Just one year removed from another Finals appearance, the Heat had a major postseason letdown in 2023/24.
With All-NBA swingman Jimmy Butler and recently acquired starting point guard Terry Rozier both out for the entirety of their first-round series against the No. 1-seeded Celtics, Miami fell in five quick games.
But even before that, the Heat had a somewhat disappointing regular season run. Despite making their second NBA Finals — and third Eastern Conference Finals — in four seasons behind the play of All-Stars Butler and Bam Adebayo, the club followed that 2023 run up by once again finishing with the conference’s No. 8 seed with a roster hit hard by injuries and featuring several one-way players
Heading into the 2024 offseason, it seemed clear that the club needed to shore up its perimeter and frontcourt defense, and perhaps take a flier on some talented young free agents in need of more playing time in a competitive atmosphere.
Beyond cost-effective free agent signings for the capped-out Heat, a trade seemed like another possibility well worth exploring this offseason. The club has plenty of intriguing players like former Sixth Man of the Year Tyler Herro and sharpshooter Duncan Robinson who, along with future draft picks, could conceivably be packaged together for premium veteran talent.
Instead, Miami – affected by a lack of cap flexibility – seems set to bank on internal improvement this year. Over the summer, the Heat mostly re-signed veteran incumbents, including power forward Kevin Love, center Thomas Bryant and combo forward Haywood Highsmith. The team did add some bench scoring help in the form of longtime NBA shooting guard Alec Burks on a veteran’s minimum deal. Miami also locked in Adebayo to a three-year, $165.3MM maximum contract extension.
In this year’s draft, Miami made a move to address its frontcourt athleticism, selecting former All-Big Ten Second Team Indiana 7-footer Kel’el Ware with the No. 15 overall pick. As part of a three-team trade, the Heat also acquired the draft rights to former All-Pac-12 Arizona shooting guard Pelle Larsson.
Most troublingly, however, Miami saw versatile 3-and-D small forward Caleb Martin depart in free agency for what he considered to be a better contending opportunity with the refurbished Sixers.
The Heat will hope that younger players like All-Rookie First Team swingman Jaime Jaquez Jr., Adebayo, Herro and Robinson can continue to improve, older players like Butler, Rozier and Love and stay healthy, and that Ware can help spell Adebayo sooner rather than later.
Butler has a $52.4MM player option for 2025/26, and could enter free agency if he believes he could earn more long-term security or a better title opportunity elsewhere. As such, his situation is being closely watched by rival squads, including the Warriors, who could look to pounce on Butler in the trade market if Miami’s season heads south.
For years, the Heat have been able to save their best stuff for the playoffs. With Butler a frequent injury question mark at age 35 and questionable depth surrounding the team’s two stars, it doesn’t seem particularly feasible that Miami’s current personnel will be enough to overcome even the Knicks or Sixers this year, let alone Boston.
We want to hear from you! Will the Heat be able to rise up the ranks of the East this season? Can the team as is have more playoff success in 2025 than it did in 2024? Should the squad look to make a win-now trade during the season?
Weigh in below via our comments section.
They’re toast. Butler gets traded by the deadline, unless he’s injured
In fairness, nobody won more than one game against the C’s in the playoffs this year.
Herro, Jovic, Jaquez, Rozier, Ware all need to impact the team. Time for Herro to be the man by now. I don’t see Jimmy going anywhere. He’ll retire a Heat.
If Butler is healthy and playing well going into the playoffs, MIA can still compete. Their regular season finishes the past couple years reflect underacheivement, at least as much, or more, than their 2023 playoff run reflects overacheivement. They still have two All-NBA players, and other proven veterans and, now, some good young players too. Of course, if keeping Butler on the court is a problem, for any reason, then they’ll fade away back to the play-in.