#SLOE: People's Basketball Sim League

Welcome everyone to the Miami Heat Preseason Press Conference



Last year we entered the year with a high tax bill but a team that could compete. We won the first ever Southeast division, which was a goal of ours. We made it to the Eastern Conference finals with our team. Unfortunately, we could only muster up one win against the Pacers. Overall a good season, but anytime we don't get to the championship is a let down. Here are some highlights of our team.






We managed to pay our luxury tax bill and headed into the season a new team. We still had our two impact players of Lebron and Jonas Valancunias on our roster. We did lose our other three starters. All three of these players have found a new home and we wish them the best of luck in the future. We traded for the combination of Marcus Thornton and Seth Curry. We see both of these players having an impact on this team this year. We also drafted Dmitry Larionov out of Russia via Nebraska. He is going to be a role player going forward.

Our outlook for this upcoming year is that we are going to have a drop off. With Lebron, we consider ourselves a playoff team still. We do not have our pick this year, so unless we get a total reset package, we are playing to win the most games possible.

The floor is now open for questions.

Does Lebron James have a future with the Heat beyond this season?

What are you hoping to see from Marcus Thornton this season?

false9 wrote:Does Lebron James have a future with the Heat beyond this season?

We have been open with Lebron about his spot on the trade block. If we do not find a suitable trade for him, we expect that he will be with the team for more years in the future.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Xist2Inspire wrote:What are you hoping to see from Marcus Thornton this season?

Marcus is going to be our secondary scorer. He will be a starter on this team unless injuries or trades change his role.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

As you seem to be reaching the precipice of this era of the Miami Heat, one where you masterfully avoided tax penalties and still put out a good team, can you talk a bit about The idea of deciding when to move on? Especially since it seems you will be competing instead of starting that process early

LoCo89 wrote: Fri Aug 25, 2017 12:37 pm As you seem to be reaching the precipice of this era of the Miami Heat, one where you masterfully avoided tax penalties and still put out a good team, can you talk a bit about The idea of deciding when to move on? Especially since it seems you will be competing instead of starting that process early

For us it is easy, can we field a team that can win a championship? We felt that for the past few seasons, we had that team. We even unloaded Al Jefferson a few years ago and retooled around Lebron James for a second attempt for a run. Right now, the only thing that is stopping us from a full reset is that we don't have our first round pick this season.

While 2nd place in the division behind the Hawks has to be the general consensus, would coming in 3rd be a total disppointment?

TheSyndicate wrote: Fri Aug 25, 2017 1:52 pm While 2nd place in the division behind the Hawks has to be the general consensus, would coming in 3rd be a total disppointment?

In theory, we want to win the division. In reality, 2nd place is where we should fall. However, the Magic have built and developed a team that can compete. Since they have my pick, I am really gunning to be better than them, but if I end up in 3rd, my goal is still making the playoffs.

It feels like every season for half a decade this would be the end of the Heats run with the tax man coming, but you kept the team going with a good core and have been a strong presence in the playoffs. How did you keep this going? Did you think this run would last as long as it has?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

NOLa. wrote: Fri Aug 25, 2017 3:06 pm It feels like every season for half a decade this would be the end of the Heats run with the tax man coming, but you kept the team going with a good core and have been a strong presence in the playoffs. How did you keep this going? Did you think this run would last as long as it has?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The first time I had to pay a large tax, I lucked out and won the royal rumble bet and got an influx of points. Since then, I've never really trained people too much or insured people too often. I was worried about this past season, but since I won the division and had a large number of games. The rich get richer as they say.

I did not expect to be free of the tax man at this point to be honest. I was just going to live with the consequences.

Sham Smith, Bulls.com: I'd like to ask a little more about Dmitry Larionov. As a Russian who went to college in Nebraska, he must have a pretty interesting story. How is he adjusting to Miami, and what have you noticed from him off the court?

garbageman wrote: Fri Aug 25, 2017 3:58 pm Sham Smith, Bulls.com: I'd like to ask a little more about Dmitry Larionov. As a Russian who went to college in Nebraska, he must have a pretty interesting story. How is he adjusting to Miami, and what have you noticed from him off the court?

Dmitry is adjusting to life decently. He still only drinks vodka off the court, but he has grown close to Gary Perez. The two of them are often seen out on the strip throwing back shots and playing a lot of some game called Golden Tee. I don't get it, but it makes them happy. His story is great, and we have been in contact with Greg Cote of the Miami Herald about doing a focus piece on Dmitry.