Here's the thing that the Heat, players and staff and organization will get to at some point, is how great their season was because they weren't supposed to be here entering the season.

It was supposed to be the Bucks or the Raptors again.

Or the Celtics.

Hell, maybe even the Sixers.

But here they were six games in the NBA Finals, and they lose some of the greatest players in the history off the game.

How would you put into perspective their season?

Yeah, I think, first of all, when you're listening to those comments from Erik Spoelstra to me, those comments are coming from a guy that is the absolute cream of the crop.

When you talk about coaches in the n b A.

I think he is the top guy right now, particularly when you look at this roster.

This was not a championship roster, Mike.

You're 100% right.

This team started to grow on me when I saw them In the restart.

You could see that they were different.

Some of their younger players were even more mature, more confident as to restart began because a lot of these guys, you know, This was their first season under their belt that was cut short when you take 34 months off.

It was almost as if they were starting a year on brand new season with a year of experience under their belt.

It wasn't like a continuation on the same season.

So that's when I started to see a team that was super connected, a team that absolutely trust each other.

There is good at help her recover defensively as any team in the league.

They shoot it as well as any TV lead.

They passed it as well as any team.

They're just one star short Mike, in my opinion, from being right there and maybe not even a star.

Maybe, just, you know, very good toe all star caliber level players, somebody else offensively that could get their shot against the type of defense you saw in this Siri's.

I think that's all they're missing because some of these young players have now elevated themselves where you can see this team going forward now differently than you would have at the start of the season last October.

You find a guy like Kendrick Nunn Undrafted Makes all Rookie Team runner up for Rookie of the Year Duncan Robinson goes from a Division three player to one of the absolute best shooters in the league.

Tyler Hero is a guy that now looks to me like Could be an all star in the future.

Bam!

Out of bio is now on All Star.

So this is a group that has grown exponentially, and they have absolutely, firmly planted themselves in the mix when you go forward in the top of the Eastern Conference.

And no one thought that about this team going into the season.

I had him as a five seed going into the season coming into the restart.

I didn't know if they were gonna get past the first round, but once they did, I picked them to win the next to Siri's.

I thought they could get to the finals just based on the eyeball test mic on how well this team plays together and how well they are coached.

So I think Erik Spoelstra hit on the head a lot with what he talked about this group and how close they became during this experience, and there's a lot more to be heard for the Miami Heat going forward.

I think we're gonna look at them differently at the start of next season, whenever that may be.

By the way, for those of you just joined us, we will hear from LeBron James Anthony Davis at all with the Lakers coming up a little bit later here on SportsCenter.

But one more point about the Heat, Tim and some of the things you laid out sort of brings me to this question.

Because when Shaq first went there after you left the Lakers in 2004 became a destination.

When LeBron and Chris Bosh went there to join Dwyane Wade for another title run, it became another destination team in the league.

Now that Jimmy Butler has elevated this team to this position, what type of destination is Miami as it relates to getting those additional players you're talking about as early as this year?

Excuse me this offseason to make another title run in 21 right?

You laid out two great examples of when they were destinations for teams that were on the brink of winning a championship, and they added the right piece and they were able to do that.

But every year we talk about Miami is a destination for free agents, and usually it's based on the climate, right, and we talked a lot about South Beach and those kinds of things, and it seems like he'd always in the mix.

Well, now you have another group where the destination now becomes something we talk about because you can win a championship there as they have done in the past.

And I think what you saw out of this group and what Erik Spoelstra got this team to do and the way that they played.

If you don't love the way the Miami Heat play, that you just don't understand the game of basketball, because when I watch them play, I see a group of guys that absolutely no, they could look each other in the eye and they can count on each other to be there for them.

As teammates.

Defensively, the ball will get moved to the open guy when it's supposed to.

That builds trust, and when you're watching that from afar and whether you're a star player, role player, all star, whatever it may be, you watch that style of play.

You absolutely look at that and say That is something that I want to buy into because those guys won.

They look like they really like each other.

They're having fun, going to work every day.

You know, they're exceptionally well coached, and there's something about playing in that style where, you know, you walk in that locker room and you can trust the people around you.

That's what players air looking for, ultimately, so you're 100% right.

They should be at the top of any destination for a free agent because that player could make a difference and put them back on top of the NBA champions.

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