I get that sense. It's kind of flipped from last year Brady, where heat fans were frustrated during the regular season. He played better for the most part until the playoffs, until he got to the finals. But I think, you know, again, he seems to have and I've communicated with Max. He seems to have had a good experience. Gabe, it would seem like, has not had a good experience in LA leaving. And some of that is injury-related, but I'm sure some of it is what we talked about when Gabe went, which was that the pressure was going to be relentless in LA. And he may not be the player that, and now they're calling him Kendrick Man 2.0. So I just, Caleb talks to them. I think he'll get different perspectives. My lean on it is that he's not going to be back. I just, I just think when you look at the heats cap situation, or excuse me, tax situation and wanting to stand to the second apron and some of the other options, they have to fill the roles. We'll get into those. I don't anticipate that Caleb will be back, unless he opts in. If he opts in, he's back. If he opts out, maybe takes two for 20, then maybe. But I think once you start getting beyond that, I would be surprised. All right. So let's get to the next guy, because I think this plays into a two, Heywood Highsmith. He made it very clear he wants to be back. He said, this place fits me. And I don't think he would cost what Caleb would cost on the open market because he hasn't had the splash moments. So what do you think happens with Heywood based on what you heard yesterday? He's the one that I 100% think is back. I think they need him. I think if you're losing Caleb, you just need that guy. You need that guy to fill holes. If you're planning on doing what a lot of people expect you to do, which is kind of go out and make a splash move and build around your core pieces and get a star level player, you need a Heywood Highsmith. You need that guy that could kind of plug in to starting lineups that could plug into closing lineups that could, you know, do the dirty work for you. All the stuff that we know that he does on a regular basis, but I think the stuff they heard him say where you're right, he said, it matches me like this team matches him. It's literally a perfect fit for how he plays in his style. They don't ask too much of them. I asked him kind of what he was looking to improve on because as much as we talk about, you know, him being this dirty work player. He has improved a lot to this point, like thinking about when they first got him, he's made big jumps. He's made big jumps as a jump shooter. Last year at this time in the exit interview, say I asked him the same question. He was like, I want to add the floater. I want to try to like get into to points where I have a fake hand off. I can get into the lane and throw up a floater to kind of fool defenses and look what he was doing in the playoffs. Like he was doing that a bunch. He was getting into the lane doing all the type of stuff and just seeing him make that jump. So then I asked him kind of similarly what he thought he could make an improvement on now. And he was like attacking close outs, which I think is an interesting one just because if he starts shooting, even at an average level, you're going to have to kind of have a little bit of a counter and try to find your way skin in the lane. He was talking about more ball handling and playmaking. I'm not too sure if it'll get to that level. I don't know if he's going to be running point, but I mean, Miami's weird. They're positionless. They could start doing it. But I think what he was getting at there, because he said, yeah, if a defender goes under, I could slide in behind the screen and I can get in a quick jump shot. I think he's going to try to like work on a pullups a little bit more where he could take one or two dribbles and then flow into a jumper where it doesn't have to be every time just off the catch, no dribbles. So I think that's going to be an interesting addition as well, just hearing him talk about that and go through it. But to answer your question, I think that guy's back. I think they need that guy back, especially with the lean we're getting on Caleb. Yeah, I think so too, honestly. And I think that it's probably going to come at a price that he'd fans probably come for with, whereas I don't think the Caleb situation would. And when we start talking about these next couple guys, I think they're going to essentially have a bunch of options for wings and for wing defenders. And that's why with Heywood, we talked about like sort of high floor low ceiling with him. And the ceiling has bumped up a little bit. I don't see some of this stuff ball in his hands in transition, like that's one of the things we've talked about with Heywood, it's not ideal. But there was great progress in terms of the three point shot this year. I mean, the percentages dictate, so show that he became a guy that he could punish you if you left him. I was at the game in Orlando, Jimmy didn't play, actually won a Tyler's better games, I thought up there too. And Heywood just killed him from three. There were a couple of games that that happened. They just kept leaving him, leaving him, leaving him, leaving him. So again, I don't view him as a starter going forward. They had a very good record with him as a starter initially this season. It's funny, their best lineup numbers ended up being with high Smith and Lowry in lineup early early in the year. And of course, never really got back to that. And we advocated for the trade of Kyle and Fon five on the floor. And I stick by that. But I feel like with Heywood, he's, he's a core rotation piece. But I think