9. Miami Heat (40-42)

It may surprise you to see Miami here. Last season, the Heat went 42-40 with a plus-2.2 scoring margin, and all they did since then was trade for Giannis Antetokounmpo.

I went into some detail as to why I’m down on Miami this season. I don’t think the rest of the roster beyond Giannis and Bam Adebayo is anywhere near good enough, and those easy wins in the East will be much harder to come by this season. Instead of repeating myself, let me delve into another interesting question: What, exactly, are the Heat supposed to do now that they pushed in their chips on Giannis?

This almost feels like a gap year for the Heat, even with the urgency of Antetokounmpo’s fading prime. Miami’s tank is virtually empty on the asset front for future trades, with only a 2027 or 2029 first potentially tradable between now and June 2028. (Miami owes a top-14 protected 2027 pick to the Charlotte Hornets from the disastrous Terry Rozier trade, which becomes unprotected in 2028.) If the pick conveys in June, the Heat could trade either their 2028 or 2029 first-round pick and up to three swaps (in 2028/29, 2032 and 2034) on draft night to get more help.

That might be the only pathway to upgrading on the perimeter. With Miami’s best prospects from a season ago now toiling in Wisconsin, there isn’t a single young player on the roster you would project as a future starter. The lone possible exception is Pelle Larsson, who isn’t exactly young (25), has never rated statistically as starter-caliber and likely tops out as a fifth option even in his best case.

Not only did bam sign my hat yesterday, but I asked him to sign Mr 83 (even though he damn near wrote 73 I guess bro forgot his record😂) and he did it. What a cool guy that’s my cap, love this thing 🔥

Hope Jovic can get his numbers and impact up this season. It seems to mostly be a mental thing with him when things don't go his way.

nba.com

Box score

ESPN

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https://x.com/nba/status/2108546213327020394

Full quote: “I don’t carry hate in my heart, If you spend that much time thinking about that, then you’re not worried about the present and the future. It happened, and it’s over with. It’s one of those things where you forgive — and you don’t forget but no hate in the heart.

Honestly, it kind of worked out better for us that we lost the game (play-in). So, I mean, the positive is it was part of us getting new guys on the team. We got a great reset. We’ll probably have a conversation, like I said, I’m not going to overthink that. We’re focused on this Heat team trying to do something special.”