Celtics and Cavaliers
The last two teams to look at in the East are the Boston Celtics and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Two of the takeaways from these teams actually go hand in hand.
With the Boston Celtics, you can go in so many different directions when it comes to studying what they've done, but the most important takeaway this season is never to get too attached to players. Marcus Smart embodied Boston and Boston supported him every single second. Yet, when there was an opportunity to upgrade with Kristaps Porziņģis, they didn't hesitate to upgrade.
At the end of the day, they knew this was a team that belonged to Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, not Marcus Smart. Nobody should be safe for the Heat unless it's Jimmy Butler or Bam Adebayo. Anyone else should be up for grabs, because if the move is there to maximize those two, you pull the trigger.
One crucial takeaway from the Cavaliers is actually someone the Heat need to take away: Donovan Mitchell. Mitchell has, if not already proven, he can be a number one scorer on a contending team, but maybe not the best player. Which is fine when you have Butler and Adebayo.
Not to open another can of worms, but the Heat should be watching this series and contacting Cleveland with an offer as soon as it ends. Players need to get on the line and start recruiting. Despite what the seeding says, the Cavaliers aren't a team that the Heat need to cheat off. The Cavs tanked their seeding to meet the inexperienced Orlando Magic and barely got out of there in 7 games.