- 6 weeks ago
Host of the 'Locked on Heat' podcast Wes Goldberg joins us to discuss Klay Thompson signing with the Miami Heat! Wes shares his optimism and shock that Klay gave up money to come down to Miami, discusses 'Serbian Bam Adebayo,' offense this season, Chris Paul, and their last roster spots. Wes is now crossing over to the Miami Dolphins as an influencer? He shares his hot takes on Fin's QB's Cam Miller and Quinn Ewers.
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00:00I'm the host of Locked On Heat, Locked On NBA Daily, and that is our friend Wes Gover.
00:05What's going on, Wes? How are you, buddy?
00:07Hey, guys. How you doing?
00:08What's happening?
00:10Ready for Clay Day.
00:11Ready for Clay Day, right?
00:13Well, all right, let's settle. So is this, what's the excitement level that today should be?
00:18Is it like a seven? Is it a 10? Where do you think that today ranks amongst the off-season
00:25days?
00:26Yeah, if, I guess, 10 is a Giannis, then I think this is an eight, right?
00:31I mean, Clay is a high.
00:34You know, we're not talking about how they compare as players, right?
00:38If Giannis is a 10, Clay is probably like a four at this point of his career.
00:41But in terms of excitement, Clay Thompson, very decorated, awesome personality.
00:45Look, he's not getting the full Giannis treatment.
00:48We're not doing the press conference on the basketball court.
00:51It's back in the interview room where most of these things are done.
00:53But it's still Clay Thompson, right?
00:56This is a legend.
00:57This is a future Hall of Famer first ballot.
01:00And, guys, I'm telling you, I think Heat fans are going to love this guy.
01:03He's a great personality.
01:05We are going to laugh at this press conference today.
01:08And he's obviously a perfect fit for this team.
01:10I mean, this is a front office that is clearly going all in with Giannis
01:17in a way that we haven't really seen them go all in before in a very long time.
01:22Were you surprised at the money he gave up?
01:25Because it seemed like the way that he were moving, they were confident this could happen.
01:29But you never know.
01:30It's not really – it wasn't really in their control.
01:32There's a – they had to make sure the Mavericks would bend to the whim and all that.
01:37So what did you make of, I guess, the fallout, how it happened, the money that he took and all
01:41that?
01:42I'm always surprised when players give up money.
01:44I'm just – as a rule, I – even while we were covering this Klay Thompson stuff at Locked On
01:49Heat,
01:49I was saying, like, look, I'll believe that he gives up a bunch of money to get the buyout when
01:53I see it.
01:54And it's not to say that I didn't think it would happen.
01:56Frankly, I did think it was going to happen because all the signs were pointing in that direction.
01:59And the Heat were very confident that this was going to happen.
02:04But you just – I can't count somebody else's money.
02:08I have no idea what they're going to do with it and how they're going to behave.
02:10But the fact that he gave up almost $10 million to accept a buyout out of Dallas
02:14and then took what was initially reported as a $6-plus million deal in this first year
02:19of a two-year deal with a player option on that second year.
02:22And then he clears waivers on Sunday at 5 p.m.
02:25And everybody – I know, Tobin, you were doing the same thing I was, waiting for that tweet.
02:29You know, it's 5 o'clock. He cleared waivers.
02:31When are we getting the official thing? When are we getting the official –
02:33Five hours later almost, it was like 9.50 p.m. we get the official tweet.
02:38And then we get the report that he actually took almost a million dollars less
02:41than what he was initially – what was initially reported.
02:44That was not a reporting mistake.
02:46That was the Miami Heat in those five hours since he cleared waivers
02:50actually talking him down and trying to explain the fact that, hey,
02:53if you actually take a little bit less than what you were already agreeing to take,
02:56where you were already agreeing to take less than what you were going to be making in Dallas,
02:59we can actually sign two players on this roster before opening night instead of just one player.
03:04And Klay Thompson in that live stream a couple weeks ago talked about how he wanted to play a role
03:08for a team that can make a deep playoff run, that he just wants to essentially play in games that
03:12matter again.
03:12He wants to feel alive again, which he obviously was not feeling alive in Dallas after they traded Luka.
03:18And the fact that he put his money where his mouth is, like, I think that gets so much respect.
