Should Miami Heat Have Followed Dallas Mavericks' Rebuilding Plan?

After making the Western Conference finals last year, the Dallas Mavericks are now being investigated by the league for their decision to rest several key players in Friday's loss to the Chicago Bulls.

The Mavs sat Kyrie Iriving, Tim Hardaway Jr., and Christian Wood. Guard Luka Doncic played only 12 minutes before sitting the remainder.

"It's not so much waving the white flag," Mavs coach Jason Kidd said. "It's [that] decisions sometimes are hard in this business. We're trying to build a championship team. With this decision, this is maybe a step back. But hopefully it leads to going forward."

Some have suggested the Miami Heat take a similar approach. While the Mavs are headed to the draft lottery after being eliminated from the playoffs, the Heat are finishing up a middle-of-the-pack year. They are the No. 7 seed, facing the Atlanta Hawks Tuesday in the play-in tournament.

With a prospect like Victor Wembanyama available in this year's draft, the Heat could have played for the future instead of being a low seed in the postseason. The thinking for the Heat is they feel they can still win a championship because not much has changed from last year's team that came one basket from making the NBA Finals.

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Shandel Richardson covers the Miami Heat for Inside The Heat.

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