3 Surprising silver linings from the Miami Heat’s 2023-2024 season

3. The front office learned changes need to be made

Outside of a few acquisitions over the years, most of the Butler era has consisted of Pat Riley and the Heat front office “running it back." The core of Butler, Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro has been together for five consecutive seasons. At some point, something has to give… and after a second season in a row of securing the East’s eighth seed and fighting in the play-in, the time could be now.

Butler and Adebayo have done their part to keep the Heat competitive, but the same can’t be said about Herro. He showed massive potential from the start of his 2019-2020 rookie season, which included standout playoff performances en route to an NBA Finals appearance. But the 24-year-old guard hasn’t seen that same production on that stage ever since.

If it isn’t an injury keeping him out of those big games like in 2022 and 2023, it’s his performance. If the front office opts to show commitment to remaining competitive around their two All-Stars (Butler and Adebayo), Herro is an asset. Could this be the summer where he doesn't survive the rumors? The development that Jovic and Jaquez showed also provides Miami with more attractive pieces in the open market if pursuing another star to sure up this roster is indeed the direction the team goes.

Herro has shown inconsistency, but that’s a problem that doesn’t fall solely on him. This whole Heat roster has displayed it as a group, and it’s shown in their standings positioning. Over the years, Miami has gone from fifth in the East to sixth, first, and now eighth in back-to-back years, respectively. This is a team that is in the second apron of the luxury tax but has play-in games to show for it. If this front office is going to invest in their core like this, the roster needs to justify that.

The organization bleeds a winning culture and championship aspirations, and nobody involved is pleased with finishing at the bottom of the playoff picture. The Heat’s remarkable run to the NBA Finals a year ago helped squeeze out an extra year of this build, but it is just a matter of time before real changes are made.