Erik Spoelstra preaches ‘high ceiling’ after failed Giannis trade pursuit

With The Miami Heat have a quiet trade deadline, being the only team in the Eastern Conference that did not make a deal, the franchise looks to finish the season strong, trying to find more consistency. As it is trade rumors swirled around Vručinaespecially regarding the Milwaukee Bucks Giannis Antetokounmpohead coach Erik Spoelstra talked about the team’s prospects.

While fans are angry at the team’s inability to land Antetokounmpo, Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant, or anyone who would even marginally improve the team, Miami is confident of a roster that will turn its fortunes around. Spoelstra, in particular, is confident about the team, saying that with the trade deadline in the rearview mirror, the team can focus on achieving its “high ceiling”, according to The Miami Herald.

“Across the league, I think everybody’s glad that’s all behind us,” Spoelstra said after Friday’s game before tonight’s game against the Boston Celtics. “And we can only focus on the next 30 games. We have big opportunities still ahead of us, we know what we have to work on is our consistency, we have a high bar, but we have to do it more consistently.”

“I think we’ve shown this year that we have a high ceiling. I’ve talked about that quite a bit,” Spoelstra continued. “The fact that we’re third in the league in goals and have a top-six defense shows you where we can go, but we’ve got to be a lot more consistent about that.”

Erik Spoelstra continues to explain why the Heat have a ‘high ceiling’

Although it is trade rumors surrounding the heat never materialized into big deals for Antetokounmpo or Morant, the team didn’t want to risk the team taking a step back. Whether that means trading a veteran for a summer draft asset for Antetokounmpo or making a lateral move that would take time away from Miami’s younger players, the team believes it has a chance to make some noise down the stretch.

The biggest area Spoelstra wants to see cleaned up is their consistency, which doesn’t help that there have been players coming in and out of the lineup with injuries, especially Tyler Herrowho played only 11 games this season.

“Look, some guys missed games. But the bigger thing was just our consistency,” Spoelstra said. “To be able to give our best level more consistently on the road against quality teams, to have more consistent quarters throughout the game. The first quarter, the second quarter, and then this third quarter that we have to do a much better job with.”

“Even with the things that happened to us, we showed that ceiling can be very high,” Spoelstra continued. “If we defend at a high level on any given night, we can blow the doors off offensively. But we have to do that a lot more consistently.”

Either way, it remains to be seen if the Heat can find some consistency that will lead to wins as the first game after Friday’s trade deadline is against the Celtics, as Miami is 27-25, which puts them in eighth place in the Eastern Conference.