The Culture Report: Trade deadline is over, so thoughts on going forward with the season

A quick discussion on what the vision with team should be going forward

Welcome to The Culture Report! A Weekly report rounding up everything that you need to know about the Miami Heat to get up to speed on what’s been going on. This will be through “What’s Been Heating Up” where we go through all of the games and main takeaways. Following that is a Heat Check to share any unscripted, unplanned thoughts, where I discuss the current state of the team and any trends & worthy topics to briefly go through. Before going into The Heatle Things where it’s everything in between + compiling any other best Heat work from other creators.

What’s Been Heating Up

We’re starting off the report by going through thoughts from the game. This will include going through an individual’s performance, key reasons why they won/lost, and a handful of little takeaways. If you missed a game or if you want to dive into some of the main takeaways, this is for you.

105-103 WIN vs San Antonio Spurs

Bam Adebayo got this done. That is the key takeaway from the game. This was a typical game in the mud with both teams struggling to score — that’s just the norm for the Heat. It was also kind of surprising to see this game be this way considering the Spurs were without Victor Wembanyama.

It was a close game throughout the entirety of it, with the Heat only once getting a double-digit lead at the end of the third, but only momentarily before the Spurs blitzed them with a 10-2 run to end the quarter.

This game was all Adebayo on offense and defense. He finished the game with 30 points on 11/16 2pt, 2/5 3pt, and 2/2 ft with 12 rebounds and 9 assists — another near triple-double. He had more field goals made than the entire starting five combined.

He was on a heater when it came to that mid-range. He went 5/8 inside the paint but 6/8 in the mid-range. He was taking and making all of the tough shots. Most of the shots were cooked up in isolation and in the post. This wasn’t anyone setting Adebayo up. This was simply tough shot-making whenever the Spurs dared him to take the shot.

That game plan was made clear from the very first possession where it was a usual set play for Adebayo to come off some screen(a cross-screen in the paint or an angled screen around the elbow).

His offense didn’t stop there with him scoring. Because the Spurs were without Wembyama and lack the size to throw at Adebayo, he was drawing doubles and so much help very quickly once he got into the post. At the 25s mark, it was a Robinson-Adebayo PNR that got the switch with Devin Vassell. Spurs opted to front & double from behind. Once the help came, he quickly made the read to Highsmith cutting.

On top of that, he also had a few solid drives that collapsed the defense and made the right kick to a shooter. At the 1:05 mark he did just that setting up Rozier for 3pt and again at 1:35 to set up Highsmith.

He ended the game perfectly with that same kind of shot to close the game:

In games like these, you’ll take what you can get because no one else really has it going. Though, that is a credit to the Spurs’ defense. No Wembanyama and they still executed well on the defensive end.

A big reason for that was the Spurs being really aggressive at denying all of the handoffs and making every 3pt tough if it did go off. The Spurs switching defense also took the Heat out of rhythm, unable to get advantages going anywhere — though that was also on the Heat not putting themselves in the right position.

Stephon Castle, once again, had Tyler Herro looking rough. The attention was all on him and preventing him from getting looks. The face-guarding and the aggressive pressure showed up. That’s why Herro finished with only 11 points on 4/8 2pt, 0/7 3pt, and 3/5 ft with 8 assists.

That’s where Duncan Robinson also struggled with only 8 points on 2/6 shooting. That’s also why Herro ended up with no 3s made — his 3s were rushed and under pressure.

Elsewhere, the stats may not show it but the defensive effort wasn’t there at all. They gave up 13 offensive rebounds — seven of them to Charles Bassey. There were only 10 turnovers forced. Overall, the percentages and total points weren’t bad, but there were so many timely mistakes and lapses that gave the Spurs a chance to make this close. The ending to the third quarter showed exactly that, where they gave up many 3s in a row.

124-133 LOSS vs Chicago Bulls

Well, this was certainly a game. On one hand, this was one of the best the Heat have looked offensively. So many positives on that end whether it’s team-wise or individually. There were many actions and counters to how they went about attacking the Bulls’ defense that was trying to find some answers. On the other hand, that can also be said about the Bulls, which means this was one of the worst defensive performances.

This was two teams that didn’t want to play defense and couldn’t even if they wanted to. That’s how I’d describe the game.

But it was the fourth-quarter execution that was a big reason why they lost. They got outscored 39-21 to end the game. To start the fourth, the Heat led 103-94. At 6:17, it was tied at 114 — a 20-10 run.

The Heat went scoreless in stretches and went a long, long time without a single field goal made — Ware had a tip-in dunk at 9:43 and the next FGM was an Adebayo dunk at 5:24. Some of the offensive draughts were because of the rotations that had basically the whole bench in. There was some questionable decision-making and poor shot selection. In the last five minutes, Herro also had two crucial turnovers at key moments.

