The Miami Heat should be fully focused on the Giannis Antetokounmpo sweepstakes. And not only because the Heat's perpetual superstar search remains unsatisfied.
For all of the talk about Miami's need for an elite talent, enough hasn't been said about this: One major addition might be all that's standing between South Beach's finest and a shot at the NBA title. Because if you dropped a mega-talent onto this roster (be that Antetokounmpo or another game-changer), it could have everything it needs to compete for the crown.
This supporting cast is just begging for a superstar to lead it to the contending ranks.
The Heat is an objectively good team. Not surprisingly good, not off-to-a-nice-start good—just all-around good. Entering Friday night, just eight teams around the NBA have top-10 winning percentages and net ratings, and Miami is one of them.
This group could maybe use a few more signature victories, but the first mark of a good team is one that wins the games it should. The Heat have been all-caps AWESOME at that. Only them, the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder, and the Minnesota Timberwolves (Western Conference finalists each of the past two seasons) have at least 10 wins and just a single loss against opponents with losing records.
The Heat routinely takes care of business, and a big reason why is the well-constructed, versatile nature of this roster.
It felt like playmaking could've been an issue, but Davion Mitchell and a resurgent Jaime Jaquez Jr. took care of that. Rebounding has been a long-standing concern, but Kel'el Ware is collecting better than 10 boards in fewer than 25 minutes per outing. You wondered if Miami might really miss Duncan Robinson's shooting, but Norman Powell and Simone Fontecchio have picked up the perimeter slack and then some.
The Heat have suffocating on-ball defenders, ignitable scorers, paint protectors, close-range finishers, full-throttle hustlers, ball-movers, body-movers, shot-creators—almost everything you need to hang with the hoops world's very best.
Except for that one shining star for the rest of the group to follow.
Maybe there was hope Tyler Herro could be that player, but he's been an awkward fit for the offense, and he'll always get targeted on defense. Powell has lived up to his billing as this summer's biggest steal, but tier-one stardom is a step or two above his pay grade. Bam Adebayo's addition of an outside shot has been hugely helpful, but he's not carrying a contender on his back.
The Heat has to look outside the organization to fill this void. And they need to do that sooner rather than later, since the Eastern Conference feels wide open, and this roster otherwise has everything needed to conquer it.