03:22I think that's so deserving of respect, the fact that he said, you know what?
03:25I'm willing to give up the money. I've made a bunch of money. I've accomplished a lot.
03:28I just want to play in games that matter.
03:30Because most players will say that, as we know, I just want, I want to win, I want to win.
03:35But most, like, the unsaid part of that is, I want to win, but also I want to get paid
03:39all of the money that is coming to me.
03:41Klay is willingly playing money on the table for the betterment of a team that, frankly, he owes nothing to.
03:46He owes nothing to this Heat organization, but he thinks, okay, this is the best way for me to play
03:51on a team that matters again.
03:52So I was surprised by all of it, but obviously, you know, very optimistic about the way it all played
03:59out.
04:00So what do you think about, from his standpoint, I would assume that this means he's probably going to start,
04:06but what do you think this kind of does for the depth of Miami now?
04:09Like, Hardaway was such a big priority for them in the offseason.
04:14I'd imagine now he's kind of going to that six-man or kind of add with both of them at
04:17the same time.
04:19But what do you think this kind of does is the hierarchy of the team now adding him into the
04:22fold?
04:22Yeah, I think this is the super underrated part of the Klay Thompson signing because the Heat had two major
04:27issues prior to getting Klay.
04:29It was spacing and depth.
04:31And I think with one signing, they kind of addressed both in a very meaningful way because all of a
04:36sudden,
04:36Tim Hardaway Jr. goes from overtaxed as a starting two guard to going back to what he was last year
04:41as a six-man-of-the-year finalist, right?
04:43He finished right behind Jaime Hackers Jr. and Kashaad Johnson.
04:48Kendall Johnson.
04:49What's his name?
04:50Holden Johnson.
04:51Yeah, thank you.
04:52Close.
04:52I mean, I do understand how the Keyshawn one got you.
04:55Yeah, yeah.
04:56It's a tough one.
04:58So now all of a sudden, he goes from overtaxed as a starter to back to one of the best
05:02six men in the league.
05:03You've got him and Bobby Portis coming off your bench.
05:05Those are two proven depth pieces.
05:07And then we have Pella Larson, who we all know here is a very good player.
05:11I don't think nationally he's recognized as that, but he will be after this season, 25 national TV games.
05:17People are going to see Pella Larson do more than just get hit in the face here.
05:20So I do think this is suddenly a team that has the spacing that it needed because now you have
05:26one of Klay and Hardaway on the court at all times, I think, ideally.
05:30And then you have, I think, three really good pieces coming off your bench.
05:35And again, two roster spots still to fill.
05:38The Heat are not done yet.
05:39You think Jovic is the X factor, like the wild card that he comes in and he starts playing well
05:46and we're like, look at this team now.
05:48Call him by his new name, though.
05:52Call him by his new name.
05:54Serbian Bam.
05:56Minus one.
05:57He's stopping Weminyama.
05:58I mean, that's two games in a row, Wes.
06:00I don't even know if Bam's done that.
06:04Wes, we need a group session to talk this man off the ledge.
06:11He brags about coming and watching Eurobasket, World Cup friendlies.
06:18It's a great, it was a great game, dude.
06:19I mean, it was a great time.
06:21Wes, when have you ever watched the World Cup friendly that didn't involve the U.S.?
06:25I'm watching World Cup friendlies.
06:27It's on the TV.
06:28It's great.
06:29It's part of the job.
06:30You don't become the host of a locked on NBA daily without daily checking in on two of the best
06:36players in the world facing off.
06:38And the unfortunate thing is he tuned in thinking Joker was the best player, but actually Jovic was the one
06:43who shut down Wemby.
06:44Yeah, you know who was getting back on defense was Jovic.
06:46Exactly, dude.
06:47So, with that being said, is Jovic going to probably make the biggest impact because I don't think anybody's expecting
06:59anything?
07:01I don't know.
07:02I'm certainly, I hope so.
07:04But, look, if there was like an offseason that laid the groundwork for our bounce back season, it would look
07:11like this, right?
07:12With a really promising showing overseas right now, with the fact that they acquired Giannis, who's going to make his
07:18job so much easier.
07:20I mean, so much easier.
07:21If Nico can really just embrace the point fiving, which is what coaches call it when you make a decision
07:28in half a second, dribble, shoot, or pass in half a second.
