Rockets fight back, Shai Returns, and what is the Heat’s future?

Summary

The Athletic NBA Daily — Episode Summary

Episode Title: Rockets fight back, Shai Returns, and what is the Heat’s future?
Date: February 27, 2026
Hosts/Guests: Esfandiar Baraheni (host), Andrew Schlecht (co-host), Wes Goldberg (guest—Locked on Heat, Real GM Radio)

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Episode Overview

This episode offers a fast-paced, insightful recap of major NBA storylines, focusing on the Houston Rockets' comeback win against Orlando, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's long-awaited return for the Thunder, the San Antonio Spurs’ remarkable February, and an in-depth conversation about the Miami Heat’s season outlook and future plans.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Houston Rockets vs Orlando Magic: Rockets’ Comeback

• [03:09] The Rockets staged a massive comeback against Orlando after the Magic dominated early, driven by Desmond Bane’s 30 points.
• Turning Point: Houston’s 21-0 run in the third quarter flipped the game’s momentum.
  • “It felt like Orlando was in control of this one until the third quarter where the Rockets went on a 21 to nothing run.” — Esfandiar Baraheni [03:11]
  • Jamal Mosley (Magic coach) drew criticism for lack of timeouts during the run; Jalen Suggs was benched and severely outscored while on the floor.
• Critical Lineup:
  • “It was a lineup of Durant, Reed, Capella, Akogi, and Tar Eason that kind of broke that game open for Houston…” — Andrew Schlecht [04:32]
  • The Rockets’ effective use of shooting and spacing, particularly with Reed Shepherd, was key.
• Season Context:
  • Despite media criticism, Rockets have a strong 37-21 record.
  • “The Rockets have had a good season. I feel like we treat them like they’ve had a horrific season.” — Andrew Schlecht [04:32]
  • There's concern about maximizing lineups given their talent and the Western Conference landscape.
• Orlando’s Issues:
  • Desmond Bane has excelled, but Paolo Banchero’s historically poor jump shooting and Franz Wagner’s injury woes limit them.
  • Both franchises are seen as "mirror images" in terms of expectation vs reality.

2. Kevin Durant’s Impact and Reed Shepherd’s Rise

• [06:44] Durant scored 40 and is approaching Michael Jordan on the all-time scoring list.
• Reed Shepherd continues to impress, especially in clutch time:
  • “Credit to the broadcast… Reed Shepherd needs to close games for the Rockets because their offense looks so much better when he is on the floor.” — Esfandiar Baraheni [06:44]
• Amen Thompson’s lack of offensive aggression was noted as a developmental concern.

3. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Returns for OKC

• [08:37] After missing nine games, Shai is set to play against the Nuggets.
  • “Everybody in OKC is pretty pumped to see Shai.” — Andrew Schlecht [08:57]
• The Thunder aim to regain their early season momentum; Shai’s scoring is described as indispensable.
• [10:14] The Western Conference’s #1 seed race tightens with the Spurs’ undefeated February (11-0), now 1.5 games out of first.
  • “For a team that’s this young… San Antonio is next in line and they look pretty formidable.” — Andrew Schlecht [10:57]
• Securing the one-seed is described as crucial to avoid facing Denver early.

4. Philadelphia 76ers vs Miami Heat: Playoff Implications & Heat's Struggles

Featured Interview: Wes Goldberg

• [13:27] The 76ers’ win over the Heat may decide the battle for the East’s No. 6 seed:
  • “That was as close to a must-win as you’re going to get at this stage… If they win, they end up in a virtual tie and get the tiebreaker. Instead, Philly gets the win.” — Wes Goldberg [14:22]
• Miami's struggles are attributed to lapses in attention to detail—turnovers, losing on the boards, conceding 50 points in the paint.
  • “This is not a team that is talented enough to get away with not winning those detail things. The whole Heat culture thing is… we are the masters of the margins.” — Wes Goldberg [15:27]
• Hero’s Role Off The Bench:
  • Tyler Herro returned from injury, posting 25 points off the bench, but his fit is in question with Norm Powell’s injury status.
  • “He is too good to come off the bench… but I understand Spo’s decision. He’s been unavailable all season long.” — Wes Goldberg [17:15]
• Bam Adebayo & Khalil Ware frontcourt:
  • Despite potential, Heat have struggled with the pairing due to underwhelming rebounding and defensive impact.
  • “If you’re not getting the rebounding advantage… then why are you playing two bigs?” — Wes Goldberg [21:04]