as you add more talent to this team, he sort of slides, even if he improves, the ideal is that he slides back towards the back end of the rotation. He was a little too front end of the rotation this year. And again, that's not disrespect to him. The guy is way exceeded expectations. I do think that he'll be back. All right, let's get to one more guy and then we'll get to the break and I'm, I'm tying this one. And even though I know people probably want to hear more about somebody else, but this ties in with what I'm talking about with the wings, uh, Delont Wright was very clear that he wants a full training camp with this team. Uh, and then he said he just got a snippet of what it can be. To me, if, if he's a minimum guy, it's a no brainer, like you just absolutely re-sign him. Um, and I don't know that he'll be more than that. He's gotten paid a couple of times, he's gotten a couple of decent contracts. It's 31 years old. It seems very comfortable in the system. He got through the 70 and P's. Um, but again, this is another reason why I don't think Caleb will be back because I think Delont will be. 100%. I mean, he did, he was good in his short stints from Miami, but I don't think it was anything to put the, you know, the other 29 teams on notice and try to throw him some money. So I think he will be, um, relatively on their scale. So I think they'll bring it back and I think they need him. I think he is kind of an ideal backup point guard for this team. He did not do much wrong in his stints. That's why I think everybody was kind of yelling for him to get more playing time. He was kind of hounding defensively. Uh, he wasn't as bad offensively. I think as some of us expected even, like there was some finishing problems in the shot. We know what it is, but it's like, he wasn't like a big time offensive negative. He still was able to kind of work in the offense and the guy does, I think you were the one that tweeted the part where he's like, he wants a full training camp with this team because I think that would change a lot. Like if spoke and kind of say, okay, here we couldn't really work you into the role we wanted to at this point in the season, but okay, this is what you're going to do this season. This is where you want to be instead of being what you were in Atlanta, what you were this past season, um, can just work into your role. So I thought that part was interesting. I was about, it was funny when he was asked the question about, uh, it was like framed as if like, would you be disappointed if you were in Miami and he gave the most like, like best like media trained answer I've ever heard where he was like, I don't know if I want to say disappointed, I would like to be here, but I also would like to, I'd play anywhere that if this team wanted me, but it was funny because he was like, he could have gotten trapped there and it was like, okay, this guy, this guy knows what he's doing. This guy is a floor general, I like how he's reading the defense here, but, uh, 100% he's going to be back. I would expect and he should be on a cheap contract to Miami can bring him back on. Well, I think that there, there are some things that they can unlock with him and Rosie are playing together also, which I would expect a training camp to pull that out again provided the Terry's here. And I think he probably will be, but again, we didn't hear from Terry yesterday and he has the most mysterious injury probably in heat history and then there's a long list of those. Deon Waiters, Justice Winslow, they're good at mysterious injuries, but waking up on the wrong side of the bed is a, is a new one, even for the heat. All right, we'll get to some of the other players. When we come back, uh, before we do want to mention a great sponsor of the five reasons sports that work. Big brother iron work, you can find him at bigbrotherironwork.com, more than 20 years of experience in metalwork, such as aluminum fences, gates, per goal as railings and more licensed and insured. They guarantee steadfast fabrication and installation with competitive pricing. They offer free estimates. It's right. Free estimates all across Florida, including Dade, Broward, the keys and more, as I mentioned, licensed and insured. And you can find them at bigbrotherironwork.com in English, reach out to Abraham, 786-406-576, excuse me, 786-506-5780, that's 786-406-5780, reach out to Abraham or an español. I'm going to butcher this, tracero, cinco, dos, uno, ocho, ocho, seis, ocho, uno. Bigbrotherironwork.com. After the end of a good fight, you deserve a nice cold reward. Nadella is the mark of a fighter. You've earned this rich golden lager with a crisp, refreshing taste because you know the bigger the fighter, the better the reward. You put in the hours, the energy, the tough labor. You are a fighter, and Nadella is your reward. Nadella, the mark of a fighter. Quick, responsibly, beer imported by Crown and Port Chicago, Illinois. Want to get smarter about investing? Then tune in to the Capital Ideas Podcast from Capital Group, home of American funds distributors, Inc., one of the world's leading asset managers. Learn from portfolio managers with decades of experience by listening to the Capital Ideas Podcast today. Every day we rise, challenging ourselves to work for what we believe in. At U.S. Border Patrol, protecting our borders is more than a job. It's a calling. Agents answer the call, working together to keep our country and communities safe. If you're ready for a new mission, join U.S. Border Patrol and go beyond. Learn more at cpp.gov/careers. All right, let's get to the one that everybody wants to hear about, other guys who spoke. Bam out of