Part 10 of the offseason guides leads us to two teams that have been connected in various trade talks throughout the past couple of seasons: the Miami Heat and the Phoenix Suns.
Phoenix Suns
The Phoenix Suns will be a case study one day on how not to approach the second apron. New owner Matt Ishbia was ecstatic to have a team that was headed by a big three of Kevin Durant, Bradley Beal, and Devin Booker; however, it was costing Ishbia quite a lot of money to assemble the roster for last year. They had the highest payroll in the NBA, started 8-1, but then took a turn for the worse. Kevin Durant had an ankle sprain, and the Suns were never the same. Devin Booker eventually was the only one healthy for the Suns and was seeing a much heavier workload than normal. After making comments that 26 GMs who switch places with the franchise, Matt Ishbia had to eat his own words as he saw his nearly $500 million roster finish 11th in the Western Conference and eventually have some of the worst team chemistry in the NBA. The Suns would fire Mike Budenholzer after just one year with the franchise, making it now 4 coaches in 4 seasons, after hiring Cavaliers assistant Jordan Ott to the same position. So what can the Suns do now?
The Suns finally realized the threat and the eventual consequences of being in the second apron. They couldn't make any trades, and to make matters worse, they couldn’t get off of Bradley Beal’s contract due to his no-trade clause. The dissatisfaction amongst the franchise saw them trade away Kevin Durant to the Rockets, in a trade that eventually involved 7 teams when finalized. They received Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, and the 10th overall pick in the 2025 draft that turned into Khaman Malauch. The Suns then stretched and waived Bradley Beal, making his contract of 2 years $113 million stretch over the next 5 years, and the Suns having close to $23 million in dead money for 2025-2026. The Suns also made another trade that saw them acquire Mark Williams from the Hornets, and have made some calculated moves in free agency to fill out the roster. It also seems like they are going to hold onto Jalen Green as well. The Suns will finally not pay the tax and will likely just have to play out this season going forward. They have quite literally 3 draft picks. In the next 7 years. The Suns will need to stay out of the second apron for the next 3 of the 4 seasons to unfreeze their 2032 first-round pick. Other news includes the Suns signing Devin Booker to a 2-year $145 million contract that will take up close to 36% of the salary cap in the future when it kicks in.
From a player development perspective, the Suns will need to figure out the point guard duties and who to run the position. Jalen Green experimenting wouldn’t surprise me, but that’s not exactly what I would do. I think the Suns view Green as a potential way to be similar to Devin Booker, as Booker expanded his playmaking as he moved into some lead guard positions. Green is a fascinating study, though. I’ve written a lot about him in the past, as he impresses me a lot with his athleticism and ability to get to his spots. However, his hot stretches can’t just be because of shooting variance. They need to be because he’s getting the correct shots in specific spots on the floor. He’s super athletic, but I would like to see him take some smarter shots as well. Green takes 8 pull-up jump shots a game, which I think for a player of his caliber should be fewer. We’ll see this upcoming season if playing with Devin Booker and learning from him helps. The next progression needs to be from the following rookie class, including Ryan Dunn and Iso Ighodaro. Dunn’s progressive will be on both ends of the floor. His defense and shooting are the main reasons why the Suns want him to develop. His defense has a chance to be good, but working on a couple of things, such as screen navigation and doing a better job of not fouling. Much of his reps came against guys who are All-stars and All-league players, and doing a better job of not fouling will help. On the shooting aspect of it, he has to get his confidence back in the jumper. He was shooting close to 40% early in the season, but it seems to let a couple of misses affected his confidence, and he did not shoot it well throughout the rest of the season. He took 51.3% of his shots from 3 and made around 31.6% of those attempts. Ighodaro will need to develop some stuff of glue if he’s to play the 4 in some lineups for the Suns, this includes either putting it on the floor better, or developing a jump shot of substance. The first seems like a more likely outcome. Don’t worry, Suns fans, I don’t think it can get much worse, in all honesty.
Miami Heat
The Heat had quite the season for a team that is usually pretty quiet with off-court stuff. That was not the case this past season, as Pat Riley and Jimmy Butler were stirring the pot for a majority of the last off-season, and it eventually bled over into much of this past season before the trade deadline. Butler wanted a contract extension, and the Heat refused to give him one. This saga was watched carefully throughout the regular season before the Heat eventually traded Butler to the Warriors. Not before the media spat between him and Riley led to Butler being suspended multiple times for poor effort in games and not conducting himself with the Heat’s travel plans. After the trade, the Heat looked like a shell of themselves, slipping to the 10th seed in the Eastern Conference; however, demolishing the Bulls and beating the Hawks in the play-in saw them get the 8th seed before getting bounced in 4 games by the Cavaliers to embarrassing fashion. So what does Miami do now?
Financially, the Heat are in a solid spot if they believe they can compete in the Eastern Conference. They currently have $191 million allocated to the roster for the upcoming season, and will likely try and get below the tax line by the trade deadline. The only interesting extension they have coming up is the Tyler Herro one. They paid Bam Adebayo last offseason and will not extend anyone else unless they feel the need to pay Andrew Wiggins or Norman Powell, but the Heat will likely opt for something else than paying two guys in their mid-30s. The Herro extension is interesting because of the season he just had this past year. He made his first All-Star team and was the only source of offense for the Heat at points in the regular season. Much of the offensive improvement will need to come from developing its young players as well. The Heat also has some much-needed draft assets. They own all of their first-round picks until 2031 and should get a first-round pick from the Warriors as part of the Jimmy Butler deal.
Player development-wise wise the Heat need to see some improvement from Jaime Jaquez, Kel’el Ware, Nikola Jovic, and Pelle Larsson. Jaquez, after a wonderful rookie season, had a lackluster sophomore season; however, not lose. He’ll need to work on the jump shot, but the Heat can run some interesting lineups with him handling the ball. The Heat have been comfortable letting him bring the ball up, and I think diversifying his playmaking will help the Heat’s subpar offense at times (112 offensive rating in the regular season). Ware is another player who had a great regular season for the Heat. Earning All-rookie honors this past season. He is a very good defensive player for the Heat and lets Bam move to a defensive roaming position. His short roll potential is very fun to think about, given the height and hands he has. Developing some comfort in these areas of the floor can get the Heat, who are great at cutting as a team, some extra looks at the basket. Jovic is similar to Jaquez, where his size gives him some intriguing upside, but the IQ at times lacks for my liking. He’s a skilled player, but I think his jump shot needs to come around, and, similar to Jaquez explored some playmaking as a point-forward this past season as well. Larsson is another player for them who can help out. Consistent improvement across the board can help the Heat a lot in a couple of different areas on both ends of the floor. Overall, the Heat do have some depth, but the lack of star power doesn’t give enough confidence in them to make noise, even in the Eastern Conference. Hang on, Heat fans, you never know what could happen.
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