5 Rivals who officially passed the Heat this season

The Miami Heat have been a respectable team since 2020. Even as a lower seed in a playoff series, they commanded respect (Giannis, Tatum, Embiid, and Brunson can all relate). Unfortunately, these aren't the same Heat.

The 2020 cutoff began the start of the Jimmy Butler era. His arrival mitigated the Heat's inability to obtain a superstar scorer. From 2017 to 2019, Miami lost in the first round or missed the playoffs entirely. That was new territory for the Heat, but they're back in those treacherous waters today.

The Heat aren't a formidable foe to challenge world-beaters like they could in the past, but they also aren't close to Eastern Conference teams that couldn't pass them an orange Gatorade years ago. Some of these squads are light years ahead, and others could knock Miami out of playoff contention.

The Miami Heat have been treading water for years. These Eastern Conference teams finally passed them by.

New York Knicks

A 15-0 run isn't ideal, but you can live with it. A 15-0 personal run by one player, Karl-Athony Towns, is the type of volcanic explosion that sucks the life of a team. KAT did that to Miami Monday night. Bam Adebayo couldn't step in and stop the bleeding. It was that kind of night. The Knicks blew the Heat out without their best player.

Dominating Miami without likely All-NBA Jalen Bruson shows the different planets Miami and New York play on. OG Anuoby has been Freddy Krueger in every Heat matchup this year. He walks us down and snatches the ball from our ball handlers at will. The Knicks were once a defense-first team under Tom Thibodeau, but he's adjusted to his personnel, and the Knicks are a top-five offense.

That offense consists of Brunson spamming high pick-and-rolls, but keeping it simple is all you need to do when you employ a dynamic engine like No. 11 in New York. It also helps pass Miami up when New Yorks "2nd option", Towns, would be the Heat's 1st option. Maimi hasnt had the fire power of these Knicks since the days of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh.

Indiana Pacers

We're long gone from the days of Paul George and friends battling LeBron and the Heatles. The Pacers are coming off an Eastern Conference finals run dubbed a hospital run, but they're still zooming past opponents.

Tyrese Haliburton got off to a snail start, but he's been marvelous since. He was 18/9 on 50/46/91 splits in February and has doubled down in March with 19/12 on 51/42/88 shooting splits. The tier-one floor general barely broke one turnover a game in the last two months. That assists output with virtually no turnovers seems impossible.

Based on this season, Pascal Siakam would be the Heat's best player. He's still the guy Indiana goes to in the clutch and is their first option, but the perfect balance of him and Hali has Indiana fighting for home court in the playoffs. Miami is so far from that realm.

Orlando Magic

The Magic are still in grasp if the Heat get out of this funk. Orlando's season is arguably as disappointing as Miami. The season-filled injury fest has validity, and the Heat losing a franchise star before his departure has validity, too. But the Magic offense is in the dirt (more than Miami's). The 27th-ranked offense with Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner is head-turning.

They lack outside shooting but have upper-end talent. Miami doesn't.

Bam Adebayo may be more impactful than those two, and Tyler Herro is certainly a better shooter than both, but Banchero is a walking 40-point threat. Franz started the year better than Paolo and improved his playmaking as well. Orlando was above the Heat in the standings last year and slightly remains there today.

Where they've truly passed Miami is in potential. You look at that roster and reason with Jalen Suggs being out. He's a critical part of their future. He could be there for the long haul or the enticing piece of a bigger trade.

It's not difficult to believe this roster, with a top-flight defense and two All-Star talents, will see a significant jump when they add shooting (Orlando has had this problem since the 2010s).

Atlanta Hawks

Like the Magic, Atlanta isn't currently light years ahead of Miami. These three teams make up the sorry Southeast Division—a division that could have a winner with a record under .500 for the first time.

The Hawks have a player Miami should be interested in: Trae Young. The defensive concerns can't be overstated, his shot selection could be better, and the Hawk's version of finally starting to win lately is going 5-5 over the last ten games.

Young has his warts, but he's still a premier playmaker who'd instantly improve this deer-in-headlights Heat offense. He'd add an identity to a team scheming around the shooting of Herro and Duncan Robinson. Without Young, Atlanta still has Jalen Johnson.

Johnson played at an All-Star level before a shoulder injury sidelined him for the season. He's a lengthy point forward. Their first overall pick, Zaccharie Risacher, has turned the corner and deserves serious consideration for Rookie of the Year. Dyson Daniels is on pace to average three steals per game—a feat that hasn't occurred since 1991. Daniels has over 100 more deflections than second place. He's been a menace to offenses.

Atlanta's future is bright with or without Young. He's valuable despite his shortcomings, so they'd get a solid return if they choose that direction.

Detroit Pistons

The Heat aren't the only team Detroit has passed up. This may be the greatest single-season turnaround the NBA has seen. The Pistons went from losing 28 straight games last year to comfortably making the postseason and fighting for home-court advantage.

Cade Cunningham's growth gets all the publication. But he was a world-bender in the second half of last season, too (23/7/5 shooting 37% from 3 in the previous 35 games). He's reached All-NBA status this year and still has a lot of room for improvement. We're looking at an MVP-level guy when he gets his man body and finishes better at the cup while cutting down the pick-pocket turnovers.

The additions of Malik Beasley, Tobias Harris, and Tim Hardaway Jr. are paying more dividends than any Heat addition: Those vets add spacing and an adult in the room presence for these young Pistons.

Miami went from towering over Detroit to covering its head so the Pistons wouldn't kick them in. In the long term, Cade projects to be a brighter star than Miami's star duo. Bam and Herro are All-Stars but not franchise changers. Both are better suited playing off a Cade-level player.

Don't forget the Pistons are steamrolling without Jaden Ivey, who's been out since New Year's, and an up-and-down Ausar Thompson, who's still finding his footing after dealing with blood clots last year. Detroit is only going to get better with young rising stars.