bio. So first thing, I thought he was introspective as he is, and I'm just going to say it right again. From the very start, I give him credit for speaking, because Jimmy, Tyler, and Terry should have spoken also. So that's where I'm at with it. And I feel like everything is falling on Bam lately. In all ways, on the court and off, represent the team in the community, represent the team with the media. That is part of being a captain, but it shouldn't all fall on him. And I asked him, very specifically Brady, I said, "What did you learn in your first year as captain?" And he said, "It sucks." And then he elaborated. He said that, you know, it's not about you anymore. When I ever kind of moods, you're in whatever's bothering you, whatever, it's about the rest of the team. I think Bam has a ways to go as a captain. Not everybody is cut out for it like Udonis has them was. He is the embodiment of what the heat believe in, and obviously he always tries to do the right thing, I believe, and we see it with his relationships with various players. But I think the thing that has to grow there is just his ability to call guys out. And that's one of the toughest things to do as a captain, particularly when you've been everybody's friend. And I asked him that at training camp this year, I said, "What's this going to be like for you because you're considered such a nice guy and he kind of shot me at dirty look?" But I do think that is something that is going to have to be developed here. But I want to get your perspective on his answer to another question that was asked. I think it was from Coop about what he wanted to improve on. And there was this long pause, like 30 seconds or more, and it wasn't the three-point shot or the post game or driving against opponents or whatever it is or hunting mismatches. It was basically I want to be more of a coach on the floor was his answer. Do you, I mean, first thing, is that a good answer? I guess. Do you think maybe he just doesn't want to focus on the three-point shooting of the post game because he knows that he fans are all over that kind of stuff? Or do you think that actually serves a purpose and is something that would raise the ceiling here for this team? Well, I think he's going to work on everything. I think the three-point shot is going to be developed in the offseason and all those things. But I think he feels like he has a good amount of his offensive attributes kind of unlocked already, that it's just kind of polishing them up. Whereas, I don't know, I did think that was an interesting answer. The fact of coaching, he said, "I would want to be able to coach my teammates to the offense while the game is happening." So it's like, defensively, I think he, that's the one area where he feels like he wants to hit on. Like, he knows he has everything defensively. I also asked him kind of about defensively what he wants. I asked where he felt like he made the most growth. And he said kind of explaining the schemes to others and just leading on defense. But he meant, he made sure to mention like twice explaining the schemes. So it does feel like on both ends of the floor, he's kind of looking to kind of be more of a coach, where he wants to kind of be that anchor, that voice to call out certain things, to make sure to kind of be that defensive coordinator in a way. But offensively, to like make sure guys are in the right spots, I mean, you need the right offensive pieces first, I think to make that happen. And it's like, because this past year, even looking, the playoffs is a harder example. But even the regular season, I don't think being in the right spot was the problem a lot of the time. I think it was just like not having the talent or not having the ability to score or taking bad shots. But it's like, it is an interesting ability though, because it feels like it's an ability Jimmy has. Like Jimmy has the ability to coach guys on offense, where he's yelling them after the play. He's getting there and saying, you need to be in the dunkers, but you need to be sliding to the deep corner. You need to be here on the screen. I need you here. He is doing that every game. He's yelling at his teammates. So I think BAM is almost looking at Jimmy and saying, okay, I need to take that on. I need to have the ability that I can yell at Duncan and say, you have to be coming up to hand off here. Everybody wants to see Ella Duncan. I know I'm with you, but really what BAM is speaking to there in a lot of ways and players did address this and even Spoh addresses is availability, because without availability, there's no continuity. And that's why you're having to coach guys to certain spots all the time, because they're playing different spots all the time, or other guys are not playing, right? And you talk about BAM meaning to be able to do that, yes, there can be a good cop bad cop dynamic with BAM and Jimmy, but then they've got to be aligned and they've got to be on the floor together. And the problem is if Jimmy's not going to be on the floor for more than 50 to 55 games, then that skill that he has, which is to drive guys to do, I mean, Jimmy's basketball IQ is off the charts, okay, nobody's ever argued that against that. But it's just that he's not there. I mean, that's the thing. I mean, he's not there. Then BAM has to take on some of those responsibilities also. I mean, BAM played 71 games, how many did Jimmy play, well, we're in the 50s again. And that was before, you know, you get to the postseason, which again, not his fault that he blew out his knee, but if they play more games hard in the regular season, maybe he played more games and others had played more games, they