The Miami Heat are coming into a huge season for them. They have made many improvements and should be in store for big things.
With big moves, such as the ones they made, comes big expectations. The beautiful thing is that they have some of the toughest guys in the league on board and along for the ride.
Thinking about all of that, in totality, leads to some pretty interesting thoughts. While there are a ton of them that pop out to the forefront, there are a few that aren’t as talked or thought about.
Here are three of the more underrated thoughts about this current team.
Balance
This Miami Heat team presents a certain balance that few of their teams have over the last couple of years. They have had “too much” of this or “too few” of that, often, coming back to bite them in the worst way when it mattered the most.
That won’t be the case this season. They have, almost or close enough to, equal amounts of everything and that balance will go a long way for them.
Miami Heat: 3 Underrated Thoughts About This Current Team – Talented
When you look at the Miami Heat, as currently constructed, they have three clear top 35-40 players in the NBA. Jimmy Butler is a clear top-15 player in the league, likely top-10.
Most Talented Team Since The Big 3 Era
Bam Adebayo is a top-25ish player or so in the league, minimally, and likely top-20 because of his two-way prowess and his ability to impact the game in a myriad of ways. Kyle Lowry could jump a bit higher than this again in the coming year, but at the moment and at worst, he’s a top 35-40 guy.
When you look at the way they went about filling out the rest of their roster in the offseaon, with a great mix of returning guys and new faces, they have one of their most versatile bags of depth in a while.
It all boils down to this. They have the requisite top-end talent to compete and match firepower with anyone in the league, then the depth and versatility behind it to feel in the gaps or protect the edges.
It’s really a great situation. Again, that’s why you can say they are the most talented they’ve been since the Big 3 Era.
Miami Heat: 3 Underrated Thoughts About This Current Team – What Weakness?
The balance and the talent spoken about in the first two thoughts actually helps facilitate this last one. Because they have so much balance and are as talented as they are, the following is true.
No Real Or Immense Weakness
When you take a look at this Miami Heat team, they really don’t have an immediate weakness to exploit. Think about it?
They now have a couple of guys, in Jimmy Butler and Kyle Lowry, who can get a bucket from anywhere on the floor and create for someone else. Yes, Jimmy Butler has struggled shooting the ball from range since arriving in Miami and needs to be better, but he can still make it happen from anywhere on the floor and especially with his ability to get to the free throw line since coming to Miami.
They have a ton of other guys who can get it done offensively, off of what those guys can do and of course, there is always the Bam Adebayo Aggression factor. If he can learn to take his looks and as illustrated by his game-winning shot of a performance last season against the Brooklyn Nets, that takes them up another few levels and himself as a player too, individually.
Defensively, they have three of the toughest defenders in the league and top defenders at each of their positions. They can all guard multiple positions and at least three, as you are comfortable with Lowry checking certain wings for spurts, while the rest of the team is immersed enough in the Culture to know and fulfill the expectations set for them on that side of the ball.
That’s not to mention that they have a few tough guys and a defensive specialist, by any other name, aboard as well. That would be a Dewayne Dedmon, a Markieff Morris, and P.J. Tucker, namely.
Again, they don’t really have a real weakness. They have shooting, they have playmaking, they have rebounding, they have toughness, they have defense, as well as the fact that they have mental sharpness and discipline.
This season is setting up to be a great one. Hopefully, they can make good on these aspirations. But, before that happens, these are three underrated thoughts to consider about this team.