ASK IRA: Hurt feelings? Get over it, report, do your job
Q: If Damian Lillard is traded to another team besides the Heat, should Tyler Herro request a trade? It seems clear that the Heat front office, coaching staff and Jimmy Butler do not see him as a difference maker. So why should Tyler try to fit into a team where he’s not wanted? – Oscar, Miami Beach.
A: Says who? Because you read rumors and gossip from some click-hunting trolls? In fact, while knowing that the timing of such an agreement would take Tyler Herro out of play for a trade last season, the Heat nonetheless still went ahead and extended their four-year, $120 million guaranteed extension before last season, one that kicks in this season. That hardly sounds like a franchise giving up on a player. It sounds more like a franchise willing to give a lot of money to a player (plus the chance for more, due to accompanying incentives). This is a team that has traded Glen Rice, Steve Smith, Rony Seikaly, Tim Hardaway, Eddie Jones, Shaquille O’Neal and Goran Dragic. It happens. But it also is a team that did right by those players until those trades, and a team that even has brought back some who had been dealt away. The only thing that has changed is social media, which also tends to distort the reality of situations. If you can’t deal with rumors, scuttlebutt and innuendo, then you’re probably not in the right business. But if you enjoy the game, the lifestyle and the pay, then you accept that ancillary distractions as the price of having created an NBA identity. When your name has been linked to Kevin Durant and Damian Lillard, then you hardly are in an undesirable place. Trolls will be trolls. But players at the NBA level need to be pros. Now, when Tyler Herro says he will refuse to cash a Miami Heat paycheck, then we will have a story worthy of click hunting.
Q: Ira, I think the loss of Gabe Vincent will hurt us the most if we don’t get Damian Lillard. Tyler Herro is a great player I think, but putting him at point guard limits his offensive game. – Erik, Plantation.
A: I find ironic that the Heat get eviscerated for overpaying developmental projects such as Duncan Robinson, but then also get eviscerated for failing to meet the market for players such as Gabe Vincent and Max Strus. I enjoyed Gabe Vincent very much as person and player, and appreciated his journey. But as with Max Strus, I also can appreciate setting a line. As it was, the Heat came awfully close to the numbers Gabe got from the Lakers. But that also is why you have cost analysis, so you can set a line. Wish Gabe well. But also appreciate it is not as if the Heat moved on from Stephen Curry or Luka Doncic at the point.
Q: Hi, Ira. What are the chances that Joe Cronin’s ego makes him trade Damian Lillard to another team even for a worse deal than Miami’s? In that scenario, could he be overruled by the rest of the front office and ownership? – Eddie.
A: First, I don’t see that happening. This is all about leverage. But also appreciate that what one executive considers a better deal might not be the view of another. So if Joe Cronin takes a deal that is perceived as lesser than what is learned the Heat ultimately offered, it could be that it was the view of Cronin and the rest of the Blazers’ front office that what Portland received was superior. Also, however, appreciate that what is reported as having been offered is not always what has been offered. It’s almost, amid this social-media era, where there is the expectation by fans that they have a right to know everything that goes on in their team’s house.