But that wasn’t the biggest issue. It was allowing Josh Giddey to go for 12 points on 4/6 shooting in the fourth. It was the Bulls scoring 8/11 from 2pt, 4/10 3pt, and 11/12 at the line. They had 19 points in the last five minutes. Just an awful defensive collapse.

But that was the defense for 48 minutes. They allowed Giddey, Matas Buzelis, Coby White, and Ayo Dosunmu to combine for 91 points on 33/51 shooting. I don’t know how you do that. They had 58 points in the paint, 15 second chance points, and 13 fastbreak points.

This was the kind of defense that was played by the Heat:

A lot of it was their 1v1 defense. No one. And I mean no one could stay in front of their guy or give any kind of resistance. Any time the Bulls ran a PNR, it was just an easy drive to the rim. Any time the Bulls attacked in isolation, it was just an easy drive to the rim.

But that also wasn’t the only issue. Once the players got beat, there was barely any help at the rim or in the paint. Late or no rotation possession after possession. Everyone was cooking on easy shots around the rim. Some of that was also the Heat getting spread out. Adebayo wasn’t near the rim because he had to stay with Vucevic. And with no other big on the court, Ware and anyone else had to defend on the perimeter.

So, the poor defense through 48 minutes and poor execution offensively down the stretch is what cost them the game.

But despite the awful ending and no defense, there were positives on the other end.

Adebayo still has himself going, particularly in the mid-range where he had 23 points on 9/13 2pt, 1/4 3pt, and 2/5 ft. He had some timely shots around the paint and mid-range. There is still that balance with him also being the hub, responsible for all of the handoffs, and then looking to get his.

Jovic caught fire from 3pt and made sure to capitalize on all of the spot-up opportunities. He was played in more of an off-ball role in this game. Jaquez Jr had one of his best games with a solid 14 points on 4/8 shooting and 6/6 ft with 5 assists. He was also cooking the Bulls guards just as easily. There were stretches where it was him just having the ball and running isolations and post ups through him.

Here are some of the highlights from everyone:

Unfortunately, it was also another rough night for Herro scoring 23 points on 2/4 2pt, 3/11 3pt, and 10/11 ft, whilst adding 9 assists but with 6 turnovers and 8 rebounds. The shooting wasn’t there at all, nor was the decision to attack either. At times, it was settling too much and too soon for the jumper. But some of the reads that he was making were spot on with his skips and kicks.

Overall, I hope this game is a wake-up call to try a lot harder on defense.

108-101 WIN vs Philadelphia 76ers

We love games in the mud. That’s how we win. It wasn’t all in the mud, though, especially in the first half. Both teams managed to put the ball in the hoop, one way or the other. It was in the second half that things got trickier.

In the first half, the Heat had a 124.0 ORTG with 63.6% TS and 114.0 DRTG with 55.7% TS. But after, it was 93.9 with 53.5% and 91.7 with 41.0%.

The Heat were led by Herro’s 30 points on 6/9 2pt, 5/11 3pt, and 3/4 ft with 7 rebounds and 7 assists. Another near triple-double. That has become the norm for Herro recently.

Early on he had three great drives to start the game. He took guys off the dribble comfortably, twice in isolation and once in the PNR. In the third, it was all about those 3s, with two coming in off a PNR. But he also did his damage in the fourth, where his points were crucial down the stretch. He had six needed points to keep the Heat steadily in the lead.

Jovic was just as important by almost having a perfect game. He ended the night by giving them 23 points on 5/5 2pt, 3/4 3pt, and 4/5 ft with 7 assists.

He was, once again, making them pay as a spot-up shooter. But then he also contributed by being able to attack in the post. There were a couple of plays where he sealed his defender well and got himself a look at the rim. He got out and ran in transition. With his passing, two were coming in as a hub up top, but the rest were him making the right reads in on-ball actions. He attacked for kicks. He drew defense around the paint.

A great overall performance from Jovic.

It was still surprising that the Heat, not only were in the game but won. They had a 22.9% TOV compared to 5.2% for the 76ers. The 76ers had 15 more true shooting attempts in a game they lost by seven.

But when you look at what the 76ers did offensively, it kind of makes sense. No one in the starting five shot better than 40%. Tyrese Maxey led both teams with 31 points but on 11/28 shooting. Paul George was nonexistent with his 9 points on 3/11 where it felt like he didn’t play at all.

They took care of the ball extremely well, whilst capitalizing off the Heat for 25 points of turnovers. That also led to 14 fastbreak points. That’s how they kept themselves in the game, with the Heat also struggling to score.

