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MIAMI — When it comes to coaching, it’s almost an ancillary issue for the Miami Heat.
There is Erik Spoelstra … and then on to the questions about how to handle the roster.
By just about all the metrics, it has been an overwhelmingly successful approach, rivaling what the San Antonio Spurs had with Gregg Popovich.
And then there are weeks like this past one that at least make you take pause.
A week when Heat assistant Chris Quinn fell short as a finalist for the Phoenix Suns vacancy that went to Cleveland Cavaliers assistant Jordan Ott.
A week when European media outlets linked Sergio Scariolo, the Italian coach of Spain’s national team, to a potential spot on Spoelstra’s staff.
And a week when the New York Knicks, days after completing their first appearance in the conference finals in a quarter century, dismissed coach Tom Thibodeau — with click-driven outlets then tossing out Spoelstra’s name as a possible replacement.
All of that said, what actually has happened with the Heat coaching staff is basically what has happened for Spoelstra’s 17 seasons in charge and specifically to the Heat staff since Wayne Ellington was added as a player development coach prior to the 2023-24 season in the wake of Anthony Carter’s departure for a similar role with the Memphis Grizzlies.
Same as it ever was.
Based on Spoelstra’s success in driving the Heat to and through the playoffs, nothing dramatic needed here, certainly nothing like the Knicks’ act of desperation with Thibodeau.
And that’s the thing with the Heat during Pat Riley’s three decades of stewardship, there rarely are moves made out of desperation.
But that also doesn’t mean that copacetic necessarily is the way to go, either.
For years, a staple of Riley’s coaching staffs had been a sage veteran assistant. With the Lakers there was the enduring presence of Bill Bertka. With the Knicks, there was Dick Harter, among other veteran coaches. And even when Riley arrived to the Heat as coach in 1995-96, there was Scotty Robertson on his initial staff.
For a while, Spoelstra had that, as well, with Ron Rothstein a carryover from Stan Van Gundy’s Heat staff.
Yes, Spoelstra has been at it now for more than a decade and a half, has established his touchstone approaches on both ends, has the Heat culture (capital C if you prefer) as an enduring foundation, a longtime lead assistant in Quinn, and also has a pair of incredibly bright young minds at his side in Eric Glass and Dan Biscaccio.
But with an offense that has varied from anemic to inept for years, the notion of an offensive coordinator could have its merits.
Yes, the Heat often bypass offensive rebounds in deference to defensive transition. Yes, given a rotation choice, the preference often is for defense (hello, Haywood Highsmith).
Yet say what you want for Thibodeau and his team’s demise in the Eastern Conference finals, but he drove the Knicks back to respectability through offense, New York fifth in offensive rating during the regular season, utilizing that offense to compensate for the defensive shortcomings of Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns. The Heat, by contrast, all too often became exposed when the likes of Tyler Herro and Duncan Robinson were on the court, because the offense wasn’t nearly good enough — 21st in the league each of the past two seasons, seasons when the Heat went out meekly in the first round.
With Quinn missing the cut in Phoenix, albeit certainly qualified, there is little room for shifting of the staff, although Kasib Powell this past season moved on from his role as a Heat developmental assistant to an assistant role with the expansion WNBA Golden State Valkyries. As it is, the Heat shot down the Scariolo speculation.
In his season-ending comments, Riley spoke of changes that could transcend the roster. Over the years, he also has spoken of his own shifts in his approach.
Flexibility has its benefits.
Something similar could just as well benefit the approach on the sidelines, something more than talk annually in training camp of playing at pace only to annually wind up at the back end of the league in pace, 27th this past season.
All the talk of coaching — Heat and beyond — put the subject on the front-burner.
Adding some fuel to that fire certainly wouldn’t be the worst approach for the Heat.
OR NOT: Yes, ESPN’s quality breakdown of this offseason’s potential extensions did suggest that a deal gets done in that October window for Tyler Herro, with former NBA executive Bobby Marks forecasting, “Guaranteed money once again wins out and Herro signs a three-year, $149.7 million extension.” And the Heat certainly have a history of getting deals done at the start of such windows, as twice has been achieved with Bam Adebayo. This time, though, feels different, with little to do with Herro, himself. Instead, with Herro still with two seasons left on his contract, prudence and patience would appear to make greater sense, since there seems to be little sense at the moment of who the 2026-27 Heat might be. With this coming season a potential gap year, a similar gap in extension consideration also would appear to make sense.
