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LOS ANGELES
If Sunday’s Super Bowl matchup between the Los Angeles Rams and Cincinnati Bengals is anything, it’s a snapshot of two franchises who took two different paths with their rosters to reach the championship game.
There are the Rams, a roster full of pieced-together heavyweights whose collective personalities match that of the flashy city they represent. And then there are the Bengals, for years known for their frugality, who took a more traditional route to the organization’s first championship appearance since 1988.
In a league where teams have
If the Super Bowl matchup between the Rams and Bengals is anything, it’s a snapshot of two teams that took different paths with their rosters to the championship game.
increasingly used various maneuvers to bypass the typical strangleholds of the salary cap and become receptive to trading away draft picks, the Rams have eschewed the tried-and-true method of team-building.
To get a sense of the lengths they’ve gone to acquire high-end talent, picture this: Los Angeles last used a first-round pick in 2016, when it selected quarterback Jared Goff (Goff would eventually be sent, along with two future first-rounders, to Detroit in the trade that brought Matthew Stafford).
When the Rams used that pick on Goff, Jalen Ramsey was a
Orleans Pelicans, as Butler and Lowry combined to score 11 of the Heat’s final 16 points. Butler did most of the scoring with eight fourth-quarter points, but a lot of those opportunities were coming out of his two-man game with Lowry.
The Heat repeatedly had
Who has the edge between Rams and Bengals in the big game? young(er), brash rookie defensive back ready to make a name for himself. Stafford was toiling in mediocrity with the Lions.
Butler screen for Lowry late in Thursday’s game, forcing the mismatch with Pelicans 6-1 guard Devonte’ Graham switching on to the 6-7 Butler following the screen. The set resulted in favorable Butler postups and had the Pel
Wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. was still a New York Giant, his then-blond hair raved about in pop culture. And outside linebacker Von Miller was a newly minted Super Bowl MVP.
All four find themselves on the Rams now, one win away from reaching the pinnacle of their careers. In mortgaging their future for the present, Los Angeles has also risked assembling a top-heavy, depthstrapped roster that could crumble with one or two major injuries. However, the Rams front office, led by general manager Les Snead, has filled out the rest of the team with pinpoint picks on Day 2 and Day 3 of the NFL Draft. Wide receiver and Offen
icans sending extra defenders his way to help Graham, and that also opened shots for others.
“I’m comfortable whenever I’m out there with Kyle,” Butler said. “Everybody is, though, because he’s always going to make the right play. Even if it’s to me or skipping it across the court, you can bank on Kyle doing that. I just think everybody is comfortable late whenever I have the ball, Kyle has the ball, Bam [Adebayo] or P.J. [Tucker]. So it was a two-man game between me and him tonight. Next game it could be him and Bam, him and Tuck, him and Duncan [Robinson], who knows.”
Butler has a point, as Lowry has been effective with pretty much everybody he has played with since joining the Heat last offseason. The only teammate who holds a negative plus/minus alongside Lowry this season is Udonis Haslem, and they’re a minus-two in just 19 minutes played together.
So it’s also no surprise that Lowry owns a teambest plus/minus of plus-193 this season.
“There are so many IQ nuances that Kyle can bring to the game,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “He can dominate a game and only score six points. He can be assertive and put pressure on the defense in transition with his drives, his passing, his pitch aheads. Half-court offense, he can organize you and get the ball where it needs to go. I mentioned this earlier in the year that he’s such an underrated screener. This was really kind of the actions that were happening tonight to be able to get the matchups that we wanted. Either he was handling and Jimmy was setting the screen to be able to force the switch or vice versa. Either way he’s able to manipulate situations so we can get some kind of advantage against the defense.”
OKPALA WAIVED
The Oklahoma City Thunder announced Friday that they have waived former Heat forward KZ Okpala.
The Heat traded
Okpala to the Thunder on Wednesday in exchange for a 2026 second-round pick. As part of the trade, the Heat and Thunder agreed to amend the protections of the firstround pick that Miami already owed to Oklahoma City to a protected 2025 first-round selection that will turn into a 2026 unprotected pick if it’s not conveyed in 2025.
Okpala, 22, is now eligible to be signed by any team except the Heat. He has been sidelined since late December because of a wrist injury.
OPPONENTS FOR A NIGHT
Spoelstra and Butler will be on opposite sides for one night.
Spoelstra and his staff will coach Team Durant and Butler will play for Team LeBron in the Feb. 20 All-Star Game, which is taking place at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland.
“Ain’t nobody worried about Spo,” Butler joked. “He better let me score every possession I get. Otherwise I’m coming back and we’re going to have a talk.”
When asked how he’ll stop Butler in the showcase game, Spoelstra said: “That’s the last thing I’m thinking about. But do we get to pick another AllStar? Nobody is out with an injury or anything? So Tyler [Herro], Bam will be next. Alright, that sounds like I’m campaigning.”
The Heat listed Herro (right knee soreness) and Tucker (left knee contusion) as questionable for Saturday’s game against the Nets. ). Caleb Martin (left Achilles’ soreness) was ruled out. Markieff Morris (return to competition reconditioning) and Victor Oladipo (right knee injury recovery) remain out.
AAnthony Chiang: 305-376-4991, @Anthony_Chiang