wouldn't have been in the play and then he doesn't blow out his knee then. So, I just, I think for BAM, it is at a certain point, like, if he's being asked to do this and this and this and this and this and this and this and this and fill the gaps on this and this and this, I mean, UD was not being asked, okay, to anchor an entire defense and give you 20 when he was captain. He was just asked to be captain. That's, that's really it. And that was hard in its own right because it's hard to be a captain when you can't go out there and drop 20 or 25 on a consistent basis. And in some cases, as was the case for UD's last four years, you're hardly even playing, okay? So UD is an original, he's unique in that regard and, you know, he's, you know, minted for all time in heat history, okay, but, but it's different again when you're expected to be a captain and you have to produce at that level. The production leads to your ability to be able to tell guys what to do, but in some ways, also your, your, the responsibility of having to do all that takes away from what you, you know, may want to do as captain. So it works both ways. And I, I just think they have to figure out a way. We have talked so much over the last four years about get Jimmy some help. They need to get BAM help. I, I'm just at that point, like I, I, I, they need to get BAM help. Like this is, you can't be carrying an organization essentially in all these ways, front facing ways behind the scenes ways, and then people are nitpicking you when you play a great defensive game, but you only get nine shots. I mean, I, I, I have great respect for what he's had to endure in this, in this regard. Before we get to Hawkins, was there anything else that BAM said that jumped out to you? Um, I think that it is a good point, the fact that he just straight up talked because I think the reason we were kind of wondering if BAM or Tyler would talk because they just talked after game five in Boston, but like you said, BAM is just always available. He's always going to take the brunt of the questions. He's always going to be that, that, that franchise player that's going to take those, um, take that on. I mean, I thought the other interesting thing was just him, like saying, I don't know what to do. Like he's not used to being off in the first week of May, he's like a, because Spoke kind of said it, but like Spoke's been doing this for so long that you'd like, it makes sense for him to say it, but being like such a young player and like, I don't know what to do right now with like, with my time and they're like, like, I guess rests and then I get the gear up for the Olympics. I guess that was the other point he made kind of talking about the, you know, hinting at the Olympics and kind of being ready for that, um, it seems like him and Spoke are just kind of waiting it out and just preparing for that because they have nothing to do for the next two months. I also, I did the, it's, I know this is more Spoke and I'm sure you guys had on it on the Spoke one, but the, the where he's like, it's going to be a couple of weeks. So I'm going to be getting in the way of the draft speculation like that. That's hilarious too, because I feel like that's going to be bam, because bam has now being a captain, being the franchise player that he is, is going to probably have some say, I know he's not going to get in the way and say, okay, I like this guy, but like, hey, there, there's a Kentucky guy that's out, outweigh everybody. Maybe this is time they listened to them. You know, I think he should have some say, honestly, I think they should, I think they should listen to him. And I think that, you know, when you look at things that they need going forward, one of the things they need is that they need to take the burden off him physically. And that's why, you know, I, you don't want to get caught, you don't want to get caught in a trap like they did with a precious maxi thing where you take a big because you think you need a big. Remember that was misguided. Well, you dehinted it that too. Yes. If you heard the research. Yes. Yes. And you look, bam has you easier. So I feel like, you know, that is something to look at. You don't want to get caught though, where you don't take the best player available. This organization has always done better when they took the best player available. I'll always throw this back in my, in my guy Dan Levittard's face, but he wrote a column on the day that they took Dwayne Wade saying, why did they do this when they had Eddie Jones? And I wrote a column saying Dwayne Wade was the right pick. I don't get a lot right, but I got that one right because you don't take a player because you have another play. You don't avoid a great player, potentially a great player because you have another player at that position. And with that case, they just moved away in the point that year. And then eventually they moved on from Eddie. I don't, they made a mistake, I think, with the precious thing because they were looking to have somebody who could back up, bam, and also play next to bam. And I kind of knew it was a problem as soon as I asked Riley about it. And I asked about the two of them playing together. And he didn't really seem to have a good answer for that. And I'm like, okay, wait, you invested the pick and a guy you're projecting basically is a backup to play 12 minutes behind bam. No, I think this time you have to take the best player at 15 like they did with Hawkez, like they did with bam specifically because they had Whiteside at the time under contract had a very large contract. They still took bam. You just take the best player, you sort out the position