5. Heat’s Strategy, Ceiling, and Future

• Offensive Shift Needed:
  • Goldberg describes the Heat’s offense as “a desperate offense… not the offense of a team that has a go-to advantage creator.” [23:01]
• The outlook:
  • “Do you feel like this is where you expected them [the Heat] to be 66% of the way through the season…?” — Esfandiar Baraheni [24:30]
  • Goldberg expected a 6th-place finish, but notes fans expected more even in the post-Jimmy Butler era.
• Future Building Blocks:
  • “What is the future for this group? Is it just wait for the next star…?” — Esfandiar Baraheni [28:35]
  • “You answered the question.” — Wes Goldberg [29:07]
  • Pat Riley’s Heat will not and have never tanked; they “build from the middle” and wait for star opportunities.
  • “If the Heat strike out on two summers in a row [in FA], at that point Bam into his 30s… then I think we start having the more dramatic type of conversations.” — Wes Goldberg [29:36]

6. Sixers’ Playoff Threat

• Philadelphia, powered by Maxey and Embiid, now boasts real depth—unlike the “name-only” group from last year.
• “Right now I think Philly is a really dangerous team in the playoffs because… it’s Tyrese Maxey at the top. You don’t necessarily always need the big Embiid games to win with this group anymore.” — Wes Goldberg [26:55]
• Nick Nurse has solidified their identity; Maxey is framed as a legitimate MVP ballot candidate.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “That absolute collapse that Orlando had in that third quarter.”
  — Esfandiar Baraheni [03:47]
• “We do the details. We are the masters of the margins. And in this game, [the Heat] certainly weren’t…”
  — Wes Goldberg [15:27]
• “He is too good to come off the bench… but I understand Spo’s decision.”
  — Wes Goldberg (on Tyler Herro) [17:15]
• “Right now I think Philly is a really dangerous team in the playoffs because I think this version of Philly has a really clear pecking order, and it’s Tyrese Maxey at the top.”
  — Wes Goldberg [26:55]
• “This to me is a desperate offense. It’s not the offense of a team that has like a go-to advantage creator.”
  — Wes Goldberg (on the Heat) [23:01]
• “The only reason they got Dwyane Wade in 2003 is because Alonzo Mourning got a kidney disease… This is not a team that tanks.”
  — Wes Goldberg [29:25]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [03:09] — Rockets’ comeback vs. Orlando
• [04:32] — Durant’s clutch play and Houston lineup analysis
• [06:44] — Reed Shepherd’s closing abilities
• [08:37] — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander returns for Thunder
• [10:14] — Spurs’ 11-0 February & #1 seed race
• [13:27] — Wes Goldberg joins for Heat-Sixers breakdown
• [14:22] — Importance of Heat vs. Sixers game
• [15:27] — Miami’s mistakes, “masters of the margins”
• [17:15] — Debate over Tyler Herro’s role
• [21:04] — Why Bam and Ware don’t play together much
• [23:01] — Goldberg calls out Heat offensive ceiling
• [26:55] — Sixers’ playoff danger and Maxey’s rise
• [29:25] — Heat’s refusal to tank and philosophy on rebuilding

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Flow & Tone

The tone is dynamic, analytical yet conversational, with candid insights and a bit of humorous self-awareness—especially regarding the “NBA Daily curse” and Miami’s perennial hunt for star upgrades. Wes Goldberg’s section brings added insider perspective and frankness about the Heat’s situation.

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In Summary

This episode features sharp recaps of the Rockets’ dramatic win, the Thunder’s star return, and the Spurs’ run, but zeroes in on the crises and crossroads facing the Miami Heat. Expect in-depth talk on rotations, offense, development and team-building philosophy—with strong focus on the Heat’s limitations and ambitions, and clear-eyed analysis on the shifting power in the East.

Transcript

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[Andrew Schlecht]

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[Esperahini]

Good morning and welcome to the NBA Daily presented by Amazon Prime. It's Friday, February 27, 2026. I'm Esperahini, joined alongside Andrew Schlecht. Coming up, we've got Wes Goldberg, my guy, here to talk about the middling Miami Heat. Kevin Durant drops 40 against the Orlando Magic. SGA is back and the spurs went undefeated in all of February. Let's get into it. Good morning everybody. Good morning Andrew. Good morning. Disney World. Disneyland.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Good morning.

