The Miami Heat season officially ended Monday night, but in some ways, the season was over on the night of Jan. 2.
That’s when Jimmy Butler walked into a postgame press conference after a passive performance in a loss to the Indiana Pacers and told a room full of reporters, “I want to get my joy back.”
Asked if he could foresee regaining that joy with the Heat, Butler responded, “Probably not.”
Butler’s official trade request came shortly after. And just like that, bridges were fully burned between star player and organization, and the Heat’s 2024-25 season became defined more by a disgruntled star’s attempts to leave town and the ensuing end of an era than the basketball itself.
Distractions and a lack of talent doomed the Heat this season.
It’s the sort of distraction that the Heat have done a masterful job of insulating themselves from for years, only for it to arrive on their doorstep like a flaming brown paper bag. Suddenly, the Heat had to deal with this.
There are plenty of directions to point fingers. Pat Riley didn’t need to call Butler out during last spring’s press conference. The Heat could have been more open to trade conversations involving Butler in the summer, or even early in the season, when it became evident that they weren’t interested in offering Butler an extension. Butler, certainly, could have played out the season while earning $48.8 million.
Officially, the season ended on Monday, with Miami's 138-83 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Cavaliers outscored the Heat by 122 points in four games. It's the most lopsided playoff series in NBA history.
But there’s little time for looking back when there’s an urgent need to look forward.
If this series loss to Cleveland made anything clear, it’s that the Heat are not just looking up at the Boston Celtics – the reigning champs who eliminated the Heat in the first round last year – but a growing contingency of contenders in the East. The Cavaliers aren’t going away. Neither are the New York Knicks or Indiana Pacers. The Orlando Magic have won the Southeast Division two years in a row.
The Heat were at a talent deficit when they had Butler. That’s even more of the case now, and the deficit is growing.
Riley will spend the summer searching for a new star. There’s little appetite to wait another five years like they did between LeBron James’ 2014 departure and Butler’s 2019 arrival. There’s already a massive amount of speculation concerning Kevin Durant, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Devin Booker, Ja Morant, and others. The Heat will be involved.
As Riley knows, identifying stars is the easy part. Acquiring them is hard. The Heat will have up to three first-round picks to include in deals, some chunky contracts and a few interesting young players.
It’s important to note that this isn’t a rebuilding team. It’s one with clear building blocks – Bam Adebayo is 27 and Tyler Herro is a 25-year-old All-Star – but missing the finishing touches.
Not only do the Heat lack a primary shot creator and scorer at the level of Jayson Tatum, Donovan Mitchell, Jalen Brunson and Tyrese Haliburton. The roster is also missing the depth needed to compete and advance in the playoffs.
Too many weak links. Rookie Kel’el Ware was impressive in the regular season but was outclassed against Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen. Can he fast-track his leap, or will he endure a sophomore slump like Jaime Jaquez Jr. experienced this season? Is Nikola Jovic ready to put it all together and become a consistent difference-maker? Was Pelle Larsson a flash in the pan, or is he a real piece?
There are more offseason concerns.
Terry Rozier’s deterioration creates a $26.6 million albatross on Miami’s books (trading Kyle Lowry and a first-round pick for Rozier last January goes down as the failed last swing of the Butler era). Herro is up for an extension that could pay him roughly $50 million annually. Davion Mitchell, a bright spot that came over at the trade deadline, needs to be re-signed.
And the Heat have to do all of this while navigating close quarters to the tax apron.
This summer is pivotal in laying the tracks for whatever comes next. Everything for Riley and Co. should be on the table. The Heat deserve credit for fighting back from a 10-game losing streak and becoming the first 10 seed to advance through the play-in.
While the manner in which they lost to the Cavaliers is a blight on this organization, the slow and inevitable trudge to playoff elimination is over.
Now, the important work begins.