stuff later. But with that being said, I do think that if the best player, if there are two options or a guard, okay, or somebody who can help bam in that regard up front and they're equal, you take the bigger player. That's where I'm at with it. You get the positional size. All right, so let's get to Hawkez then. First thing I think that was interesting was he's not playing for the Mexican national team. Sucks for us because we would have been watching him on playback like we're going to be watching Yowich play for Serbia, but I think it's the right decision Brady to start with. I mean, he wore down. He played the most games of anybody on this team credit to him 75 games hit the wall and then kind of broke through it at the end of the season. I just think he needs rest, honestly, rest and develop and then get to the development afterwards. Not going to play summer league, I'm sure. So what did you think of that? And then also his comment about what he wanted to improve on. He said lockdown defender and knock down shooter sounds like a three and D guy. He fans have bigger projections for him if he's here, but it sounds like he figures that's probably going to be his role for now, right? I don't know. It was I don't know if I would take it like that just because because I kind of hinted at the fact of like when I asked the question, it was like, you have everything else so polished. Like, what's the next step? So I feel like he kind of feels like he has the footwork down. He has the the inside game, the the mid post work that it's like, okay, if I want to stay on the court, though, as he's learned defensively, he has to be an absolute anchor on the perimeter. And I thought, I mean, we talked about it before, I feel like there is an ability for growth on defense. I really do. Like just from what I've seen, there was a lower expectation from me that he would be able to do some of the things he was doing to start the season where I didn't think he was going to be as good of an isolation when I'm one defender as he was at certain points. Like he was there was a point in the season early on where he was guarding some top players game after game and doing a pretty decent job on them. So I don't know if he's going to make that defensive job would be a lockdown defender in the following year, but I think there definitely is room for improvement. Just more on the physical abilities, the lateral quickness, stuff like that. And he can probably be a decent defender. I think more so than the lockdown defense, I think it's more so the off ball defense is probably going to probably have to be just more awareness, just more, you know, patty. I asked Patty about Hawkez and you know, which I know will get to him probably a little bit, but he was kind of hinty at the fact that he's seen their IQ, basketball IQ growth throughout the season. And that's kind of where I'm at. I'm like, you, if he could just have the awareness on, on offense, it was just a mess. So there was no room to be like, okay, this, I have to be here this one here. Defense was the boy was like, okay, he needs to be knowing where this guy's back, cutting down the baseline, knowing when I have to help here. So I think that stuff's going to give me the interesting jump to see if they can get him on, on part there. And then it could see said consistent knockdown shooter. That was the second thing he wanted to do. So that's consistent knockdown shooter. I mean, they've made jumps with guys, with their jumpers. I mean, when we have said some guys like, Hey, what in the past, we're going to become consistent knockdown shooters the next year, probably not. So it's not crazy to say that this rookie going into a sophomore year is going to be a much better shooter than he was. And he made big jumps. I'd say throughout the season as well, like there was a good portion of the season where he was shooting above 40% where he just couldn't miss from three. And then it took dips. It took it, it went up and down as you would expect for a rookie and expect for a shooter. But I think 100% that the shooting part is what he needs the most. He has the, he has the back to the basket game. He has the stuff around the rim. He has the ability to put his head down. He has everything inside the arc that you'd want from him at this stage. But if he is going to stay on this team and play in a similar role that he was last season, he's just not going to have the ball in his hands as much that he did in that playoff series. He's not going to have the ball as much. I just had certain points. So it's like to stay on the court to still utilize that guy and to be a secondary creator, he has to have the ability to shoot, you know, 37, 38% on catches, shoot threes. Like he has to be around covering around 40%. It feels like to kind of tab that range. So I mean, it's good perspective that he, that he knows what he has to do. He knows we had to, I think back to training kit even even where we were watching him with the shooting coach where he was just sitting there after every single day in training camp doing the same drills. So it's like, I think he has the right mindset and the right work ethic that he could probably develop it pretty quickly. And like you said, it's going to be a log offices for him. There's no, he's not playing for the national team. Definitely does not need some really, I think he's graduated from that as well. He went right from like a deep college run into a summer league, into a whole season where he didn't rest, where he probably should have rested. Now this is the time, just take your time, rest, work on your game and work from there. Well, we talked about during