[Esperahini]

Oh World, World, right? Never been but you know, I'd love to go. Seems fun.

[Andrew Schlecht]

It's cool. It's very cool. Would recommend Disney World.

[Esperahini]

I've always, you know, one of those like things that I want to do is be. Be able to go with, like, an mba, like Robin Lopez, take me to Disney World, you know. Oh, yeah, that would be a little side quest.

[Andrew Schlecht]

That's the right person. Yeah.

[Esperahini]

Okay. The Rockets also went to Disney World, and they had a. It was a wild game. It was a wild game because Orlando set the tone early. Desmond Bain was awesome in this one. He dropped 30, and, I mean, he. Desmond Bain has been very, very good for the Orlando Magic, especially as of late. Paulo Bankero has also been good. Didn't have a great game tonight, but it felt like Orlando was in control of this one until the third quarter where the Rockets went on a 21 to nothing run.

[Andrew Schlecht]

And that's. That's inexcusable.

[Wes Goldberg]

It's.

[Esperahini]

It's. It's insane. And Jamal Mosley, I think, either only called one timeout or did not call a single timeout in that 21 to. Oh run. Jalen Suggs, who got benched for the fourth quarter, was a minus 11 in 13 minutes tonight. He got. He was minus 19 in those four minutes that the Rockets went on the 21 to nothing run. I just. I feel like that is the game. We can talk about the fourth quarter execution because it was a. It was a close game and Kevin Durant had 40 points, and the Rockets looked better in the clutch. And Reed shepherd was awesome in this one, too. But I think that's where the game starts. That absolute collapse that Orlando had in that third quarter.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Yeah, I mean, a lot of it was like, Reed shepherd just shook loose. He was four or five during that stretch. And it was. It was a lineup of Durant, Reed Capella, Akogi, and Tar Eason that kind of broke that game open for Houston, which is just. It, like, continues to be interesting that, like, get the. The Rockets have. Have had a good season. I feel like we treat them like they've had a horrific season. Like, if you were to just, like, listen to podcasts and think about the Rockets like, they're. They're 3721. They've had a good season, but I feel like they just can't find rhythm with, like, all of their best players on the court at once. And it's been like, they're good. Like, the numbers look good. They're like a plus six with, like, Sengun and Amen Thompson and KD on the court together and Jabari, like. But plus six is fine. It's fine. It should be much better than that. But this little stretch, it was like, hey, just having shooting on the court is very helpful, especially when you have a guy named Kevin Durant on the team. But man, Orlando has had a just weird, weird season and I don't quite know what to do with it. I don't quite know what to do with their direction. Like you said, like, Desmond Bain has not been the problem. You could go like, man, shouldn't have traded for Desmond Bain. And that might be true.

[Wes Goldberg]

Yeah.

[Andrew Schlecht]

It's not because of him.

[Esperahini]

No, no, it isn't. And you know what? It's also like, Paolo Benchero has again. He's played better as of late, but he has not had the season that many expected him to like. The jump shooting is. No, he's genuinely having one of the worst jump shooting seasons, like high volume jump shooting seasons in NBA history. Franz Wagner is obviously hurt. Jalen Suggs has been dealing with his fair share of injuries and I think that kind of reared its head tonight too. It's tough to look at. Kind of funny, both of these teams kind of mirror images of themselves in terms of like expectations and reality. Right. In different ways. You know, like you said, Houston has had a good season. It's just that in the Western Conference with Kevin Durant now on your roster, I think it was an expectation they would be better than this.

[Wes Goldberg]

Right.

[Esperahini]

Or at least more formidable in the clutch than this. Now, for what it's worth, they did play well in the clutch tonight. And a big part of that was Kevin Durant who dropped 40 points in inching closer to lapping Michael Jordan on the all time scoring list. Which is crazy to say crazy. But it's also Reed shepherd who hit a clutch three in the final minute of this game like you said he was. He had a huge stretch in that third quarter to 16, 6 and 5 in this one and he closed this game. And I actually credit to the broadcast credit to Stan Van Gundy, he was like, Reed shepherd needs to close games for the Rockets because their offense looks so much better when he is on the floor. Spacing the floor for Kevin Durant, spacing the floor for Sengun, giving those guys a genuine release valve to go to consistently. So if the Rockets want to have a chance in the playoffs, it's play Reed shepherd more and when it matters, you know.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Yeah, yeah. I still just question like Aman Thompson was also supposed to be more was part of this equation. Truman Thompson doesn't take a shot in the fourth quarter, takes five shots total.

