The last winner of an NBA award from the Miami Heat was Tyler Herro back in the 2021-2022 season as the Sixth Man of the Year. With Miami earning the East’s No. 1 seed that year and sporting some strong individual statistical numbers, Herro put the media in a position where he was the clear run-away favorite for this award. A serious case can be made that there should have been another Heat award with coach Erik Spoelstra as the Coach of the Year, which ended up going to Monty Williams of the Phoenix Suns.
Unfortunately, the Heat don’t get much praise from the media in regards to things like this. That is proven by the fact that Spoelstra has never won a Coach of the Year before. Spoelstra has gotten the best out of each roster he has been given throughout the years, yet never gets the recognition he deserves in this league. During last year’s improbable Miami run as the No. 8 seed to the NBA Finals, Spoelstra knocked off two multi-time Coach of the Year winners. In a recent players-only poll, he was voted as the coach players would most want to play for.
Even this year, Bam Adebayo is a finalist for Defensive Player of the Year but is a longshot to actually win the award as Minnesota's Rudy Gobert appears to be the runaway favorite for an award Adebayo has never won.
However, next year is a new opportunity for guys on the roster to showcase why it is deserving for another Heat player to win an award. Although a lot of this will depend on health, let’s dive into three current players on the team who are capable of doing so.
1. Kevin Love: Sixth Man of the Year
The advanced stats show that if given an expanded role, Kevin Love could be the Sixth Man of the Year. This season, Love has averaged 19 points and 14 rebounds per 36 minutes. Of course, Love wouldn’t physically be capable of putting in real minutes like that on a nightly basis. He is a 35 year-old veteran with a lot of deep playoff runs and mileage under his belt. Spoelstra has utilized him in spurts during this season to maximize his abilities the best and keep Love’s body fresh.
What could be more realistic is giving him 20-25 minutes a night. He is such an effective player with his floor-spreading and rebounding abilities. He also brings a high IQ and seasoned style of play to the table. If Spoelstra can find a way to pair Love alongside Bam Adebayo during stretches of games rather than only play behind him, it could make a slight minutes increase more possible. Love has only gotten 10-15 minutes per night as the Heat’s backup big this season.