Goran Dragic and the Miami Heat are stuck in a weird middle area. They did not re-sign their franchise star Dwyane Wade and he took his talents to his hometown team, the Chicago Bulls. On top of that, they did not clear Chris Bosh to return to the team stemming from an issue with his blood clots. His time with the team is all but officially done.
The team lost their two biggest star veterans in Bosh and Wade but they did retain two young pieces with good potential in Hassan Whiteside and Tyler Johnson. Still, there is not much optimism in the Heat this season. Many have predicted the Heat to completely miss the playoffs entirely. A dramatic fall from their second round appearance last season.
Goran Dragic is the one player who Heat fans can try to rest their hopes on. Dragic is the captain of the Miami Heat ship and he even recently expressed some excitement about being the new leader of the team. So when rumors of his displeasure with the organization started to arise, the former All-NBA point guard took it upon himself to crush those pesky rumblings.
Following from Ira Winderman of the Miami Sun-Sentinel.
“He asked me that question: Didn’t I sign to be part of a great team, championship team? I said, ‘Yeah, of course.’ Then I said sometimes your career, this is business, you cannot have every decision go the way you want it on your own. This is a team decision. Sometimes you need to do two steps back to go one step forward. I’m happy to be here. This is the team that I want to be here. But I understand this is business.”
Dragic said he was surprised how his words were misconstrued across social media, including some posts in his native Slovenia tongue.
“I don’t have any comments about not wanting to be here,” he said. “That is nonsense.”
…
“It’s not even close,” he said. “I’m happy here. This is the team that I want to be part of. And I feel great. I feel comfortable. We are building something here that is totally new, but I have a lot of confidence that we’re going to succeed, because we have a lot of young talent that is working hard. I feel awesome.”
The “Heat Nation” fans are very, very passionate and also very insane when it comes to their players on social media. Some take things a little too far very often and this might be another case of a simple thing gone bad. I doubt Dragic wants to get traded, especially with a team that is actually his to run. No other point guards in his way and no other ‘franchise faces’ taking up his backcourt. He’s runs the team now and has a potentially great partner in Hassan Whiteside to do it with.
Dragic and Whiteside might be the best thing going with the Miami Heat right now but it might not be a bad thing. The only concern is how good can they be? As it currently stands, it might not be enough to make the playoffs but having solid starters at the point guard, wing and center set up a good foundation for a summer of potentially big free agents.