[Esperahini]

Same thing happened in that Knicks game, by the way. Did not take a shot in the fourth quarter.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Yeah, I don't. I don't know where this goes. I just feel like the way they've handled him this season is a bit concerning to me.

[Esperahini]

It's something to watch. I agree. I think his offensive development has not been what people thought it would be this season.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Yeah.

[Esperahini]

Especially with Fred Van Bleed out, you know, people thought, like, he would kind of take the helm of the lead point guard duties and whatnot, and a lot of that has shifted to more Kevin Durant. Right.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Kevin Durant. He took 28 shots tonight.

[Esperahini]

He consistently has to take a lot of shots.

[Andrew Schlecht]

He kind of needs to.

[Wes Goldberg]

Yeah.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Yeah.

[Wes Goldberg]

Okay.

[Esperahini]

A guy who we are looking forward to taking a lot of shots for the Oklahoma City Thunder. Shea Gil just Alexander going to be back tonight against the Denver Nuggets. He missed nine games with an abdominal strain. I believe Shea is back for okc. Andrew excited in your part of the town?

[Andrew Schlecht]

Yeah. I think that everybody in OKC is pretty pumped to see Shay, and they had said the report was that he would be reevaluated in approximately one week. And you're like, okay, let me look at the schedule. Let me see. Oh, they played Denver.

[Esperahini]

Pretty good game to come back against. Yeah.

[Andrew Schlecht]

And in approximately one week, they played the Denver Nuggets at home on national television.

[Wes Goldberg]

Yeah.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Yeah. They. They certainly need him back for a game like this. I mean, we saw what Jokic did to the Celtics the other night, just kind of ripped him apart. And so everybody. Everybody's going to be back outside of AJ Mitchell and J Dub for this particular game. And so we'll get to see a more whole version of the Thunder than we've seen in a while. Still missing their second best player and one of their best seven guys, I guess. But still, it'll be really. I think it'll be a breath of fresh air to see Shay back on the court.

[Esperahini]

Absolutely.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Okc. Because there's still times, even though there's been a lot of success with guys like Case and Wallace that we've covered this week on the show. He's had an awesome week. Isaiah Joe's been great. But like, they. They need the consistent scoring of Shay, which will be back tonight.

[Esperahini]

Okay. But the other thing is we're gearing up for a really good race for the number one seed in the Western Conference, because the spurs are 11 and ho. Or 10 and oh, in February, they've won 11 games. They went undefeated in February.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Yep.

[Esperahini]

And they are now just one and a half games back of that one seed, which feels crazy given how big of a gap, how large of a gap OKC had established to start this season. But obviously injuries and, and obviously the spurs winning and winning in a major way has helped them. This is a race now. Andrew.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Yeah, I mean, during that time they have a 15 net rating in the month of February.

[Esperahini]

That's pretty good.

[Wes Goldberg]

That's pretty good.

[Andrew Schlecht]

They are third in defense at a 106.2 and then second in offense at a 121.3. Like it's been a really good month for San Antonio as they're kind of gearing up for their first playoff run together. And so just to be, to be clicking like this, to have the health that they've had to, is, is pretty amazing. And for a team that's this young, you know, we've seen that a lot, you know, in recent years where like young teams kind of do this rebuild thing and they get these high level prospects in and they kind of make these jumps that we're not quite ready for. We've seen that a lot in recent years. But San Antonio is next in line and they, they look pretty formidable.

[Esperahini]

I will say I think it is important to get that one seed for both of these teams because you are avoiding having to play Denver and one of the other teams in the playoffs. Right. Get the better side of the bracket. And I think that's, that's going to be very important for, for the west as we see how that shakes out. Okay, when we come back, we're gonna, we're gonna talk Heat Sixers with Wes Goldberg who wants the Heat to change their ways. Prime one day deliveries fast. How fast we talking?

