Through the first 30 games of the season, the Miami Heat are somehow worse than they were last year. Especially after the impressive 14-7 start to this season, this has to be the biggest sign that it may indeed be time for the front office to blow up this roster.
The Heat is 15-15 through 30 games this season, and was 16-14 at this point last year. That simply doesn't add up, and it can't be a great sign for the Heat moving forward.
With hopes that a full offseason with Andrew Wiggins, and another year of development for Kel'el Ware and Tyler Herro, along with the addition of Norman Powell, this team emerges improved from last season's disaster.
That simply hasn't happened.
The fact that the Heat aren't better this season without the Jimmy Butler cloud hanging over their heads is not a great indication of things to come. The team is still stuck in no man's land, and there are no easy paths forward.
At this point, the only resolution is a hard reset for the franchise.
The Heat need to shake up this roster
If not a hard reset, there needs to be a huge shake-up of this roster. Not the type of shakeup that we saw this past offseason in which they added a player or two, but there needs to be a significant change with the way this team is built.
One of the headlining names of this roster needs to change. Whether it's Tyler Herro or Bam Adebayo, there needs to be a new star player of this roster leading the way. I'm afraid that's the only way we're going to see a real change with this Heat team.
It may not be a popular message, but it's the one that needs to be heard.
If the Heat wants to break out of their recent mediocrity, this has to be the path forward. This core is not good enough to make any type of noise in the Eastern Conference, and their play this season continues to prove that - if the second half of last year wasn't a clear enough sign.
This is not a knock on any of the players individually, but rather a critique of how this team has been compiled. In theory, the hope was that the Heat would improve this season. That simply hasn't been the case.
And for a franchise that prides itself on a championship-or-bust mentality, it may be time for a bold move. Because right now, this franchise isn't operating on that scale. Through the first 30 games of this season, that's been pretty obvious.