training camp, he moves differently than some other guys. And there's more raw material there, I think on the shooting side, then for some of the players that they've previously developed, I know that people are going to talk about the idea of, you know, again, he may be moved somewhere else than he might have a different role. But I think if he's looking at his role in Miami right now, with the current roster, I think he's got the right mindset for it. All right, we're going to, we're going to close with Duncan, but just real quick here because we're running short on time on the others who spoke, Thomas Bryant, he said he had a learning experience this year. I really didn't get a lean from him on if he's going to opt in or opt out. It feels like that's a conversation I was an agent about whether maybe there's some better opportunities elsewhere, Orlando Robinson talked about things he wanted to get better at, particularly positional defense, that kind of stuff. I tend to think that with both Orlando Robinson and Jamal Kane, they may move on this summer. Kane never got full contract. He did speak to us as well, Jamal's a good kid, he just didn't seem to pop for him here. And Orlando, again, we always appreciate hearing from, but there were opportunities for him to play late in the season, and he didn't. And I think that that speaks to it a little bit on the direction that they may go. Patty Mills, I think, could be back, honestly, back end of the bench, but just as sort of another coach kind of in the locker rooms. And I think that he adds some value there and Cole Swider knows that he needs to improve defensively. I think he's going to get on the floor consistently. So I think I covered everybody who spoke except Duncan. So we'll close with him real quick. The biggest thing he said was that it just needs rest, the back injury. He would not give a percentage on how hurt he was. I've very tried to get him to say it. I tried a few days ago, and he said, we'll talk after the season. It is clear how compromised he was, and it is also clear that I think we've diminished how important that was, not to have him. Playing the way he did the first half of the season really, really hurt this team. And I give him credit for trying to push through. I've been told consistently the three guys will always try to push through stuff for Bam Caleb and Duncan. And he did try to push through, and he says he doesn't regret trying to push through. But again, the good thing he says is his understanding is it's not degenerative, and that he just needs rest and he couldn't get rest during the playoffs. Before we close, anything else that Duncan said that stuck out to you? Yeah, I mean, the part where he was kind of talking about the most improved votes, and he was like, he's like, I still think I was far from a finished product. I feel like my prime is still ahead of me. I just thought that part was interesting just because he gave a really interesting perspective on the fact of, does he feel like he's improved to this extent, or does it feel like he's just kind of playing his game again, getting back his role, getting back his minutes, and just being him once again, so I thought that part was just interesting to hear that the fact that he still feels like he has room to improve, and I think every player's gonna have that mindset, but I really do believe the more opportunity that guy gets, the better he is. It really is that simple. I think it's crazy to say it's YUD going on national television saying that guys, the glue of their starting lineup, he just makes a lot of their lineups fit and stuff, and the fact that he was just, he was talking about certainly that he doesn't have any grits. He would have had more regrets if he was the other way, and he wasn't playing, that would kind of been the mind state, but he was far from healthy, even when he was throwing the 20% number. He was looking around like 20 is generous, but yeah, I will say it lastly, real quick, because you mentioned that the other players, I think the one player that I took away, and I'm like, he actually surprisingly might be the one that sticks is Cole Swider. I just have a weird feeling that he's gonna be the one that they kind of put on the Summer League team and just say, 'cause he gave like the most like, he's hearing from the team the most it felt like to me with what he was talking about, like he, the other two feels like it's kind of a state of moving on, and I'm not saying Swider's gonna be a rotation piece, but I think there is a chance for him in Summer League, and just see where it goes from there maybe, maybe with a two way, maybe with more opportunity. Yeah, I also think Alondas Williams is in their plans, but we didn't hear from him yesterday, but I do think Alondas Williams is gonna get prominently featured in Summer League, probably along with their number 15 overall pick, and probably Swider, I think those will be three of the core guys that we see going forward. All right, we covered everybody who spoke to us, those who didn't want to speak to us, we're not gonna speak of them anymore, and I'm just kidding, Josh, Josh certainly would have done it again, but there was probably a soccer match to get to, and we are expecting Josh to opt into his contract in return, coming off the separated shoulder, and that plays into the Kayla Martin decision also, because Josh was finding a groove before he got hurt, and I still think he can help this team, again, in a limited capacity as they retool. Thanks to Brady, thanks to our sponsors, bigbrotherironwork.com, prize picks, use the code 5, we'll be back. 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