ASK IRA: Is Cavaliers’ blueprint worth emulation, or too much pain for such Heat gain?

Q: A tale of two teams. Both had to recover after LeBron James left. What did Cleveland do that the Heat obviously did not do?  – Bob, Davie.

A: Lost and lost and lost, just like Cleveland did when LeBron James left the Cavaliers the first time. In the first three years after LeBron left Cleveland in the 2018 offseason for the Lakers, the Cavaliers went 19-63, 19-46 (pandemic shortened) and 22-50 (also pandemic shortened). Draft picks such as Collin Sexton, Darius Garland, Isaac Okoro and Evan Mobley followed. By contrast, after LeBron left the Heat in the 2014 offseason to make his return to Cleveland, the Heat went 37-45, 48-34, 41-41 and 44-38, and dared to remain competitive. In hindsight, you can contend the Heat should have or at least could have tanked. But who exactly wants to sit through seasons of 19, 19 and 22 wins, even if for the greater good?

Q: Well Saturday’s loss was kind of a reflection of the season. Sometimes they are engaged and playing hard and sometimes they aren’t. I am hoping that they make the changes necessary in the offseason to come back with a group that consistently provides effort. I am good with whoever needs to be traded to make that happen, even if it has to be a former Kentucky player. – Ron, Columbus, Ohio.

A: Clearly something needs to be done. But let’s also not lose sight of the competition. The Cavaliers are a good-to-great opponent. Had the Heat been able to avoid the Jimmy Butler mess, they might have been able to avoid such a first-round matchup. For as ugly as it has been for the Heat over these three games, the Cavaliers have made the Heat look even worse. It would not look this bad against, say, the Knicks, Pacers or Bucks. That is why the regular season matters.

Q: After reading your  article about different scenarios to trade for a so-called whale, I came to the conclusion that it is not going to happen. The Heat do not have enough quality players  that other teams would want to get back in a trade.  Now if they hadn’t made the playoffs and had two first-round picks maybe it would work. – Joel.

A: Disagree. It’s the level of what they are willing to offer, which could include Kel’el Ware, or even possibly Tyler Herro in some permutations. Plus, they only owe one additional first-round pick elsewhere after this draft. So they could offer players and multiple first-round picks. The package is there. The question is whether other teams find such a package appealing. And, as I wrote, that could come down to the desperation elsewhere.