FIRST SINCE?: To some, the ongoing NBA Finals are poised to become the first championship series to crown a first-time champion since the Heat defeated the Dallas Mavericks in the 2006 NBA Finals. The problem is how history would then be rewritten. Yes, neither the Oklahoma City Thunder nor the Indiana Pacers have won an NBA championship. However, the Thunder moved from Seattle in 2008, the very same franchise that won the NBA championship in 1979 as the SuperSonics. The Thunder do not claim that championship, which also might be out of deference to stealing into the night out of Seattle and perhaps also out of deference to the looming likelihood of an impending NBA return to Seattle. Which is all well and good . . . except for the fact that the Thunder (nee Sonics) won a championship as anyone who saw in action Jack Sikma, Dennis Johnson, Gus Williams, John Johnson, Lonnie Shelton, Paul Silas and, yes, Downtown Freddie Brown. It’s real. It happened. So, no, it wouldn’t be a first. As for the Pacers, they, too, have been champions previously, winning ABA titles in 1970, ’72 and ’73, with that ’73 roster including standouts such as George McGinnis, Mel Daniels, Freddie Lewis, Darnell Hillman and Roger Brown.
NEW ERA: With Thunder-Pacers the first time the NBA has featured a Finals with two teams in the luxury-tax era not in the tax, Heat icon Udonis Haslem said he sees it as part of a personnel next wave. At the Finals in his television role, Haslem said on his The OGs podcast with former Heat teammate Mike Miller that days such as his time with the Heat’s Big Three of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh are a thing of the past. “I really do think we are entering the era of parity,” Haslem said. “I think the talent is getting better. I think it’s getting harder to put together super teams because of the money, the taxes, and all these different things. We were just on ESPN the other day, and we were talking about putting together super teams. The conversation was talking about where Giannis (Antetokounmpo) would go, and a lot of people were saying a lot of these different teams. We talked about certain teams having three players. Back in the day, when I was able to do it with the Miami Heat, we had LeBron, Chris Bosh, and Wade, and we were still able to find a way to sign myself and different guys. It’s just not capable of happening anymore.”
CAMP TIME: The Heat again will be holding youth camps run by former Heat coach and broadcaster Tony Fiorentino throughout the summer. Jaime Jaquez Jr. will kick off the sessions with visits to Slam Miami High School and Cooper City High School on Tuesday. The second-year forward will participate in a Q&A with campers, take individual photos and sign autographs during the events. Age range for campers is 7-17, with registration and details at JrHEAT.com.
$100,000. Winner-take-all prize for former Heat forward Michael Beasley in his Friday night one-on-one game Friday against fellow former NBA player Lance Stephenson in a pay-per-view event. Amid their rivalry and friendship over one-on-one superiority ahead of their teaming on the Miami entry in the Big3 halfcourt circuit, Beasley won 31-21.
Continue reading...
There is Erik Spoelstra … and then on to the questions about how to handle the roster.
By just about all the metrics, it has been an overwhelmingly successful approach, rivaling what the San Antonio Spurs had with Gregg Popovich.
And then there are weeks like this past one that at least make you take pause.
A week when Heat assistant Chris Quinn fell short as a finalist for the Phoenix Suns vacancy that went to Cleveland Cavaliers assistant Jordan Ott.
A week when European media outlets linked Sergio Scariolo, the Italian coach of Spain’s national team, to a potential spot on Spoelstra’s staff.
And a week when the New York Knicks, days after completing their first appearance in the conference finals in a quarter century, dismissed coach Tom Thibodeau — with click-driven outlets then tossing out Spoelstra’s name as a possible replacement.
All of that said, what actually has happened with the Heat coaching staff is basically what has happened for Spoelstra’s 17 seasons in charge and specifically to the Heat staff since Wayne Ellington was added as a player development coach prior to the 2023-24 season in the wake of Anthony Carter’s departure for a similar role with the Memphis Grizzlies.
Same as it ever was.
Based on Spoelstra’s success in driving the Heat to and through the playoffs, nothing dramatic needed here, certainly nothing like the Knicks’ act of desperation with Thibodeau.
And that’s the thing with the Heat during Pat Riley’s three decades of stewardship, there rarely are moves made out of desperation.
But that also doesn’t mean that copacetic necessarily is the way to go, either.
For years, a staple of Riley’s coaching staffs had been a sage veteran assistant. With the Lakers there was the enduring presence of Bill Bertka. With the Knicks, there was Dick Harter, among other veteran coaches. And even when Riley arrived to the Heat as coach in 1995-96, there was Scotty Robertson on his initial staff.
For a while, Spoelstra had that, as well, with Ron Rothstein a carryover from Stan Van Gundy’s Heat staff.
Yes, Spoelstra has been at it now for more than a decade and a half, has established his touchstone approaches on both ends, has the Heat culture (capital C if you prefer) as an enduring foundation, a longtime lead assistant in Quinn, and also has a pair of incredibly bright young minds at his side in Eric Glass and Dan Biscaccio.
But with an offense that has varied from anemic to inept for years, the notion of an offensive coordinator could have its merits.
Yes, the Heat often bypass offensive rebounds in deference to defensive transition. Yes, given a rotation choice, the preference often is for defense (hello, Haywood Highsmith).