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[Esperahini]

Experian. All right, joining me right now is my guy, Wes Goldberg, host of Locked on NBA Daily at Real GM Radio. Also host of of Locked on Heat. Wes, what's going on, man? How's everything going?

[Wes Goldberg]

It's going well. Excited to be back here?

[Esperahini]

Yeah, yeah, it's good to have you. I thought we were going to have you for potentially a Heat win, but I don't know if you have been privy to the NBA Daily Curse. It happened again. The Philadelphia 76ers end up winning and beating the Miami Heat and what, what might turn out to be a decently important game when it comes to the race for the six seed in the Eastern Conference.

[Wes Goldberg]

Yeah, that was as close to a must win as you're going to get at this stage of the schedule for the Heat. They enter the game a game and a half back of Philadelphia for that six spot and if they win this game, they end up in a virtual tie and then get the tiebreaker because they beat Philly earlier in the season. So they would have gotten the tiebreaker outright. Instead, Philly gets the win. They keep their chances at the tiebreaker live. They play later at the end of March and whoever wins that game obviously gets it. But more importantly, Philly, like now with this cushion, it might not even come down to that for them.

[Esperahini]

Yeah, this, this race probably ends here, I would say.

[Wes Goldberg]

But.

[Esperahini]

But we'll see. We'll see. Still a little bit of season left for the Heat to make things interesting. The Heat also made things interesting in this game because at least in the first half it was the Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid show and the Sixers got out to a 16 point lead. Miami in that third quarter completely changed the game and I thought they got back to their own offense. Right transition. You know, missing Norm Powell who only played 10 minutes in this one was, was a big factor. But what do you think allowed Miami to get back into this game?

[Wes Goldberg]

I think it was mostly just the lack of self inflicted wounds in the third quarter for really the most of the game. Fourth quarter included. And, but really in the first half, it was the lack of attention to detail, which has really stood out to me, not just in this game for Miami, but recently, you know, in a recent loss to Milwaukee, earlier in the week, they lost the turnover battle. In this game, they lost the offensive rebounding battle. In this game, they gave up 50 points in the paint. Very unheat, like, very unbam. Adebayo and Eric's bolster, like. And that's, that's been an issue for the Heat. Like I said recently, this is not a team that is talented enough to get away with not winning those detail things. Right. Like the Heat, the whole Heat culture thing is we, we do the details. We are the masters of the margins. And in this game, they certainly weren't, and I think that's what cost them. But to your point, in the third quarter, they cleaned that stuff up, but in the fourth quarter kind of got away from them again.

[Esperahini]

Yeah, I'm glad you brought up the margins because I thought, you know, from a decision making perspective, you're right. Like, it's, it's being able to play your game and play to your identity. And it feels like in moments, in this one, it was the Sixers that were dictating everything, right? Whether it was Vijay Edgecombe getting out and running. And it was funny because it felt like the Sixers were the team that was pushing it in transition when that's usually the Miami Heat.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Right.

[Esperahini]

I'm curious because this is now, what, the third game or fourth game back for Tyler Herro. You know, he's, he's had an injury riddled season this year, but he also comes off the bench tonight without Norm Powell. He pours in 25 points. He hit some big shots in that fourth quarter. What do you think about Hero and how he fits in for this team in this final stretch of the year? Because if he feels too good to be coming off of the bench long term, how do you feel about Hero and his fit?

[Wes Goldberg]

