Miami unsound machine

IS it time to trade Jimmy Buckets? The Miami Heat have been woeful to start the 2022-2023 NBA season.

While injuries to franchise player Butler, last year’s NBA Sixth Man of the Year Tyler Herro, Gabe Vincent, Victor Oladipo, and Omer Yurtseven (the latter two have yet to make their season debuts) may have thrown a monkey wrench on South Beach’s planned rotation, an abysmal 7-11 start and 12th place in the East is simply unacceptable.

Last year, the Heaters also lost Bam Adebayo (more than 20 games), Oladipo (played only the last few games of the regular season), and Butler (a few games) to start the season and still found their heads above water.

This season, Miami appears to be out of whack and The Culture GM Pat Riley and head coach Erik Spoeltra espouse now sounds like a cheap election campaign slogan rather than a philosophy that totally encapsulates the franchise.

Maybe P.J. Tucker’s moxie was just too valuable for Butler and company to lose (The Philadelphia 76ers eventually were docketed two second round picks for tampering) and his replacement at starting power forward, Caleb Martin, is better in an off the bench role.

Benching 3-point specialist Duncan Robinson late last season in favor of the equally streaky Max Straus hasn’t entirely paid off as it only ruined the former’s confidence. Then starting Herro over the two at the start of the 20222023 season further undermined the two shooters’ self-assuredness (although Mighty Max has been ballin’ quite of late).

Herro has also been in Spoelstra’s dog house more often than not due to his alleged freelancing on offense. The former Kentucky Wildcat, however, is a walking bucket for Miami and should be given more free reign to hijack the offense like what Jimmy Buckets does.

Staying on the floor also has been an issue for the 6’4” Herro the past couple of seasons including the playoffs as he has either lost games due to injury or played with one, ultimately limiting his effectiveness on the floor.

Point guard Kyle Lowry and his $85-million contract is also questionable. I know he’s Butler’s best bud, but paying a 36-year-old former all-star nearly $30 million a year was a massive overpay for the Heat when they could’ve just brought back fan favorite Goran Dragic at a cheaper price point and invested on a long-term solution at power forward.

Bam Adebayo and his supposed promise may be the future of the Heat but his lukewarm games to start the season has been worrying.

The one-time NBA all-star has shown two-way brilliance since the Heat drafted him 14th overall in the 2017 NBA Draft, but at times the 6’9” banger has been tentative on offense and has completely shied away from becoming Miami’s second scoring option after Butler.

Spoeltra was experimenting with Adebayo playing more power forward and starting Yurtseven at center during the offseason, but those plans went out the window when the 7-footer from Turkey recently had surgery on a bothersome ankle and will be out for the next three months.

Promising rookie Nikola Jovic was also expected to be the yin of Adebayo’s yang as the 6’11” Serbian’s outside shooting could theoretically complement Adebayo’s inside game. But so far, the Jovic experiment in the starting five with half of Miami’s starting lineup out due to injury has been a mixed bag.

He’s excellent as a secondary ball handler and has great passing skills for a big man, but more often than not he looks like a deer in the headlights on defense and is easily outmuscled for rebounds.

Then there’s Jimmy Buckets. Riley brought the 6’7” former Marquette star (like Dwyane Wade) to win a championship, but after coming close in the Orlando bubble and shooting an ill-advised triple with the Heat down 2 points against the Boston Celtics in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals last season, Miami’s championship window with Butler at the helm appears closing.

After Tom Thibodeau played him like a beast of burden during their time in Chicago, Butler’s durability has been suspect in South Beach.

In the three years since being acquired in a sign-and-trade for Josh Richardson from the Sixers, the supposed franchise cornerstone has played only 58, 52, and 57 games in the regular season and this season, Buckets has already missed five games. I know Butler is a totally different animal in the playoffs, but he should make himself more available in the regular season too unless he wants to be the second coming of Kawhi Leonard.

The Truth and The Big Ticket may be right after all, this current iteration of the Miami Heat may have kissed its championship aspirations adieu.

Time to blow up the team and enter the Wembenyama sweepstakes.