Views from the Couch- The Heat Implode

Goodbye Wade :(

Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports

     The Miami Heat have had a rough offseason. They missed out on Kevin Durant, lost Luol Deng, and lost Joe Johnson. Things couldn't have gotten worse, right? WRONG! Heat fans experienced their worst offseason since LeBron ditched (sorry I meant left) them for Cleveland. Dwyane Wade left them. Read it again; it's not a typo. Pat Riley let the best player in Heat history leave for his hometown Bulls. Why? Wade felt insulted by the Heat prioritizing Hassan Whiteside and Durant over him. Add in the fact that he was not getting his desired contract, and Wade decided that he had enough and signed with Chicago. This was a major blow to the Heat, losing their Franchise Centerpiece to the Bulls. 

     So with the departure of Wade, where do the Heat turn? Well Pat Riley, the GM of the Heat, has gone on a free agent spending spree picking up bargain free agents like Wayne Ellington (2yr $12 million) , James Johnson, and Willie Reed. They then proceeded to match Tyler Johnson's contract. This is the Heat's lineup next season:

     This is a solid rotation despite the loss of Wade that could potentially sneak into the playoffs as at best a 5 seed. Though it would be in the Heat's best interest to tank for a high pick due to the presence of the Warriors, they still seem as if they are adamant about rebuilding. Rebuilding isn't a bad thing. Though in the present, there is not much success to be had. Yet rebuilding sets up the future. Look at teams like the Warriors. They used to be terrible five years ago and Curry kept getting injured to the point where some wondered if his career would be similar to that of Derrick Rose or Tracy McGrady (what if they didn't get injured....). So the Warriors rebuilt for the future and ended up building a great team through drafting (Draymond in the second round) and free agency (Iguodala and now Durant). It's important to keep in mind that not every team that rebuilds ends up like the Warriors. But that still should not stop Riley and the Heat from rebuilding. This is the best year to do so because after that, they traded all of their picks away. So why not try and get a high lottery pick? The Heat could definitely use some young talent considering Bosh's health situation and Dragic's age. Riley's job is to do what's best for the team and execute it. Therefore, Pat Riley must rebuild this team so they can be back to their winning ways as soon as possible.

In Other News

Goodbye Tim Duncan....forever

Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports

     Tim Duncan aka "The Big Fundamental" has retired from the NBA after 19 seasons in the NBA. Drafted in 1997 out of Wake Forest, Duncan quickly showed to NBA fans that he was the real deal earning an All-Star berth and All-NBA 1st Team in his ROOKIE year. Duncan won 5 championships (3 Finals MVP's) and was a 2x MVP and a 15x All Star. He is, no doubt, the best PF in NBA history. This has been a tough year for long time NBA fans like me. Seeing two legends in Duncan and Kobe retire is devastating. He will be missed not only by Spurs fans but also by NBA fans. I wish him luck in his post-career endeavors.

Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

     Giancarlo Stanton of the Miami Marlins won the 2016 Home Run Derby beating Todd Frazier in the finals 20-13. I do not know much about baseball personally. So the only thing I know Stanton for is signing the richest contract in sports history (13 years $325 million) and...uh...getting hit in the face by a baseball. That was quite frankly the most disturbing thing I had seen in sports since Kevin Ware. This is depressing. Let's move on.

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NBA

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Written by

TheSportsPhanatic

TSP

Original Takes and News by an Original Fellow

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