Adrian Wojnarowski* and Zach Lowe were talking about which teams could be in market for a trade, the December window just opened. This is from their Woj & Lowe telecast before last Friday night's game against LAL
Lowe: Justice Winslow, that perfect sized contract, $13 million, also a good player, important for their team...These are good players.[who the "Heat" may be trading] Justise Winslow can guard literally every position on the floor, he's essentially their back up point guard or their starting point guard whatever you want to call him, they're important players on the team...
Woj: What's been remarkable, Zach, about Miami is, to many of us** and even to them and around the league it looked like they were going to be this team stuck in the middle; even bringing Jimmy Butler in there wasn't a lot of...you know they gave up Josh Richardson...You look at that scouting staff, pound for pound*** I think as good as any...I think over the last 15 years...the Miami Heat and the San Antonio Spurs [have been the best]. Duncan Robinson...undrafted. And why did his agent choose Miami when he had some other offers? Because of their history of developing players. That becomes...a magnet, "I know they get these guys better"...
"perfect sized contract, $13 million...": That's what Zach says now! To paraphrase the late Senator Everett Dirckson, $13 million here, $13 million there, pretty soon you're talking real money. The fact is Miami got itself hard-capped with too many "perfect" eight figure contracts. Dion Waiters' four year contract averages exactly $13,000,000. Hassan was at $20 mil per; Tyler Johnson--Tyler Johnson!--$19. That is why Zach made the comment footnoted below.
"good players": Yes, they are good players. Justise has averaged 12.4 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 4.3 assists in the ten games (injuries) he has played this year. That's versatile. Josh is averaging 14.7 ppg on .435 in Philly; Hassan Whiteside is averaging 16.2 points, 12.4 rebounds, and 2.4 blocks in Portland. While with Miami in 2015/16 Hassan led the NBA in blocks with 3.7 per; in 2016/17 he led the NBA in rebounds with 14.1 pg. We turned those trades into Jimmy Butler and Meyers Leonard. We won those trades (although Josh and Hassan are good players)
"whatever you want to call him...": The perfect encapsulation of Spo's position-less basketball!
"magnet": That is an interesting formulation. Miami does not want to be a "magnet" for diamonds in the rough as an end in itself! Miami wants to be a magnet to stars, a black, red, and yellow hole that pulls all stars into it, but when you get near, at, or over the NBA salary cap, you can't just sign a Big Three, you have to be a magnet for diamonds in the rough which you then polish and turn and cut and then trade for stars, as the "Heat" did for Jimmy.
The "Remarkables" are in Memphis tonight to play the unremarkable 9-17 "Grizzlies."
*A little "Inside Public Occurrences" info: Wojnarowski hates LeBron James. He never had a good thing to say about him when he was covering the NBA at Yahoo. Yet, "The Devil and LeBron James" here got dozens of reads, dozens, from woj@yahoo.com or whatever his handle was there when posted in 2010 after LBJ made "The Decision" to come to Miami.
**That means Lowe. Lowe famously said that "Nobody has as bleak a future as the Miami "Heat."
***Hmm frowny face Andy Elisburg
Lowe: Justice Winslow, that perfect sized contract, $13 million, also a good player, important for their team...These are good players.[who the "Heat" may be trading] Justise Winslow can guard literally every position on the floor, he's essentially their back up point guard or their starting point guard whatever you want to call him, they're important players on the team...
Woj: What's been remarkable, Zach, about Miami is, to many of us** and even to them and around the league it looked like they were going to be this team stuck in the middle; even bringing Jimmy Butler in there wasn't a lot of...you know they gave up Josh Richardson...You look at that scouting staff, pound for pound*** I think as good as any...I think over the last 15 years...the Miami Heat and the San Antonio Spurs [have been the best]. Duncan Robinson...undrafted. And why did his agent choose Miami when he had some other offers? Because of their history of developing players. That becomes...a magnet, "I know they get these guys better"...
"perfect sized contract, $13 million...": That's what Zach says now! To paraphrase the late Senator Everett Dirckson, $13 million here, $13 million there, pretty soon you're talking real money. The fact is Miami got itself hard-capped with too many "perfect" eight figure contracts. Dion Waiters' four year contract averages exactly $13,000,000. Hassan was at $20 mil per; Tyler Johnson--Tyler Johnson!--$19. That is why Zach made the comment footnoted below.
"good players": Yes, they are good players. Justise has averaged 12.4 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 4.3 assists in the ten games (injuries) he has played this year. That's versatile. Josh is averaging 14.7 ppg on .435 in Philly; Hassan Whiteside is averaging 16.2 points, 12.4 rebounds, and 2.4 blocks in Portland. While with Miami in 2015/16 Hassan led the NBA in blocks with 3.7 per; in 2016/17 he led the NBA in rebounds with 14.1 pg. We turned those trades into Jimmy Butler and Meyers Leonard. We won those trades (although Josh and Hassan are good players)
"whatever you want to call him...": The perfect encapsulation of Spo's position-less basketball!
"magnet": That is an interesting formulation. Miami does not want to be a "magnet" for diamonds in the rough as an end in itself! Miami wants to be a magnet to stars, a black, red, and yellow hole that pulls all stars into it, but when you get near, at, or over the NBA salary cap, you can't just sign a Big Three, you have to be a magnet for diamonds in the rough which you then polish and turn and cut and then trade for stars, as the "Heat" did for Jimmy.
The "Remarkables" are in Memphis tonight to play the unremarkable 9-17 "Grizzlies."
*A little "Inside Public Occurrences" info: Wojnarowski hates LeBron James. He never had a good thing to say about him when he was covering the NBA at Yahoo. Yet, "The Devil and LeBron James" here got dozens of reads, dozens, from woj@yahoo.com or whatever his handle was there when posted in 2010 after LBJ made "The Decision" to come to Miami.
**That means Lowe. Lowe famously said that "Nobody has as bleak a future as the Miami "Heat."
***Hmm frowny face Andy Elisburg