In the end, with the game close, the Heat were able to pull it off with Pelle Larsson extending the lead with a key 3pt, followed by three buckets by both Herro and Adebayo, which essentially closed out the game.

Things that caught my eye

Additional thoughts, stats & takeaways from these games only. All links are clips on Twitter

• I wasn’t a fan of some of the shots Herro took against the Spurs. With the aggressive defense, particularly from Stephon Castle, he rushed a lot of the shots and settled for the quickest, semi-open shot

• All teams so far have played around with the idea of switching any and every screen involving Ware

• Adebayo has been cooking more in the mid-range… but plays like these against Charles Bassey, that should be a drive. It should be a mismatch and the Spurs were small elsewhere that there wasn’t any size or rim protectoin

• On that point, they need to do a better job at using Ware when that happens. There was this play against the Spurs, where Ware just goes to sit in the corner. If you’re using your 7fter against a switch in the corner, he might as well be 6ft. Similarly here, where he had Chris Paul on him. Get him the ball and work through it!

• Jovic’s confidence coming off these handoffs for 3s has been showing

• I liked this wrinkle for Herro PNR. The first PNR, it was Adebayo being the first screener, which allowed Lonzo to kind of prevent Herro from using it and as a result not bring Vucevic into action, but then still able to switch the second screen. The Heat countered by having Highsmith screen first to get the rookie Matas on, which was more likely that he wouldn’t be able to ice the second screen quick enough. He didn’t and that gave Herro the pull up 3pt

• The Bulls started to blitz Herro more late in the game

• Rozier had 5 points on 12 shots against the Bulls

• I love the actions with Herro-Ware-Adebayo. This has been a regular occurrence now and it’s been growing and getting better with each rep. This wasn’t as flowing last week. It’s a simple Herro PNR with one of those two and the other as a cutter. The first one is Adebayo on the short roll finding Ware on the lob. Later in the game, they flip that where it’s Adebayo catching the lob from Ware. Ware is learning fast

• One action that has been showing up more frequently is this involving Adebayo and Robinson initially. It starts with Adebayo coming off a screen either to the post or to flow into a PNR with Robinson. In a different game, that also can easily flow into a ball reversal to flow into a Herro-Ware PNR

• Pelle Larsson had one of his best defensive games of the season. He had so many good defensive possessions against the 76ers and most of them came being tasked with guarding Maxey. Some of the individual plays against Maxey showed the potential of him being a reliable defensive guard for the team. There was also a highlight like this, where he got a good block making the weakside rotation.

• They like to run this three man action with Jovic/Jaquez, Adebayo and Robinson, where it’s Jovic as the hub making a read for Bam coming off a screen from Robinson. There are multiple options to come out of that, depending on what the defense gives them. Here, it was a quick pass to Adebayo to get the middy in the paint, and in the next play, the defense overplayed that screen, which meant a skip was open to Rozier for 3pt

• Bit surprising but both Robinson and Ware went scoreless against the 76ers

• Jovic’s defense is something to keep an eye on. He looked providing so much help against the 76ers in gaps by stunting and using his length to be more disruptive

• I haven’t liked the awareness and consistency of the team defensively. Throughout the week, there have been bad, bad stretches in games that gave up wide-open looks time and time again. In all those stretches, the opponent made a run to take the lead. Those kind of runs can’t happen

• I’ve been liking Herro’s drives more and more this week. It started against the Bulls, where he easily got to the rim against the drop. And against the 76ers, he was doing it at a higher volume.

• Jaquez has been looking good recently when given more reps. Against the Bulls, he was cooking anyone(just like the Bulls) in isolation or in the post. He was taking guys off the dribble with ease and there wasn’t anything they could’ve done. Then against the 76ers, he was going to work in the post, creating plenty of space to get a more clean look at the rim

Heat Check

Here is where I give a “heat” check on the team through a weekly ramble that’s me simply ranting about the Heat and a handful of other newsworthy topics that occurred throughout the week or trends to talk about. This can be a quick, brief discussion on multiple smaller topics that should be noted for a deeper look at in the future.

It’s finally over. The deadline has passed and we no longer have to be stressing about potential moves. There’s no more drama. There’s also no more analyzing off-court moves, suspensions, or the vibes on the bench. It’s a clean slate after finally transitioning from the whole core and build of the last six years.

The return for Jimmy Butler also seemed as good as it could’ve been. Having a disgruntled star that was suspended and has caused so much drama around the team net you Andrew Wiggins, Kyle Anderson, a 2025 first-round pick, and Davion Mitchell is a damn good win.

They are three players who are defensive-oriented. They fit well on both ends. If you want to see a more deeper breakdown of what they individually will bring, you can check out the breakdown for Wiggins here, and a breakdown for the other two here!