I mean, you're right, he is too good to come off the bench. He's. He's graduated from that. This is a former six man of the year who graduated to starter and has rarely come off the bench over the last three years. But I understand also SPO's decision to bring him off the bench. He's been, like you said, unavailable all season long, had played only 10 or 11 games up until his return back from a rib injury where apparently he fractured several ribs and just nobody told the media down here that that had happened. Until he was coming back and you're like, all right, cool. But he comes back and I understand spo just saying, look, this guy hasn't really been available. We're kind of too late in the game to really re acclimate him to a brand new offense that he had barely played in. Right. Like we tally, Hero is a ball screen guy. This is. He does most of his damage in pick and roll and against drop coverage coming off screens. And for that not to be there, I. It would have been an adjustment for him regardless. And, and maybe there's just not enough Runway now. You know, at the time he returned with 26 games left in the season, maybe just not enough Runway for him to get in it. But he's been playing well. Like at the end of the day he's a bucket getter and you saw that in the fourth quarter. He had that big three with two and a half minutes to go to actually put the heat up by 1. The problem is that he did not score for the rest of the game after that and Philly ended on an 8, 0 run. But in terms of Hero's place, I think we're going to continue to see him off the bench now. Unless obviously Powell and the groin injury that he exited with ends up being a multi game thing. Then here we'll just go step into Norm's spot in the starting lineup. But the Heat want to be a defensive first team. I think there's concerns about what they can be defensively if you've got Hero, Pal and Pebble Larson starting. And Larson's not a bad defender, but he does get picked on by bigger players sometimes. And so that, that, that's what they're going to do. And I also kind of like it when it works. It works really well because this Heat team, like I said, they don't have that top end talent. So you got to find other ways to create advantages. Whether it's mastering the details of the game and the margins like we're talking about, or winning the bench minutes. Right. Kind of coming at teams in waves and in their first two wins since the All Star break, that's what they did. And then they dropped two games and they weren't really able to execute those things. But I do anticipate Hero coming off the bench for the rest of the season. If as long as, you know, health permitting for the rest of the roster,

[Esperahini]

that combination of Hawkez and Hero is like you're getting a solid 30 points off the bench basically every night. Right. That there's a baseline that you can kind of predict your bench is going to give you every single night. Which is an interesting dynamic for Miami to have. And I think, like, between Yakosonis, who has come on strong, it didn't have the greatest game tonight against the Sixers, but has had moments here over the last couple of months as well. And also the Khaleel Wear experiment, because I. I feel like every time I watch a Miami Heat game, I want Khalil Ware and Bam out of bio to play more minutes together, and they don't end up playing as many minutes as I want them to. Why is that the case? Why have they not leaned in on those two guys playing together more often?

[Wes Goldberg]

Well, it's funny, when they do, they lean into it completely, right? Like, Eric's poster will be like, all right, we're going to start them now. And you're like, okay, they don't play together at all for a month, and then all of a sudden they're starting like they were going into the all. You come out of the All Star break, you get healthy, and then all of a sudden, where is back on the bench, and you don't really see them together. Now, was it late in the Milwaukee game, or maybe it was the game before that that where was playing well in the fourth quarter and SPO did decide to leave him in while bringing Bam back at his usual spot halfway through the fourth quarter, but that lasted only like a couple of minutes before where I went back on the bench and I thought that was the wrong decision at the time. And then in this one, that was the fourth quarter, and that. That only happened because Ware was playing well in that game. In this game. We saw it in the second quarter, and I was like, oh, my God. First half minutes with both these guys on the court. This is planned. This is a planned thing. This is not just a hot hand thing. And then a minute later, Bam subs out, and we only got to see it for a minute, which is basically nothing that barely counts, so.

[Esperahini]

Right.

[Wes Goldberg]

To answer your question, I think the reason why they got away from it, they did experiment with it more earlier in the year, especially with the starting group, like I said. But then the numbers after a while just kind of indicated that it didn't work. The Heat were better as a defensive team and strangely enough, as a rebounding team when they only had one of Bam and wear on the court without the other one. And that was the case when it was where without Bam or Bam without wear. Very strange that that was the case. If you're not getting the rebounding advantage and you're not getting a rim protection advantage, then why are you playing two bigs? Because now you're sacrificing space and you're not getting any of the advantages of it. And so SPO decided that it's not going to work. There's also the added wrinkle that they just don't have another center on the roster, so making sure that they're staggered the entire time is the way to. To mitigate those things when they do start together. Sometimes Nikola Jovic plays at the backup five and he's really struggled this year, so. And now he's out of the rotation altogether. He was injured for this game, but he's mostly been out of the rotation anyway, so that's. I think SPO just looked at the numbers and said, that just doesn't work for us right now. And I also don't think that this offense does either of them any favors. I think Bam has struggled to find his spots. No pick and roll. He's a great athlete. Not getting him to be able to be a lob threat at the rim is tough. And then Khalil Ware is like your prototypical pick and roll screen and run to the basket big, and they just don't run those plays for him. And so I think it's harder for those guys to find their spots in the offense regardless. But certainly so when they're on the court together, when you have to deal with some of those spacing issues, and I think it's just a way to

[Esperahini]

mitigate that, I sense a little bit of exhaustion. From your perspective on the style of play for this Heat team, is that the case? Do you want them to switch it up? Given the personnel like you just mentioned, Bam. Good pick and roll big. Obvious. Tyler Hero loves to run a bunch

[Wes Goldberg]

of pick and roll.

