After a pretty sluggish and depressing start to the NBA offseason, there's a cold, hard truth that Miami Heat fans can't ignore. It's the fact that they're not going to be very good this upcoming season, and the front office clearly doesn't have a big problem with that.
The Heat managed to sneak into the NBA Playoffs last season, playing their way into the eventual top 10 field after finishing as the 10th seed, but the Heat are going to have their work cut out for them to even replicate some of that same "success." Even though Miami has roughly the same roster, it won't be that simple.
The Heat have fallen behind the rest of the East
Looking across the Eastern Conference standings, even though the likes of the Boston Celtics and Indiana Pacers will likely take a bit of a step back, the New York Knicks, Milwaukee Bucks, Atlanta Hawks, Cleveland Cavaliers, Detroit Pistons, Orlando Magic, Philadelphia 76ers, and even the Toronto Raptors are all expected to be better.
It's hard to envision the Heat finishing in the top 10 in the East this season. In fact, with how their roster is currently constructed, that has to be considered as the team's ceiling heading into 2025-26.
At best, the Heat will be just as good as they were last season, and, to be quite honest, they weren't that competitive. The front office appears perfectly content with that because they know this isn't the real plan.
The Heat's real plan
The messaging is that they're going to embrace their young core this season, but we know what is truly taking place is that they're just buying their time until next summer, when the team is expected to have much more financial flexibility and a full collection of tradable first-round picks at their disposal.
How do we know this? Well, it's simple. The Heat can't fully claim going the young route with a soon-to-be 28-year-old Bam Adebayo as their centerpiece. That doesn't add up. Unless the Heat is suddenly going to trade Bam, which doesn't appear to be the plan, Miami is clearly embracing a "gap" year with hopes of striking big in 2026.
Knowing the way the Heat operate and the fact that they're never going to completely embrace a total rebuild, this makes much more sense. For one reason or another, they just refuse to publicize this line of thinking.
But even though there is reason for the fan base to have some hope for the future, it still doesn't take away from the fact that Miami doesn't project to be good this upcoming season. To manage expectations, it's a realization that fans must quickly make.