07:30Make that decision.
07:31Don't take your time with the ball.
07:33Don't mess with it.
07:34Just make a quick decision and move.
07:36If he can really embrace that playing next to Giannis, I think he's in for a real bounce back year.
07:39I don't know that I would call him the X factor because if he doesn't play well, they always have
07:44Bobby Portis, who basically just does all these things at a proven level already.
07:48To me, I think the X factor is actually Davion Mitchell because he's a guy, if he takes a leap
07:54as a playmaker here, running, you know, pick and roll with Giannis and Bam and stuff like that, that's a
07:59position that goes from overlooked to all of a sudden, oh, wait, the Miami Heat have one of the better
08:02two-way point guards in the league.
08:05One of the few point guards in the league who can guard his position in an elite level.
08:07And if he can really, I mean, we're already seeing Davion every day posting Instagram videos, running, you know, screen
08:13and roll actions with some of these big men.
08:15If he can really turn that into something and unlock Giannis and Bam in the half court specifically, that to
08:21me would be the biggest X factor for the Heat this season.
08:24I think that's where they struggled last year.
08:26Like it was fun when they ran and ran and ran and, and then when it kind of got tired
08:32and start giving up a boatload of points and it went to the half court, they struggled, which was weird
08:37for a Heat basketball team to struggle in half court.
08:41They haven't really had a great half court offense since LeBron James left.
08:47I mean, if you really look at the numbers just in the half court, there was a couple of years
08:51of Goran Dragic and then we had the 7-11 year with Dragic and Waiters, which was kind of weirdly
08:56a really good half court offense team.
08:58But what a time.
09:00And now we're here, guys.
09:01Now we have Giannis.
09:02Well, it took a minute, but now we're back.
09:05Do you feel, do you feel like that offense, do you think they're going to bring that back this year?
09:09The, the, the no pick and rolls type of thing?
09:12Because it kind of felt like by the end of the year, it didn't feel like a lot of the
09:15players loved it.
09:16But, you know, I get, you know, Giannis could kind of flourish and something like that.
09:20Do you feel like that's something they'll go back to this year?
09:24I think they're going to bring back elements of it.
09:26But I like to remind people, Eric Spolstra implemented that system, not because he has some sort of irrational hatred
09:32of pick and roll.
09:33He brought the system in because he thought it was, it was a gimmick.
09:36It was the last way that we could actually juice an offense that had been in the bottom 10 in
09:39offensive rating for five straight years.
09:41And he was like, okay, everything else isn't working.
09:44The Heat did not have a great pick and roll ball handler.
09:47Like who in that team was operating out of pick and roll?
09:49Like nobody was good at it.
09:51And so he's like, well, if we're not going to be good at it, then why are we going to
09:53run it?
09:53So he ran this gimmick offense last year.
09:56It worked for a little bit.
09:57It didn't, you know, I actually do think it worked just because they didn't finish in the top 10 in
10:01offensive rating.
10:02They ended up finishing outside of the bottom 10, which to me is a successful year.
10:05I think they maxed it out.
10:07But I do think you want to bring elements in terms of the strategic running off of rebounds.
10:13I think that's huge for this team.
10:15It's going to be huge for Giannis, obviously.
10:17I think you're going to bring back a lot of the off-ball movement and the spacing principles in terms
10:22of constant movement around the arc.
10:24But you're going to run pick and roll.
10:26I can guarantee you we will see a lot more pick and roll this year than we did last year.
10:30Because in part, that's what Giannis wants to do.
10:33And that's what Bam wants to do.
10:34Bam wants to set a really hard screen on the perimeter and then step into a free throw line jumper.
10:39Davion Mitchell and everybody else that he's going to have to play with is going to have to nail that
10:42pocket pass to Bam.
10:44Giannis, on the other hand, does not set hard screens.
10:46He doesn't want to.
10:47He wants to set kind of a ghost screen at the top, slip really quick, and then start running to
10:52the basket.
10:53And they're going to have to – whoever's running pick and roll with Giannis is going to have to get
10:57used to that because it's a very different kind of rhythm than the one with Bam.
11:00That, to me, is the thing that could take a little bit of time at the beginning of the year
11:03to get used to.
