Miami Heat Hot Topics: All-Star Weekend, Jae Crowder, & …Joel Embiid?

The Miami Heat have been very busy over the last week or so, but that’s ok. It gives us a lot to chew on until they get back on the court Thursday.

Fresh off the All-Star Weekend, the Miami Heat should be feeling pretty good about where they are as individuals and as a unit. The reigning NBA skills competition titleholder and a first-time All-Star in Bam Adebayo plays for them. The reigning dunk contest champion also plays his professional hoops in Miami.

With the eventful last week or so though, they will get the next few days off to rest up, an actual break. Luckily for us, they have had a ton going on over the last week or so, which gives us plenty to think on and ponder about. Let’s dive into some of the stories from over the last few days.

Did Derrick Jones Jr. unfairly win the Slam Dunk Contest because of Dwyane Wade?

The Miami Heat’s Derrick Jones Jr. was in a showdown for the ages with fellow aerial assault artist Aaron Gordon of the Orlando Magic. They both had crazy dunks in the first round that would see them advance to the second round of the contest, although both Gordon’s first-round dunks were given a score of 50 while DJJ’s were not.

As they both dunked to perfect scores of 50 on both of their second-round dunks, they went on to have a “dunk off” for the title. Airplane Mode eventually won, but not without controversy.

To give depth to the controversy in just a few words, Dwyane Wade was one of the judges. Now we have a good old fashion basketball whodunnit?

Miami Heat invade & eviscerate All-Star competitions

As mentioned above, Derrick Jones Jr. was the slam dunk champion, but are we really surprised? He practically gets a perfect 50 on a game to game occasion and this is off in-game fiascos. We knew he had the stuff to win it, but seeing him do it was just that much more glorious.

Bam Adebayo was a treat to watch as well. He has been displaying that skill level for a long time and at the highest of levels this season, as he was on Saturday night.

Duncan Robinson gave a valiant effort but was unable to come up as big as his Miami Heat teammates. He was up against a slew of real marksmen as well though, which obviously didn’t help his case. Still, however, it was a successful night for Miami.

Jae Crowder..nothing else needed.

Jae Crowder came over from the Memphis Grizzlies as apart of the trade that sent Justise Winslow away for what was supposed to be a package with Andre Iguodala as the centerpiece, but boy was that wrong. While Iggy still will be a great piece, addition, and move by Pat Riley,  because of Crowder’s impact, his cost in that deal, and his overall versatility, he could end up being the best part of that deal.

Jae Crowder has been playing lights out since arriving in South Beach and it has us wondering. Should they start to pry about the cost to possibly keep Crowder around beyond this year?

Obligatory participation in Embiid nonsense … but hypothetically … does he fit?

Joel Embiid expressed a bit of displeasure with his situation in Philadephia recently, in the immediate week prior to the All-Star break, with at least some of the blame aimed specifically at how the fans were responding to him. Being the kind of guy that he is, Embiid took to social media to express himself.

After posting several different posts on several different platforms, he eventually found himself in an exchange with Jimmy Butler. That led to speculation. You know what kind.

That speculation led to the above. Have fun.

This has been this week’s version of Miami Heat Hot Topics. Check back next week for a brand new edition.