HEAT SEASON GRADES OUT AS EXCEPTIONAL, TOP OF CLASS
An argument could be made that no one saw the 2019-20 Miami Heat coming, at least not arunto theNBAFinals thatcame within two wins of a championship.
But that argumentwould have come with a deaf ear to what was developing inside the locker roomand the coaching suite, where belief grewto the point that it even survived a pandemic.
So to grade this season’sHeat roster individually inmanyways runs counter to a culture that specifically stressed touchstones such as “Sacrifice” and “Enjoy someone else’s success” and “Collaborate.”
But nowdecisions will have to be made individually, on a caseby-case basis, asHeat President Pat Riley, coach Erik Spoelstra and their staffs assesswhostays, whogoes and what comes next.
Those evaluations will come after awell-earned exhale. These grades are a look at where things stand at the season’s final buzzer, one that came with an echo inside the quarantine isolation of the DisneyWorld bubble.
Jimmy Butler
Age: Turned 31 on Sept. 14. Contracts status: Earned $32.7 million in 2019-20. Will earn $34.4 million in 2020-21, on a contract that expires in 202223, with that season a player option.
Grade: A+. Forget the statistics, even when theywere gaudy. With Butler, those merely are numbers. Thiswas a playerwho seized a leadership role upon arrival, earned unquestioned universal respect, and emerged as an All-Star and All-NBApresence. Basically, everything the Heat hoped for fromthat July 2019 $142million contract, and more.
BamAdebayo
Age: Turned 23 on July 18. Contract status: Earned $3.5 million in 2019-20. Will earn $5.1 million in 2020-21, with the right to extend this summer, otherwise becoming a restricted free agent in the 2021 offseason.
Grade: A+. Basically, impossible not to be awarded the same grade as Butler, consideringmany judgedAdebayo as theHeat’s leadingmanfor the way he facilitated the offense and anchored the defense. With Butler, itwas all about the moment. WithAdebayo, it’s about anchoring the future.
Goran Dragic
Age: Turned 34 onMay 6. Contract status: Earned $19.2 million in 2019-20. Will be an unrestricted free agent this offseason.
Grade: A. He thrived in a sixth-man role during the regular season then reemerged as theHeat’s leading scorer in a playoffs as a starter until hewent downwith a torn plantar fascia in his left foot. Inmanyways, his sixth season with theHeatwas his best season with theHeat, and certainly the one with the most courageous ending.
TylerHerro
Age: Turns 21 on Jan. 20. Contract status: Earned $3.6 million in 2019-20. Will earn $3.8 million in 2020-21, on a contract that expires in 2022-23.
Grade: B+. Regular-season injuries cast doubt on the ultimate upside. But play in the Disney bubble, particularly in the playoffs, erased any concerns about anything short of star potential. TheHeat have a budding franchise cornerstone in their 2019 first-round pick, possibly their starting point guard of the future.
DuncanRobinson
Age: Turned 26 onApril 22. Contract status: Earned $1.4 million in 2019-20. Will earn $1.6 million next season, on a contract that expires in 2020-21, to then become a restricted free agent.
Grade: B+. Arevelationfrom the outset, when he seized a starting role early in the season and never let go. While not as complete as the players listed above, the unlimited range and uncanny accuracy with the 3-point shot inmanyways became the catalyst for one of the league’s most potent offenses. Exactlywhosawthat coming?
Jae Crowder
Age: Turned 30 on July 6. Contract status: Earned $7.8 million in 2019-20. Will be an unrestricted free agent this offseason.
Grade: B. Viewed as a secondary component in the trade that delivered Andre Iguodala fromtheMemphisGrizzlies at midseason, Crowder immediately emerged as an essential component of the rotation, with his defense and 3-point shooting. His elevation to the playoff starting lineup helped trigger the run to theNBAFinals.
KendrickNunn
Age: Turned 25 onAug. 3. Contract status: Earned $1.4 million in 2019-20. Will earn $1.6 million next season, on a contract that expires in 2020-21, to then become a restricted free agent.
Grade: B. If not for contractingCOVID-19 ahead of the NBArestart and then producing uneven results in the Disney bubble, the gradewould have, at the least, been on par withHerro andRobinson. Hewas that muchof a regular-season revelation. There is no reason he can’t be one again.
Kelly Olynyk
Age: Turned 29 onApril 19. Contract status: Earned $12.7million in 2019-20. Holds player option of $13.2 million for 2020-21 on final season of contract.
Grade: B-. In what basically has been the story of his three-seasonHeat tenure, there were the best of times and the worst of times. But just when youwere ready to count him out, therewere enough quality playoff minutes to create renewed hope. Amid the currentNBA economy, picking up the option yearmakes toomuchsense to bypass.
Meyers Leonard
Age: Turns 28 on Feb. 27. Contract status: Earned $11.3 million in 2019-20. Will be an unrestricted free agent this offseason.
Grade: C+. Putting the playoffs aside, theHeat thrived with Leonard as a seasonlong starter in the power rotation alongside
Adebayo. That can’t be overlooked when grading the season in its totality. Then the league downsized in the playoffs and there no longerwas a role, arguably through no fault of his own.
Andre Iguodala
Age: Turns 37 on Jan. 28. Contract status: Earned $17.2 million this season. Will earn $15 million in 2020-21, on a contract that expires in 2021-22, with a non-guaranteed $15 million for that season.
Grade: C. Therewas precious little sample size before the NBA’sMarch 11 shutdown, with theHeat seemingly saving the veteran for the playoffs. While thereweremany of what Spoelstra called “winning plays” in the playoffs, the impact, to this point, hardly has been overwhelming. Will there be regular-season motivation in 2020-21?
Derrick Jones Jr.
Age: Turns 24 on Feb. 15. Contract status: Earned $1.6 million in 2019-20. Will be an unrestricted free agent this offseason.
Grade: C. Just when it appears Jones is about to become a cornerstone of the franchise’s future, as an offensive spark and rangy defender, he disappears fromthe mix. Over. And over.
Udonis Haslem
Age: Turned40onJune9. Contract status: Earned $2.6 million in 2019-20. Will be an unrestricted free agent.
Grade: C(for Captain). There is noway to grade Haslem’s season because there barelywas a season, with four appearances. Thiswas never about anything on the court, but the ongoing leadership that teammates consider inspirational.
Chris Silva
Age: Turned 24 on Sept. 19. Contract status: Earned $467,000 in 2019-20. Will earn $1.5 million next season, on a contract that expires in 2021-22.
Grade: C-. In someways he reminds of what theHeat had inYanteMaten, albeit with a different skill set. Therewas early promise, as a defender and rebounder. But then therewas a leveling off.
Solomon Hill
Age: Turned 29 onMarch 18. Contract status: Earned $12.8 million in 2019-20. Will be an unrestricted free agent this offseason.
Grade: C-. Hill did whateverwas asked, whenever it was asked, and almost always fulfilled the desired mandate. But, ultimately, therewas not an opportunity, with theHeat’s glut of wing options.
KZOkpala
Age: Turned 21 onApril 28. Contract status: Earned $898,000 in 2019-20.
Grade: I. There is no other way to classify it other than incomplete for the 2019 secondround pick out of Stanfordwho began itwith anAchilles injury and ended it in theGLeague, with just fiveHeat appearances.