[Esperahini]

Chloe, where Good pick and roll big. Ideally, do you feel like they need to shift from what they've been doing all season?

[Wes Goldberg]

I mean, it's kind of late for that. They did try this the first time Hero came out, but I mean, generally

[Esperahini]

like moving forward in the future. Right.

[Wes Goldberg]

I would be surprised if this was the offense next year.

[Esperahini]

Okay.

[Wes Goldberg]

Yeah. I think this was a attempt at finding some sort of way to juice this offense. This is an offense that had finished prior to the season, bottom 10 in the league and offensive rating the last three years. Right. And that's with Jimmy Butler. Yeah, it didn't matter in the regular season. They're 15th in offensive rating right now, so it's Worked like just getting to league average for this offense was, was a huge win, especially given the injuries that they've been dealing with all year. So I do think the offense worked, but I think that's pretty much the ceiling of this group, minus some sort of star player insertion. Right, right. Like with this team, I think this is the ceiling. And this offense, I think this is the ceiling. And I think Sposh gets credit for, for finding that ceiling and unlocking it and, and hitting it. But yeah, this to me is a desperate offense. It's not the offense of a team that has like a go to advantage creator who can kind of just do those things on his own.

[Esperahini]

Yeah, it feels, for a lack of better words, a little gimmicky, but at the same time like it, it provided, like you said, a baseline for this team offensively. Does that baseline have a high ceiling? No, probably not. But it gets you to where they are right now, which is eighth in the Eastern Conference. Battling for a playing spot like that was sort of let's punch above expectations for this team. And they have, I think so far this season. Do you feel that way? Do you feel like this is where you expected them to be 66% of the way through the season? Or did you want them to be better or I guess worse than what they are right now?

[Wes Goldberg]

I predicted they would finish six in the east before the season, so they're right about where they are now. Maybe that just changed after tonight's result, but this is about where I thought they would be. I didn't think it would look like this. I think there was. It's been more surprising, the process as opposed to sort of the end result here more likely than not. But I do think that another year, another trip to the play in tournament, that would be a disappointment even given the fact that this is the first full season post Jimmy Butler. I think this team and everybody around it had higher expectations than another trip to the play in.

[Esperahini]

Well, look, there's a chance that they meet the Sixers in the play in, which is why games like tonight are interesting and give you a little preview of what you might end up seeing in April. What did you think about the Sixers?

[Wes Goldberg]

Because they don't have Paul George right

[Esperahini]

now, but Embiid is back and he played tonight and for the most part he was pretty exceptional. I thought defensively wasn't great. I mean, the Heat, the reason they got out in transition in that third quarter was like, hey, Joel, Embiid is not getting back in transition. Let's run Obviously the combination of Maxine Embiid was great tonight. What do you think about Philly and perhaps their chances of, I don't know, doing something at some point in the playoffs this year?

[Wes Goldberg]

With Maxi and Embiid, you always have the potential to just hit this ridiculous level of star power. Yeah. And we saw that to your point tonight, right, where Maxi just goes off for 20 points in the first quarter and then Embiid basically carries them the rest of the way and then they're getting contributions up and down the roster. I love the. I love how hard Kelly Oubre plays. Who doesn't love Vijay Edgecombe, right? Like, that guy just has so many, like we talk about second jump guys. That guy's got like third and fourth and fifth jumps. Like, that guy just levitates and just his approach to the game is great. There's like surprisingly good depth pieces. I'm a big Adam Bona guy since I like them since, you know, his days at ucla. Watford gives him good minutes. Barlow gives him good minutes. Like, I'm not, I don't want to just do the whole name guys on the roster.

[Esperahini]

No, but you're right, they have depth.

[Wes Goldberg]

They do have a level of surprisingly.

[Esperahini]

Right.

[Wes Goldberg]

Like they don't have like last year they had names, right. Eric Gordon, Kyle Lowry playing minutes. But those names are gone and they actually have players who are contributing. Yeah. Right now I think Philly is a really dangerous team in the playoffs because I think this version of Philly has a really clear pecking order and it's Tyrese Maxey at the top. And you don't necessarily always need the big Embiid games to win games with this group anymore.

