Q: If the Heat make 30 percent of their open 3-pointers and 80 percent of their free throws, they win Game 7. They didn’t and lost a heartbreaker. As a life-long South Florida sports fan (I’m in my 50s), I know how South Florida fans will overreact and want to start from scratch. But I really like this team and I love this coach and organization. A tweak here and there? Sure. A complete overhaul? You would have to be crazy. – Bernardo, Fort Lauderdale.
A: Agree that an overhaul is not needed, and, based on the team’s standing against the salary cap, likely also not possible. But I would not be, and believe the Heat should not be, against the notion of seeing what a package of Tyler Herro, Duncan Robinson (for salary purposes) and the No. 27 pick in this year’s draft might fetch. Not saying that such a trade is necessary, or perhaps even possible, but something on that level certainly could be worth considering, while also leaving the remainder of the core in place.
Q: In retrospect, not even trying to sign Goran Dragic may have been a big mistake. In a series decided by the slimmest of margins and where Jimmy Butler had very little offensive help, Dragic’s offensive creation and shooting may have made a difference. – Henry, Miami.
A: Agree. But there was no way at the March 1 buyout deadline the Heat could have known that both Tyler Herro and Kyle Lowry would have been hobbled at the finish. Yes, more scoring was needed. But it was available, just slowed, respectively, by a groin and a hamstring.
Q: Ira, if the NBA is going to nullify made threes for supposedly stepping out of bounds, they need to place cameras precisely on the sideline and not cameras that are viewing a play on an angle. – David, Fort Lauderdale.
A: Agree, similar to the calls for goal-line cameras in football, especially considering the stakes of the NBA playoffs. Because at least from the angles that have been available for public consumption, there does not appear to be one that makes it definitive, beyond any doubt, that Max Strus’ heel was on the line as he lifted for the 3-pointer that later was overruled in Game 7 against the Celtics. Look, the call happened, the game continued, and the Heat lost. Got it. Accept it. But it still does not feel like there has been a clean, clear explanation for how such certainly was determined for the play in question, no matter the timing of the resolution.
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