ASK IRA: Should salary explosion create pause for NBA, and for Heat with Lillard?
Q: NBA max salaries are arcing to the stratosphere. Should astute general managers beware? Case in point: Portland, with Damian Lilliard, age 33, owed nearly $200 million over the next four years, leaving only one team, the Heat, with realistic interest. Should GMs take Portland’s Lillard situation as a cautionary tale? – Michael, Hollywood.
A: By the numbers? Yes. In NBA reality? No. These teams all know what might stand ahead as players age. But they also want to win, and win now, and know replacing talent is far more difficult than dealing with what already is in place. So did Boston overpay for Jaylen Brown? There certainly is an argument there. But if they lost him, what would have been the alternative? Ditto with the Lakers’ mega-contract decision with Anthony Davis. Same for when the Trail Blazers extended Damian Lillard. And for the Heat, is there a better option now or in the near future than Lillard, even at his age and with his contract?
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Q: You have mentioned that Jaime Jaquez Jr. is a “ready now” rookie. I would have to say that is still to be determined. Just wondering what are your expectations for him as a rookie? Do you think he can have as much of an impact or get the minutes that Max Strus and Gabe Vincent had? – Joel.
A: First, “ready now” is relative more to the fact that he has had four years of college experience at UCLA and is 22. So if not now, then when? Expectations, though, could come down to where the roster stands and if there is a trade for Damian Lillard. Should the Heat, say, deal out both Tyler Herro and Kyle Lowry in a Dame deal, then a spot would open in the perimeter rotation. As for assuming a role along the lines of those previously held by Max Strus and Gabe Vincent, I would see it more along the lines of the roles of those two when they first joined the Heat, as opposed to their statures in the NBA Finals.
Q: Ira, don’t you find it kind of refreshing that Pat Riley accepted blame/responsibility for Dwyane Wade leaving the Heat? That is, it seems to me, what real leaders do. In this case, the error was corrected and these two stubborn men are now “joined at the hip.” – Bill, Palm Beach Gardens.
A: I think it was more an organizational blame than any particular member of ownership or management. But, as Dwyane Wade knows, this is a business, and at times hard business decisions have to be made. At the time Dwyane left, the Heat were in a tough spot with Hassan Whiteside coming off a record statistical run and having previously been forced into a contract corner with Chris Bosh, one created, in part, by the agent that Chris and Dwyane shared. Sometimes circumstances create choices, hard choices, perhaps regrettable choices. So if there is true remorse, I believe it is more in retrospect. I’m still not sure the approach necessarily would have been much different in that moment. Don’t kid yourself, among the reasons LeBron James left in 2014 was the perception of Dwyane’s skills diminishing as he aged. And the reality is that Dwyane never again was quite the same player after the run with the Big Three.
