Kyle Lowry and many of the best players are teammates. He won the NBA championship in Toronto. Five years ago, he helped the United States win an Olympic gold medal. He also played in six All-Star Games.
When he's with players like that, he always sees the same thing.
"They really, really... Good. They're really great," Lowry said.
Lowry insists that talent isn't enough to win games. But talent and intelligence — a combination he believes exists in the Miami Heat — can go a long way for a team, which is why he's chosen to wear his new jersey this time for nearly a decade.
Lowry is Miami's new point guard, forming a trio with Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler, and the Heat hope they will be capable of returning to the championship race.
"He's a great winner," Heat coach Eric Spollstra said of Lowry. "He knows how to get to victory. You can look at all the accolades, he's a player full of honors, all of which he won himself. But when you comb through all of that — the NBA's Best Team, the All-Star Team, the Olympic team, all these things — it really comes down to finding a way to influence the wins, and he does it on both ends of the court. ”
The Heat are just over a year away from the 2020 NBA Finals; The series ends on October 11, 2020. But last year the team never rushed forward as it did that year, but was swept away in the first round by the eventual NBA champion Milwaukee.
As a result, Miami has become tougher this summer. Lowry got it from Toronto in the first deal, sending Goran Dragic to the Raptors. The Heat got rough forwards P.J. Tucker and Markieff as free agents. By renewing his contract with Butler, he ensured he wouldn't leave the Heat, while also retaining top scorer Duncan Robinson on a new contract.
Let's take a look at the current situation of the Heat
Big Contracts: In the past 12 months alone, the Heat have signed more than $500 million in contracts between Laurie, Butler, Adebayor and Robinson. They will be locked up for at least the next three seasons, while Robinson's contract is four seasons and Adebayor is up to five seasons. This locked-in salary makes it difficult for the Heat to continue to play when the deal opens.
Coaches will improve: Spolstra should be in the top 25 of the NBA's all-time champion coaches this season. He currently ranks 27th with 607 wins, six fewer than Mike Dunllivi and 21 fewer than Doug Mo. He is also one of only six coaches to have at least 607 wins, 589 wins and 85 playoff wins, alongside Phil Jackson, Greg Popovich, Red Auerbach, Jerry Sloan and Heat Chairman Pat Riley.
Lowry who can grab the board: Lowry is only 6 feet tall on the roster, although he can give the Heat a rebounding boost this season. Of all the players in NBA history who are no more than 6 feet tall, only Chris Paul has had more rebounds than Lowry. Lowry has averaged 5.2 rebounds per game over the past four seasons, which could help the Heat, which ranked 24th in the NBA last season in rebounds per 100 possessions and 29th in the NBA in total.
Gold Medal Teammates: With Adebayor becoming part of this summer's Tokyo Olympics champion team, the Heat now have three players who can be said to be Olympic champions. Butler and Lowry are teammates of team mates at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics on Team USA. Miami is one of four teams that currently hold at least three gold medals, along with the Los Angeles Lakers, Brooklyn and Golden State Warriors.
Schedule: The start of the season will be intimidating and potentially illustrative of the Heat. Miami started 13 games with 12 different teams, and they won nearly 60 percent of the games last season. The Heat's record for the 12 teams last season was 11-23, and in those games, including the playoffs, the Heat averaged 7.5 points more than the 12 teams. In the game against the Mavericks, Denver, Memphis and los Angeles Clippers, their aggregate score was 0-8. Against other teams last season, the Heat lost 29-13.
After making so many changes, the Heat really had to play a little earlier.