11:04The timing might be a little bit off simply because he's going to be a lot farther than you expect.
11:10Exactly.
11:10It's all the timing, right?
11:11But as soon as they get that timing down, then I think they're cooking with gas.
11:17So you mentioned about the contract to Klay Thompson.
11:19So this leaves them some flexibility.
11:22What intrigues you?
11:23What do you think they should do with those last roster spots?
11:25Do you think they use them both?
11:26What is the most, I guess, useful thing that's still out there that they could get?
11:31I do think they end up using them both.
11:33I don't know that both players that they signed to these two contracts will have guaranteed contracts.
11:38We'll see.
11:39I guess that kind of comes down to the negotiations part of it.
11:42Nick Richards has the inside track, right?
11:44He's around the Miami Heat facility.
11:45I do think there's some mutual interest there.
11:47I don't think, to me, don't get cute with these moves.
11:50Like, these are guys that are not going to be part of your every night rotation.
11:53These are going to be break glass in case of emergencies.
11:55Think about where this team needs bodies right now.
11:58They need another center on the roster.
12:01I think they know that.
12:02So go get Nick Richards.
12:03And if it's not Richards, it's just somebody.
12:05I really don't care who it is.
12:07And then probably another ball handler, I would think.
12:11Because if Davion Mitchell gets hurt, and if Drew Smith gets hurt again, this team is all of a sudden
12:16very, very short on guys who could just bring the ball up and get them into their offense.
12:21So I would probably go with those two spots.
12:23It's very tempting to get cute.
12:24Like, I floated the idea on Locked on Heat.
12:26Like, couldn't you call Chris Paul and talk him out of retirement?
12:30Like, could you do something like that?
12:31Could you go after, like, a Jonathan Kaminga and say, like, hey, we're kind of short on youth, making me
12:36make a talent play, even though there's not an obvious need for him?
12:38I just, I don't think you'd get cute.
12:40Just get a couple of bodies, dudes who are going to be okay not playing every single night, but who
12:44will be there and, you know, can be professional and be available if you need them.
12:47And if you play for the Miami Heat, you're going to be part of an eight-man rotation because everybody's
12:52hurt for at least five or six games during the course of a year.
12:55And Spoh actually does a good job of, like, hey, if you've had a good week, you know, in film
12:59and in walkthroughs and stuff, like, I'll get you some minutes in January, February, March.
13:04Like, he'll do that kind of thing, too.
13:07Chris Paul does a, that would be fun, but I feel like he's a pain in everybody's ass.
13:10It would be.
13:13Like, Chris Paul, listen.
13:14Names are fun.
13:15I love Chris Paul, but Chris Paul can't be on your roster.
13:18He's a grumpy old man.
13:19Why not?
13:21Every roster needs a, needs a curmudgeon.
13:23One, one little point there, Davion Mitchell admires Chris Paul.
13:28They have had dinner before in the past, and Chris Paul has sort of taught Davion Mitchell some of the
13:32things.
13:32It would be kind of cool to get CP3 in the building and just be like, hey, your job is
13:36to mentor Davion Mitchell.
13:38Right, right.
13:39He did a Shay.
13:42Say it again?
13:43Make him a coach.
13:44Isn't he going to go, like, run the Lakers or something like that?
13:46I thought, like, the new Lakers owner is, like, close with him.
13:49Something like that.
13:49But I kind of like this.
13:51It's off the wall.
13:52It's not D'Angelo Russell.
13:53I like this.
13:54It is not D'Angelo Russell.
13:56That's for sure.
13:57Yeah, for sure.
13:58So you're doing some, you're doing some stuff with the Dolphins now, man?
14:00What do you, what do you got going on with, with, with Lockdown and the Dolphins?
14:04Yeah, thanks for asking.
14:05So we already have, I, I host Lockdown Heat, which is a daily podcast, 30 minutes every day, Monday through
14:10Friday, postgame shows.
14:11And we already have a Dolphins show that does that too.
14:14Kyle Krabs does a great job.
14:15He's on the Joe Rose show all the time.
14:16Um, but, uh, they were, we recently expanded to do these short kind of content bursts, like little five minute
14:25videos on YouTube and then like 60 second shorts on, you know, the places where those lists live.
14:30Uh, and so I'm doing that.
