In terms of NBA splashes, the Miami Heat's 2025 NBA offseason was more of an Olympic diver than an amateur cannon-baller. They made productive moves—stealing Kasparas Jakučionis with the No. 20 pick, sniffing out a discounted deal for Norman Powell—but nothing that grabbed headlines during a summer in which Kevin Durant, Desmond Bane, Kristaps Porziņģis, Jrue Holiday, Myles Turner, and Michael Porter Jr. were among the players who changed locations.
And that's perfectly fine. The Heat may feel they already have enough to make noise in the wide-open (and injury-impacted) Eastern Conference while also maintaining the flexibility to make that seismic splash at a later date.
Miami might be good now and has a chance to be great later.
While even the most optimistic Heat fans wouldn't put this roster up against the NBA's best, that's not necessarily required to escape the East.
Remember, the conference was just conquered by the similarly superstar-less Indiana Pacers. Oh, and those Pacers won't have franchise floor general next season, just like the cost-cutting Boston Celtics could be without Jayson Tatum. The Milwaukee Bucks still have Giannis Antetokounmpo, but his star sidekicks are gone. The Philadelphia 76ers look good on paper, but they're already running into injury issues. The New York Knicks just made a coaching change after stalling out in the East finals.
How many teams mentioned above would strike fear in Miami? If you set the over/under at 0.5, I'd hit the under. Hard. There's talent, sure, but the Heat have talent, too, plus the ultimate ace up their sleeve with head coach Erik Spoelstra.
Assuming this developmental staff brings out the best in Miami's young players, the Heat might have more top-to-bottom talent now than they did when Spo twice conquered an Eastern Conference with better teams at the top (2020 and 2023). There's no Jimmy Butler, obviously, but a starting five featuring Powell, Tyler Herro, Andrew Wiggins, Bam Adebayo, and Kel'el Ware could be every bit as good, if not better, than the quintets Spo could trot out alongside Butler before.
And that's just the short-term outlook. Widen the lens to glimpse farther into the future, and things look even brighter.
These small, subtle, smart shifts undertaken this summer have done nothing to spoil the long-term plans. If the Heat don't extend Herro or Powell, their only non-rookie cap commitments for 2026-27 are made to Herro, Adebayo, Davion Mitchell, and possibly Andrew Wiggins, depending on what he does with his $30.2 million player option, per Spotrac. Move ahead to 2027-28, and all that's left is the money owed to Adebayo and the rookie deals held by Ware and Jakučionis.
In other words, the Heat can dream every bit as big as they possibly want about their future. And knowing it's Pat Riley behind the wheel, those dreams will be enormous.
Maybe it's waiting for Giannis Antetokounmpo to realize his championship wishes won't be granted in Milwaukee. Perhaps it's hoping Nikola Jokić decides he's done with Denver between now and 2027 free agency. Luka Dončić's future with the Lakers is far from cemented. Maybe some star that isn't being talked about at all right now surprisingly wants out soon. Two years is, after all, an eternity in the NBA.
The Heat have every reason to keep hope alive for their future whale hunts, but they're also positioned to be a present problem in the East. Small-splash summer and all, Miami is in a good place.