ASK IRA: Does uneven East finals tempt or tease when it comes to Heat revival?

Q: Ira, what Knicks-Pacers is showing is what the entire East playoffs have shown me (after Cleveland was blown out and Jayson Tatum went down): The East is not very good and should not be feared by any team, including the Heat. Not saying we’re going to zoom to the top, but as you watch there also is not fear. – Andrew.

A: Which can both tempt and tease. Yes, it’s not as if you’re trying to pass the Jordan Bulls or the LeBron Heat/Cavs. But on the other hand, it’s also not as if the Heat have any type of pathway to a top seed ahead of what already is in place in Cleveland, Indiana, Boston, New York and maybe Detroit and a few others. What you can’t do is delude yourself with the old saws of simply needing to be healthy or being one piece away. Unless a star falls into your lap, you don’t simply go from three years of play-in to homecourt in the latter stages of the playoffs. Yes, regardless of which wins the East, Indiana or New York hardly have cast a long enough shadow to create long-term fear. But the strides of others in the East continue to put distance between themselves and the Heat. That is the real reality.

Q: James Johnson and Thomas Bryant are going to get rings? – Sammie.

A: With one more Pacers victory over the Knicks they’ll at least get that chance in the NBA Finals against the Thunder (who do not have any former Heat players).

Q: Didn’t we already make this mistake? Why would we consider taking on DeMar DeRozan’s contract to clog up our future salary cap (and the paint for that matter) when it didn’t work out before with Kyle Lowry and Terry Rozier? – Camden, Coral Springs.

A: Agree more on your take about clogging the paint, since what the Heat clearly need are more spacing elements. As far as the contract, while DeMar DeRozan is under a fully guaranteed salary of $24.8 million this coming season, his 2026-27 salary is only fully guaranteed for $10 million. Not that that’s nothing, but it’s also manageable if commensurate 2026-27 salary is offloaded in such a deal, with the Heat potentially still having the $30.2 million salary of Andrew Wiggins (player option) on the books for that season. Advocating for the DeRozan trade? Not saying that. Only saying that there could be something to be said about swapping out some of the deck chairs after a 37-45 season.