While the Miami Heat authored a savvy, opportunistic offseason, they'll still carry a flawed roster into the 2025-26 NBA campaign. That's why external expectations are about as uninspiring as they can be.
Internally, the Heat haven't abandoned hope, though they might quietly admit behind closed doors that a lot needs to go right for this to work in a way that significantly impacts the Eastern Conference pecking order. And, honestly, nothing must go more right than the ongoing development of fourth-year forward (and recent eight-figure extension recipient) Nikola Jovic.
It might seem silly to tie a team's hopes to a career reserve with barely more than 100 big-league games under his belt, but Jovic could be the key to curing some of Miami's biggest ailments.
The Heat's undermanned offense needs a best-case-scenario season from Nikola Jovic.
When critics paint a bleak picture of Miami's outlook, they'll often cite the lack of a superstar as the primary culprit behind all of the doom-and-gloom talk.
It's true that's a role the Heat will have to figure out how to fill if they ever want to rejoin the championship race, but that's a long-term puzzle for the front office to solve. The more immediate concerns, at least from the coaching staff, circle around pressing problems within this offense.
Problems that, if Jovic winds up at his absolute best this season, could actually be corrected in-house.
Miami needs a table-setter in the worst kind of way. Jovic's potential is arguably most interesting for his abilities as a jumbo-sized playmaker. While he has yet to handle a prominent enough role in the offense to post big assist numbers, his ball skills and creation chops have been his most intriguing assets for a while now.
With enough reps to show them off—and if Davion Mitchell is really starting at point guard in place of the injured Tyler Herro, there should be myriad touches to go around—Jovic could add the imagination this offense too often lacks.
And if the Heat are serious about picking up the offensive pace, there might not be an easier way to do that than by having a 6'10" player who can snare defensive boards and immediately start dribbling down court. These grab-and-go rebounds get everything moving quicker, not to mention they'll give Miami's shooters, slashers, and rim-runners the chance for quick attacks against a defense that isn't set yet.
The Heat also have major question marks regarding their late-game offense (particularly in the early stretch they'll play without Herro), and, here again, a better-developed Jovic just might answer them. If he's a reliable attacker off the dribble, a viable threat from three, and a cunning creator for others, then he's a legitimate problem for opposing defenses.
Granted, this is all glass-overflowing optimism about what the season could hold for Jovic, but hopes should be high for a 22-year-old, relatively recent first-round pick who is coming off of a career year and just saw his employer make a $62.4 million investment in his future. His arrow should be pointing straight up, and if that leads to a big jump in his play, this roster could be less flawed than everyone thinks.