[Esperahini]

Yeah.

[Wes Goldberg]

And it always felt like that was the case and now they can just win games in other ways. And if Beat got has it going great.

[Esperahini]

Right.

[Wes Goldberg]

Ride and beat until. Until the, the wheels come off. But I think this team has multiple ways. Maxi is a legit MVP candidate this year. Like, he's going to be on ballots. He's not going to win it, but he's going to get on ballots. So given the, the sort of shakiness of the east, would it be crazy if they won a first round series against one of the top seeds in the Eastern Conference? Like, I don't think any. I would be surprised, but I wouldn't be shocked if that makes sense. Right. And so I like, I like this Philly team quite a bit. I think they have a really clear identity. I think Nick Nurse has finally figured out like with all these guards and Stuff. He's really doing some interesting things offensively with some of the sets that they're running. And. And if Bimbi is able to kind of peak at the right time, which, remember, had been the plan for the last two years, this isn't just like a coincidence. If he's peaking at the right time, who knows? Maybe they can make some noise.

[Esperahini]

I am curious to see if the Miami Heat can make some noise. That is very interesting to me. Obviously, they didn't do much last in the playoffs. It was disappointing, but we'll see if. If they can at least make it to the postseason and be able to be some sort of threat to one of those top dogs in the Eastern Conference.

[Wes Goldberg]

They have not beaten a team with a winning record in a month. Yes.

[Esperahini]

Yeah, yeah. They.

[Wes Goldberg]

They.

[Esperahini]

Honestly, you know what? As you know, I cover the Toronto Raptors. They. They remind me of a. A worse version, at least this season, of what the Raptors are, which is we're a great defensive team. Run in transition, kill in turnover. I mean, Bam and Scotty have very similar characteristics as defenders. Right?

[Wes Goldberg]

Yeah.

[Esperahini]

And it just. It's like the ceiling for this team isn't necessarily as great as you want. This is a point I want to ask you about, though, because long term, moving forward with this Heat team, and as you know, being in the middle is very difficult to build from. What is the future for this group? Is it just like, wait for the next star, wait for Giannis in the summer, wait for Donovan Mitchell after that? Like, what is the.

[Wes Goldberg]

The.

[Esperahini]

The building mechanism for Miami moving forward?

[Wes Goldberg]

You answered the question.

[Esperahini]

Okay.

[Andrew Schlecht]

All right.

[Esperahini]

I just wanted to.

[Wes Goldberg]

I mean, that's. It. Does this team eventually get to a point where they have to take a calculated step back? I do think is an interesting question.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Right.

[Wes Goldberg]

Because that's really kind of what you're asking there. Right. And. Right.

[Esperahini]

It's like, are we going to sacrifice a season here eventually? But. Right.

[Wes Goldberg]

Yeah. They will never do it on purpose. I remind people all the time. The only reason they got Dwyane Wade in 2003 is because Alonzo Mourning got a kidney disease. Right?

[Andrew Schlecht]

Yeah.

[Wes Goldberg]

Like they did. They never were supposed to be that bad. And this is not a team that tanks. They do build from the middle and up. They do not build from the bottom and up. Pat Rally has a track record of success in doing it that way, and I do think that there's other teams in the league that have a track record of doing it that way. So I don't think it's impossible to do it, but yet they need to go get that star. So it'll be this summer where you look at guys like Giannis and Donovan Mitchell. This team also has a lot of cap space like sort of earmarked for the free agency of 2027, where as we know there's a lot of potential names there. Then if they heat strike out on two summers in a row at that point, Bam, into his 30s at that stage, then I think we start having the more dramatic type of conversations about this group.

[Esperahini]

You always have to watch out for the Miami Heat. That's one of those things that I always say because at the end of the day they are a destination there. Every player will mention the Miami Heat as a potential trade destination. I would like to make the Miami Heat a destination to go to. I after cold weather in Toronto, I could use it. Wes Goldberg, appreciate you man. Thank you very much to Wes. Thank you to Andrew earlier for jumping off with us. Thank you to everybody who's listening to the NBA Daily. We'll see you guys later.

[Wes Goldberg]

Take care.

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[Esperahini]

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