2021 Preseason Presser - Miami Heat

[logpmess]

We are firmly in a rebuild package at the moment. Last year was a testament to that idea. The record of 37-45 is the best record that our team could put out without rushing a rebuild. We had some opportunity to go for aging but talented players. We decided to forego that and work the long road for a team that can withstand the tax man for multiple seasons at its peak.

With our first round pick, we got Jason Peterson. We like his shooting potential with a bit of defense. We plan to have him develop next to World B. Free to form a formidable duo from the outside in the future. Albrecht Vogl was drafted with the Kings late round pick. He is going to be a situational player used to spread the court from the power forward position. If Andrew Lemus can develop a little be more, we can see him as a situational stretch player as well. He is not there, but we can see some potential with him.

We know that we needed some players at small forward this season, so that was our focus through free agency. We picked up a lot of good players on five million dollar deals or so. We have the depth now to field a complete team. Training camp went as expected. Huge jumps for Free. Moderate jump for our other young players. Some older players doing a little dropping.

Expectations this year is development. We are a team building around youth, and that can't be rushed. We hold our own picks, and will look to continue to build through the draft. I expect the starting five to be as follows:
C - Steven Adams
PF - Ed Davis
SF - Kent Bazemore
SG - Joshua Swan
PG - Alvin Pack
Phillip Jamerson, Spencer Dinwiddie, and Reggie Bullock should expect to see a lot of playing time on this team as well.

With that I will open up the floor for any questions that you have.

[NOLa.]

B. Free being brought up slowly as he develops reminds me of our development of Duren. How long do you feel it will take for B. Free to development into someone who can at least play significant minutes without being a liability on the court?

[logpmess]

B. Free being brought up slowly as he develops reminds me of our development of Duren. How long do you feel it will take for B. Free to development into someone who can at least play significant minutes without being a liability on the court?

He is still very young. At only 20 years old when entering the season, there is no rush to see him on the court this year. We will reevaluate the situation next offseason, but looking at our team and his development, he may not be ready by then as well. He is our future star that we are building around, so we want to make sure he is a complete player before unleashing him onto this league.

[ballsohard]

A lot of teams go the way of absolutely bottoming out to increase their chances at a better pick, but we've seen that you really have never gotten under 20 wins in a season. Can you talk about your strategy and if this is or isnt intentional and why?

[garbageman]

Sham Smith, Bulls.com: What's the long-term timeline where you see the Heat as a playoff team again?

[JNR]

GWR: This team looks like it may struggle to score. What do you plan to do to minimize that issue?

[logpmess]

A lot of teams go the way of absolutely bottoming out to increase their chances at a better pick, but we've seen that you really have never gotten under 20 wins in a season. Can you talk about your strategy and if this is or isnt intentional and why?

I've always done my best to win games. I disagree that teams should make obvious decisions to have the worst possible win total. With the rules in place that are for not putting out the best product available, it has not benefitted me completely. But I have been able to field competitive teams with my mindset. I've made it to a game 7 in the NBA finals that ended with a missed shot for the win. I'm starting to change my mindset some because I am an outlier when it comes to competitiveness no matter the talent, and I am adjusting my plans mostly due to salary implications.

[logpmess]

Sham Smith, Bulls.com: What's the long-term timeline where you see the Heat as a playoff team again?

The short answer is three years. Ultimately, I will start going for higher tier free agents once my young wings develop.

[logpmess]

GWR: This team looks like it may struggle to score. What do you plan to do to minimize that issue?

Alvin Pack is going to be free to shoot as much as desired and hopefully the combination of bigs can get some rebounds and put up some points around the basket.