It wasn't just the fact that the Miami Heat lost in the NBA's Play-In Tournament opening round as the 10th seed that should be alarming to the franchise. It's the fact that they lost at the hands of the Charlotte Hornets, too, that should be the real wake-up call that this organization can't afford to ignore anymore.
This is not even an insult to the Hornets, who have done a great job of putting together an intriguing young team. More so, this is calling out the Heat's front office, which has done such a poor job in building their team over the last few years.
If it wasn't clear before, it certainly is now. Or at least it should be. The fact that the Hornets are set up better for the next few years than the Heat is unheard of. But after this season, it's suddenly a harsh reality for Miami.
The Heat desperately need to change things up
Even when Jimmy Butler was still in a Heat uniform, they did a poor job of building around him. Let's remember, the last "significant" move that Miami made in an attempt to build around Jimmy was adding Terry Rozier, ironically, from these same Hornets.
The Heat's front office struggles are not new. It just finally may have reached a fever pitch.
Heading into the offseason, there may not be a team in the NBA that is more desperate for change than the Heat. Miami is not a bad team. They're worse. They're mediocre and stuck in the worst place to be. The middle.
They're not good enough to make noise in the playoffs, and they're also not bad enough to secure a high lottery pick. They pride themselves on pursuing star players, but haven't landed one in nearly a decade.
The Heat may need a hard reset
That's why this offseason is suddenly so important for the Heat. Because if they can't secure a star player this summer, they'll be forced to ask themselves some big-picture questions they may not be comfortable answering right now.
At this point, if the Heat does whiff on some of their big targets this summer, a hard reset shouldn't be considered off the table.
Whether this front office would pursue one remains to be seen, but this franchise would be fooling itself if they don't think it should be considered.
The Heat is not in a good place right now, and the way their season just ended, at the hands of the Hornets, should give this front office the wake-up call that they've needed for a long time. Perhaps most importantly, it's also one that they can't afford to ignore any longer.
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