ASK IRA: Is Miami Heat’s loss the Orlando Magic’s Jamal Cain gain?
Q: Ira, you and everyone who works for the Heat are so quick to point to their developmental success. But if they’re so good at identifying prospects, then how did they let Jamal Cain get away? He’s in the playoffs and they’re not. – Brad.
A: (First, I do not work for the Heat, I just take their free drinks and cookies at halftime.) As for the success Jamal Cain is having with the Magic this postseason, it simply is a universal NBA story that not every developmental success story becomes your own success story. The Magic, for example, started the season with a pair of former Heat prospects on their roster on two-way contracts, in Jamal Cain and Orlando Robinson . Jamal paid off; Orlando didn’t. But also understand that there is a limit of three two-way players at a time per team (previously two) and among those the Heat have had on two-way deals since Jamal have been Dru Smith , Keshad Johnson and Myron Gardner . And the Heat certainly have gotten plenty right over the years in the two-way process, including Duncan Robinson , Max Strus , Gabe Vincent , Derrick Jones Jr. and Caleb Martin .
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Q: Ira, do you see the Heat keeping Keshad Johnson? He is obviously athletic, as evidenced by him winning the slam-duck contest this year. He is what the Heat need as far as being a young, athletic wing who demonstrates good rebounding. Do you see any future development with him? – Barry, Deerfield Beach.
A: I would not overstate winning t he NBA All-Star Weekend dunk contest , considering Matt McClung has won the dunk contest three times and has yet to gain an NBA foothold. That said, at the veteran minimum, a team could do far worse than Keshad Johnson as a 13th, 14th or 15th man. The presumption is the Heat bypass a qualifying offer, moving him from restricted to unrestricted free agent, and then offer to bring him back at the veteran minimum. If he can get more elsewhere, then the Heat can look at it as helping foster that career of yet another undrafted developmental project.
Q: A lot of people seem to think an overhaul is just a switch you flip, as if anyone can just “overhaul” their team and make it better. But they seem to forget that you’d need other teams to play along. Flipping your players for high first-round picks isn’t just something you can do when you decide to. Perhaps we fans need to understand that there’s not always a move out there that makes your team better. – Aram, Raleigh, N.C.
A: This is why there is such a debate about the lottery, because it is the lone makeover mechanism you totally can control, unlike needing a trade partner or cap space or player interest in free agency. And it’s also a matter of, as you cite, what is available for a potential makeover. In the Heat’s case, there apparently were not first-round picks available for Andrew Wiggins and Norman Powell at the trade deadline. So at some point, the return is so minimal as to not even be makeover productive.
