If the Heat are getting ‘bored’, what does that say about the Heat? – News from Mercury

Q: Ira, I was listening to the radio on the way home, so I don’t know if you asked the question, but Jimmy Butler shook me up when he said the Heat had a terrible first half before getting bored. – Ian.

A: Not going to lie, I wanted to double check later to make sure I heard correctly. Jimmy Butler’s response to how the Heat can be so indifferent in the first half against the Knicks and so different in the second half was: “We really got bored with the process and I can’t say why. We play hard and sometimes we come back into the game like tonight and sometimes we don’t. And, yes, while frankness is appreciated, the truth is also revealing. How can a team seemingly now stuck in the play-in round get “bored” going in with five defeats in their previous six games? Boredom is the lack of motivation. How did the Miami Heat get here? I really wonder what Pat Riley’s reaction was when he heard that. Apparently, it’s one of the most non-Heat things ever. Boredom is not the heat of a playoff race. It’s being done for the season before the calendar rolls out in May.

Q: With Duncan Robinson, Kyle Lowry and Victor Oladipo’s bad contracts, is a rebuild in order? If so, who stays and who leaves? With the brief window left for Jimmy Butler, I don’t think he can get a championship with the Heat. – Bob, Boca Raton.

A: The problem with bad contracts is that you have to add sweeteners to throw them away, as was the case with Dewayne Dedmon’s second-round pick in the Spurs trade. So the question is whether it’s wise to use the team’s limited capital simply to offload. In many ways, this is like chasing bad money with more bad money. This is where the extension clause could potentially come into play, but even that undermines his long-term salary cap. You usually pay a price after making mistakes. The question then is whether you are willing to pay an additional price to clean up these errors.

Q: The wife and I have watched every game since Tim Hardaway and Alonzo Mourning. This year looks like last year’s burnout. How do we get our gains and mojo back? – Jim, Bentonville, Arca.

A: Updating the list. Now whether that can be accomplished is another story.

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