Yet say what you want for Thibodeau and his team’s demise in the Eastern Conference finals, but he drove the Knicks back to respectability through offense, New York fifth in offensive rating during the regular season, utilizing that offense to compensate for the defensive shortcomings of Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns. The Heat, by contrast, all too often became exposed when the likes of Tyler Herro and Duncan Robinson were on the court, because the offense wasn’t nearly good enough — 21st in the league each of the past two seasons, seasons when the Heat went out meekly in the first round.
With Quinn missing the cut in Phoenix, albeit certainly qualified, there is little room for shifting of the staff, although Kasib Powell this past season moved on from his role as a Heat developmental assistant to an assistant role with the expansion WNBA Golden State Valkyries. As it is, the Heat shot down the Scariolo speculation.
In his season-ending comments, Riley spoke of changes that could transcend the roster. Over the years, he also has spoken of his own shifts in his approach.
Flexibility has its benefits.
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Something similar could just as well benefit the approach on the sidelines, something more than talk annually in training camp of playing at pace only to annually wind up at the back end of the league in pace, 27th this past season.
All the talk of coaching — Heat and beyond — put the subject on the front-burner.
Adding some fuel to that fire certainly wouldn’t be the worst approach for the Heat.
IN THE LANE
OR NOT: Yes, ESPN’s quality breakdown of this offseason’s potential extensions did suggest that a deal gets done in that October window for Tyler Herro, with former NBA executive Bobby Marks forecasting, “Guaranteed money once again wins out and Herro signs a three-year, $149.7 million extension.” And the Heat certainly have a history of getting deals done at the start of such windows, as twice has been achieved with Bam Adebayo. This time, though, feels different, with little to do with Herro, himself. Instead, with Herro still with two seasons left on his contract, prudence and patience would appear to make greater sense, since there seems to be little sense at the moment of who the 2026-27 Heat might be. With this coming season a potential gap year, a similar gap in extension consideration also would appear to make sense.
FIRST SINCE?: To some, the ongoing NBA Finals are poised to become the first championship series to crown a first-time champion since the Heat defeated the Dallas Mavericks in the 2006 NBA Finals. The problem is how history would then be rewritten. Yes, neither the Oklahoma City Thunder nor the Indiana Pacers have won an NBA championship. However, the Thunder moved from Seattle in 2008, the very same franchise that won the NBA championship in 1979 as the SuperSonics. The Thunder do not claim that championship, which also might be out of deference to stealing into the night out of Seattle and perhaps also out of deference to the looming likelihood of an impending NBA return to Seattle. Which is all well and good . . . except for the fact that the Thunder (nee Sonics) won a championship as anyone who saw in action Jack Sikma, Dennis Johnson, Gus Williams, John Johnson, Lonnie Shelton, Paul Silas and, yes, Downtown Freddie Brown. It’s real. It happened. So, no, it wouldn’t be a first. As for the Pacers, they, too, have been champions previously, winning ABA titles in 1970, ’72 and ’73, with that ’73 roster including standouts such as George McGinnis, Mel Daniels, Freddie Lewis, Darnell Hillman and Roger Brown.
NEW ERA: With Thunder-Pacers the first time the NBA has featured a Finals with two teams in the luxury-tax era not in the tax, Heat icon Udonis Haslem said he sees it as part of a personnel next wave. At the Finals in his television role, Haslem said on his The OGs podcast with former Heat teammate Mike Miller that days such as his time with the Heat’s Big Three of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh are a thing of the past. “I really do think we are entering the era of parity,” Haslem said. “I think the talent is getting better. I think it’s getting harder to put together super teams because of the money, the taxes, and all these different things. We were just on ESPN the other day, and we were talking about putting together super teams. The conversation was talking about where Giannis (Antetokounmpo) would go, and a lot of people were saying a lot of these different teams. We talked about certain teams having three players. Back in the day, when I was able to do it with the Miami Heat, we had LeBron, Chris Bosh, and Wade, and we were still able to find a way to sign myself and different guys. It’s just not capable of happening anymore.”
CAMP TIME: The Heat again will be holding youth camps run by former Heat coach and broadcaster Tony Fiorentino throughout the summer. Jaime Jaquez Jr. will kick off the sessions with visits to Slam Miami High School and Cooper City High School on Tuesday. The second-year forward will participate in a Q&A with campers, take individual photos and sign autographs during the events. Age range for campers is 7-17, with registration and details at JrHEAT.com.
NUMBER
$100,000. Winner-take-all prize for former Heat forward Michael Beasley in his Friday night one-on-one game Friday against fellow former NBA player Lance Stephenson in a pay-per-view event. Amid their rivalry and friendship over one-on-one superiority ahead of their teaming on the Miami entry in the Big3 halfcourt circuit, Beasley won 31-21.
Continue reading...