14:32So I'm, I'm less, I'm less, uh, Dolphins podcast or maybe more Dolphins influencer as cringe as that is to
14:39say, but that's sort of the, that's sort of the deal.
14:41Uh, Finn's Finn fluid, sir.
14:43Yeah.
14:43That's great.
14:44I'll take a minute.
14:45I apologize.
14:46Why?
14:47Workshop.
14:48Why do you always get mad at me?
14:52This, by the way, Wes, every day, this is every day.
14:56He just trying to find the bit he's shooting from half court with five seconds left.
15:00What's the hottest Finn's take you got right now?
15:02What is a, what is the, is it, do you, do you like half Lee?
15:05Do you, are you, did the Chris Bell beat signs?
15:07Like, what's the thing that you're just like after three weeks of preseason practices?
15:11Like, this is the thing that I, I, uh, I'm really passionate about.
15:15That's a good question.
15:16Cause it's hard to be passionate about this team.
15:18Cause they played one, they, we have one 94 yard drive, I think is the greatest drive in Miami Dolphins.
15:23It was great already.
15:24Like the way that it's being talked about right now.
15:26If we just end the season now, I'd be like, look, that was, that was pretty good.
15:29Um, I think Cam Miller is better than Quinn yours.
15:32I don't know if that's a hot take.
15:33Ooh, I like that.
15:34I liked him.
15:35I thought he had, I thought he was, uh, I love, I love the run and I loved him.
15:39I think it's, it's, it's more along the lines of how relaxed and comfortable a player looks playing a position
15:48because then at that point we can teach him and he can improve.
15:52But if you're skittish in the pocket and you're awkward and you're uncomfortable, we got to get that out of
15:58you first before we even get you to like, look downfield and do these things.
16:02And, and Quinn sometimes come across as being very skittish.
16:07Well, Leroy, let me ask you, how much does it matter where, how bad, uh, Cam was in that first
16:13game compared to being pretty average in that second game?
16:16Um, that's a big improvement to be horrible to average.
16:19Do coaches look at that and say, oh, well, this guy has a capacity for improvement within a week.
16:25Like that, I feel pretty good about being able to coach this guy for a season.
16:28Um, there, there's a couple of things that you, you learn when you take that next step up.
16:34One, the time that you have shrinks, right?
16:39And so every quarterback looks a little uneasy when they first get in there, whether it's preseason, whether it's whatever,
16:47because you're so used to doing it in practice where the guy doesn't drive by, but he doesn't touch you.
16:51And then you get in the game and those same bodies are close and you're like, whew, that was quick.
16:57So sometimes you get a little skittish.
16:59It's good to see that in the second week, he almost looked more relaxed.
17:06He was more aware of his clock and he knew when to take off, when to look for plays or
17:12whatever.
17:12The next step is, Hey, don't just take off and run.
17:17Keep your eyes down the field.
17:18There's a lot of plays to be made when everybody leaves their guy to come tackle you because you've shown
17:23you can run.
17:25And, and some quarterbacks kind of move into that very smoothly and others like they, how can I put it?
17:35It's the JJ McCarthy thing, right?
17:39JJ McCarthy looks like the prototypical quarterback.
17:42He drops back.
17:43He has the ball perfectly.
17:44He throws the ball well, but he can't play quarterback at this point.
17:49And some guys just naturally play the position.
17:53And then you work with all the other stuff.
17:55Cam looks like naturally, he looks like he knows what's going on.
18:00Now we just got to speed up his clock, get him looking in the right spots.
18:03But I don't get that feeling with Quinn.
18:06Quinn still looks like he's trying to work on his footwork, get his arm, you know,
18:10and robotic, right, right, right.
18:14I like it, man.
18:15Great take.
18:16Wes Goldberg, go check out his work.
18:18Locked on heat.
18:18Locked on Dolphins hit.
18:20Locked on NBA.
18:21You need help.
18:22NBA daily.
18:23You need help with the football.
18:24You call me.
18:25I need help with the basketball and the clay questions.
18:28I'll call you.
18:29Done deal.
18:30All right.
18:30As long as you admit it's clay day.
18:34We'll see you, buddy.
18:35Thank you so much.
18:36Thanks, Wes.
18:36See you later.