The Miami Heat sent a grand total of zero players to the All-Star game in the 2020-2021 season despite making the postseason and boasting some top-level talent on the roster. As the Heat watch the postseason continue from the couch and prepare for the coming basketball in the fall, it is time to speculate which players on the roster can contend for an All-Star spot next season?
And most importantly, what will it take for them to make the cut. There are three players on the Heat’s roster that should be making that star-studded push, but each needs very different results to reach the squad.
No matter what it’ll take for each though, it all starts with one guy. That person should be no secret.
Jimmy Butler is an established top player in the NBA. People know he is a blue-chip player that franchises can build around.
Multiple teams have built around him, resulting in playoff berths. He has also proven to step up in the big moments far more often than he withers.
And, he has the added value of playing exceptional basketball on both ends of the court. With his personal success established, Jimmy Buckets is no longer judged off stats alone but the wins and losses of his team.
Butler is now in a class of players that needs wins to prove his merits in a given season. Miami’s slow start and Butler’s injuries to start last season kept him off plenty, if not most, All-Star ballots.
Now, even for a healthy Butler, loading a stat sheet is not enough. He needs to guide his team to victories for a place on that roster.
Fortunately for Butler, his presence on the court often equates to winning. That’ll be enough to get the job done with just a little help from his team.
The Miami Heat will go as far as Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler can take them. Adebayo must realize that as well.
Bam Adebayo got better last season across the box score. He scored nearly three more points per game, became a better shooter in every area of the floor, upped his number of assists, steals, and shaved off his turnover average.
As a defender, he also improved. According to NBA stats tracking, Adebayo allowed over 120 fewer points to forwards and 20 fewer points to centers.
He also forced over 20 more turnovers against all positions than last season. So what’s the problem?
The next step is controlling games in the fourth quarter. When he imposed his will on the Brooklyn Nets to win the game without Butler, we saw a flash of the perennial All-Star that Adebayo could become.
But now that he is established as one of the more valuable players in the league, he needs to do more than fill a stat sheet. He needs to begin putting his stamp on more games.
We need more “Bam Games” that are clearly defined by his impact. When that happens, so will the All-Star appearances.
The Miami Heat thought they may have had a legitimate ‘third guy’ after Tyler Herro’s rookie year and though a bumpy second season, he still may be.
Before you get in your feelings about how it is too early for Tyler Herro or how he has a lot to prove before we put All-Star expectations on him, remember this: Herro put his stamp on playoff games in the bubble. That is no small thing and the expectations should meet that accomplishment.
The next hurdle for the Kentucky product is building a complete season. Take a look at Herro’s stats on a month to month basis from last season.
From January to April, his points-per-game average ebbed and flowed from 17 points to 12. His shooting percentages from the field were a rollercoaster, rising to 48 percent and falling to 35.
It gets worse when you look at his three-point percentage, which topped out at 42 percent and bottomed out at 26. It could be argued that less is more with Herro and as his minutes changed, so did his production.
And there is a case to be made that Herro was simply finding his role as a heat-check player off the bench. Herro did finish the season averaging 16 points, while shooting 54 percent from the field and 48 percent from three in May, all in just over 27 minutes per contest.
In the coming season, he needs to prove that he has found his spot on the roster and a rhythm by staying consistent, game in and game out. He has proven he can play at another level, but he has also proven he can bottom out for long stretches of a season.
Consistency is the key when talking what separates regular guys, from rotational guys, to stars, to superstars. Once Herro becomes less of a dice roll, he can find a path to becoming a fringe All-Star player.
All of the guys on this list have that potential though, while two of them have fully shown and maximized it in a given season. With team success, so shall this individual success follow, and you know that’s the goal at Miami Heat headquarters.