3 Reasons to be optimistic about the Miami Heat going into the 2024-25 season
By John Truske
“Let’s run it back.” If you’re anything like me (a pickup basketball aficionado who often loses), then this is a phrase you love to hear. Your team just lost, but since there’s no one else waiting to play, you get to stay on the court.
This phrase evokes a different feeling for many Miami Heat fans. After another offseason in which rival teams improved through external acquisition, the thought of “running it back” without major roster changes appalls much of Heat Nation.
I like to consider myself a glass half full type of person. Some may call it blind optimism. I call it guts.
With that said, there were developments last season that give legitimate reason to be optimistic about the Heat going forward.
Stars Need to be Stars
This comes with a caveat. I’m operating under the assumption that Jimmy Butler is still one of the best players in the world and that last year’s signs of regression can be attributed to the fatigue of back-to-back deep playoff runs.
Butler just had his longest offseason in a while, and by all accounts, he is coming into this season motivated.
Bam Adebayo, coming off a gold medal with Team USA, is a bonafide star in his own right.
It’s certainly not all doom and gloom when you have two players of this caliber. The Heat's struggle has been surrounding Butler and Adebayo with the right pieces, but looking back on the 2023-24 season, progress was made in this regard.