So, now that the main circus is over, what’s the plan and vision going forward? There are 32 games left of the season. What can we and what is there to expect from the team?

I think this should be the last 32 games of this entire core period. Sure, the moves made at the deadline should make a difference for this season. They did get better because it is replacing a player that wasn’t playing. But these moves matter almost absolutely zero when it comes to anything past this year.

This is again a team stuck right in the middle. And I am still very much pro resetting everything. But that also means everything big picture and long-term vision for the team can only be addressed in the off-season.

In the meantime, though, everything is still working around what you have to still also see what you could have. The team’s core is now:

• Tyler Herro: 25 years old

• Bam Adebayo: 27 years old

• Nikola Jovic: 21 years old

• Kel’el Ware: 20 years old

• Jaime Jaquez Jr: 23 years old

Then there are the “older” veterans:

• Andrew Wiggins: 30 years old

• Terry Rozier: 30 years old

• Duncan Robinson: 30 years old

• Kyle Anderson: 31 years old

• Haywood Highsmith: 28 years old

And the rest are young but may not be the core:

• Davion Mitchell: 26 years old

• Pelle Larsson: 23 years old

• Keshad Johnson: 23 years old

• Josh Christopher: 23 years old

The issue with this kind of core, though is it is stuck in the middle but without the young talent with a significant high upside. The top duo of Herro-Adebayo also isn’t one to be thinking highly of where you’d want to just surround them with good pieces with hopes that they will help them grow.

I don’t see this in a similar way as the Memphis Grizzlies, Oklahoma City Thunder, or the Orlando Magic. All three of those teams have upper-tier talent as their top guys, who are still quite young. It is a different building around both Paolo Banchero’s and Franz Wagner’s ceiling with hopes they can take the leap versus Adebayo and Herro. That’s the difference maker.

They are also not as good as the Grizzlies all around but still being young enough, where you see the evidence of them already being that elite.

The Heat are 25-25 and are 12-13 in games Butler didn’t play. They have a mid core and two of the top players are past 25. It would be a lot different if both were much younger or weren’t at the stage where they’ll be on their second extension.

The goal is obviously to set yourself up to be in contention for a title. I don’t see that goal anywhere close, nor do I see a reasonable path to that with this core. If they were to try to set themselves up to being legit contenders again, almost all of the team would have to be flipped one way or the other.

That’s why I also had reservations about trading for Kevin Durant, even if it was limited assets being sent out. I don’t believe this core to being a top 10 player away. I don’t see them setting themselves up in the next off-season to shoot for a star and that will put them right back with the contenders.

The rest of the team are decent additions. Wiggins and Anderson definitely will help the defense. They’d also be fun to try different things on offense. There is now more size and length. But the top-end talent isn’t anywhere near.

So, in these next 32 games, I don’t expect much change. I’d bet that this is going to be the same team that has trended back to a near bottom 10 offense — for the year, they’re 18th now and if we look at raw numbers, they went from 114.4 to 112.7. That will likely remain the same.

Their potential aspirations in the playoffs don’t matter to me. They could be lucky and get the sixth or even fifth seed but to what end? If they get the fifth, they can have a semi-good series against the Indiana Pacers. If they get sixth or lower, that is a first-round exit.

And that would be perfect if they already had a core that you just wanted to grow and develop. The Magic are a good example of that. That’s a team that you’d just want to get some playoff experience and continue to build on that.

To be fair, just from a fan's point of view, it also makes it less enjoyable to watch. If the long-term goal would ideally be to reset, then anything until then is just a placeholder. This isn’t saying that a team can’t be enjoyable if it’s not competing for a title, but there should be some meaningful goal to look forward to — whether that is competing, building out a contender, looking to take that leap, or just looking for young players to improve but knowing there is something at the end. A reset can do that.

That’s why the only thing I ask for the remainder of the season is to at least make something fun and more enjoyable to watch. Having these nine-point quarters and blown leads isn’t enjoyable. Everything else should be geared towards the off-season.

The Heatle Things

To end the report, here are some random tidbits that could be stats, lineups, plays, actions, or anything that I found fun, as well as compiling some other content that I found interesting.

• Herro has been getting more assists. He has a 38.1% AST in the last 8 games. That is up from 25% in the previous 41 games. 4 of his top 10 highest AST% have come in this stretch. He’s already had 7 games with at least 40% AST. In previous years, it was 2, 5, 5, 2, and 2

• Adebayo is averaging 21/11/4 on 60.5% TS in the last 8 games

• Herro since being named an All-Star, in his last 5 games has scored 101 points on 92 shots. He also has had three 20%+ TOV