Miami Heat: Is 2018-19 the team’s make-or-break year?

The Miami Heat return 14 players to its full-time roster in 2018-19, but is the team destined for a repeat of last season?

After a quick, 4-1 defeat in the first round of the 2018 NBA Playoffs, something needed to change with the Miami Heat.

Missed free-throws, questionable rotations and over reliance on franchise cornerstone Dwyane Wade, left the Heat firmly planted in the Philadelphia 76ers’ rear view mirror.

Throughout the regular season, the Heat played toe-to-toe with the Sixers, splitting the season series 2-2. Even with Hassan Whiteside playing at half-power and a fluctuating injury-reserve list, the Heat’s defensive prowess and crafty contributions kept the team competitive.

Come playoff time however, the Sixers became the well-oiled machine that was four years in the making; ending the season on a 16-game win streak, was the Sixers’ recipe for breezing past Miami.

The quick defeat served as a learning experience for a young team.

While Wade has seen the playoff mountaintop, many of Miami’s core players had not, at least not with the same level of responsibility as in 2018. Expectations were high, and while Miami certainly put up a fight (quite literally), the playoffs exposed the foundation on which the Heat have to build in 2019.

"“It’s a feeling of emptiness when it ends,” Winslow said of the Heat’s playoff run. “Because no one expected it, we were expecting to win Game 5 and keep going, so a sense of emptiness for sure.”"

But Winslow admitted that even if Miami didn’t make it past the first round, the team “accomplished [its] goal.” He added, “After the season last year, not making it, it sucked for us as a team so that was a big goal of ours.”

Unlike some teams, like the television powerhouse Los Angeles Lakers, Miami has few other options this season, than running it back and continuing to push their goals higher.

On Saturday, the Heat locked in its 16-man roster. Two names are new: two-way players Yante Maten and Duncan Robinson, both of whom had standout moments in Miami’s preseason.

The remaining 14, full-time players all played under the Heat brand last season. Beyond the arrival of a few contract extensions, the team is the exact same as it was when the Heat left the Wells Fargo Center on April 24, 2018.

In a league currently infatuated with two-year deals with one-year player options, the idea of longevity is going extinct.

Recent trade target Jimmy Butler is among the poster children for this mentality, fed up with his Minnesota Timberwolves teammates after a lone year of play, despite a looming chance to opt out of his contract in 2019.

Still, the familiarity bred by Miami’s long-term approach, whether intentionally or not, is one of the oft-cited intangibles that makes successful teams, well, stay successful.

Of course, the Golden State Warriors are the staple team of the hour.

But committing to a philosophy is the trademark of Las Vegas’ most favored teams.

The Boston Celtics, Toronto Raptors and Houston Rockets have all found and maintained relative success, by adhering to a formula that runs throughout their organizations.

This year is the Heat’s chance to capitalize on the same principle.

As a top-10 defense from last season, Miami can only improve on its best quality as a healthy Whiteside and rebuilt Josh Richardson will anchor the team’s play.

The cohesion in South Beach should also afford Miami some breathing room, as the Eastern Conference ramps up its competitiveness.

As the rest of the Southeast Division seeks to incorporate new pieces and reach for the bottom of the playoff race, the Heat have to effectively wall them out, preying on the opponents’ relative inexperience.

Near the top of the conference, the personnel losses endured by the Sixers (Ersan Ilyasova and Marco Belinelli) and Cleveland Cavaliers (do I really have to name this one?), should similarly help the Heat move its ideals into reality.

Even though Miami could bring back many of the same faces in 2019-20, this season is the team’s time to strike.

Players don’t stay in one place for too long, and the resulting impact on the East could leave the Heat behind the curve.

2018-19 isn’t exactly a make-or-break season, but there is no excuse for Miami not to strike while the iron is hot.