Lastly, do you think this roster ends up making the playoffs? And if so, at what seed?
Tachauer: Oh absolutely. At 17-18, the Heat currently sit in the seventh in the Eastern Conference, tied up with the number six Charlotte Hornets. And although they’re still four games behind the number five Boston Celtics, the team is clearly on the rise, only getting more comfortable by the day. With the likes of Winslow adapting to playing point guard, Adebayo learning how to successfully take on more responsibility, and Waiters set to make his return any day now… I fully expect this roster to at the very least, clinch that sixth seed. I feel especially confident in that statement given that the teams trying to catch up to them are the Detroit Pistons and Orlando Magic.
Johnson: I think so, for several reasons. I’ll be 100 percent honest: I have no faith in the Pistons being a competitive team, especially not one that edges out the Heat. Blake Griffin and Andre Drummond are great, but Reggie Jackson is not the point guard that gets this team over the hump. Then you have the Brooklyn Nets. They are a dark horse, and general manager Sean Marks wants to prove to potential free agents that they’d have a good foundation in Brooklyn, but I reckon another draft pick is a better gamble than a first round playoff exit. Otherwise, Miami is better than the bottom-five teams right now (Washington Wizards, Atlanta Hawks, Chicago Bulls, New York Knicks and Cleveland Cavaliers), and have the depth to push past the Magic late in the year. So with all of that said, even if it’s the eighth seed, Miami is making the playoffs.
Happy 2019, Heat Nation.