Teams the Miami Heat will compete with in the standings: Milwaukee Bucks & Philadelphia 76ers
Milwaukee Bucks
This is the other fairly obvious team to be put on this list. The Milwaukee Bucks are the defending champions and will be a top team in the East once again this year.
The Bucks and the Heat are not locked in a big-time rivalry after facing off in the playoffs in each of the past two seasons. Each team has managed to win one of those series.
The craziest part about that is that the winner of each of those respected series’ then went on to reach the NBA Finals. These two squads are both obviously at the top of their game.
Miami is going to be dealing with the Bucks a lot this year in regard to jockeying for playoff positioning. They both project to finish around the same place in the standings.
Philadelphia 76ers
The Philadelphia 76ers are a weird case in this scenario. Similar to the Brooklyn Nets, they are dealing with a ton of internal drama that could affect how their season plays out.
Ben Simmons has supposedly reported back to the 76ers, but Doc Rivers recently said that he is not in “game shape” quite yet. His status is going to have a major impact on how this team performs.
Regardless of that, though, the 76ers will be a team competing for a top playoff spot in the East. Joel Embiid is just that dominant of a player.
In theory, the Heat have a good chance to finish with a better record than Philadelphia, but that’s not always how things play out. Don’t underestimate the reigning number one seed.