Two years removed from a darling Finals run, the Heat have reloaded and are looking to dethrone Giannis and Co., as well as the rest of the East.
Notable Additions/Subtractions:
Additions: Kyle Lowry (sign-and-trade with TOR, 3yrs/$90m), P.J. Tucker (2yr/$15m), Markieff Morris (1yr/$2.6m)
Subtractions: Goran Dragic/Precious Achiuwa (sign-and-trade with Toronto), Trevor Ariza (Lakers), Andre Iguodala (Warriors), Kendrick Nunn (Lakers)
Projected First Two Rotations:
Starters: K. Lowry, D. Robinson, J. Butler, P.J. Tucker, B. Adebayo
Second Unit: T. Herro/G. Vincent, V. Oladipo, KZ Okpala/M. Strus, M. Morris, D. Dedmon/O. Yurtseven
Last Season’s Record: 40-32 (6th in the East), lost in first round to Milwaukee
After their run as the bubble darlings of whatever the 2019-2020 season actually was, ending in a Finals loss to the Lakers, the Miami Heat took a step back last season, getting sent home early by Giannis and the Bucks. They made one obvious move that could take them over the top in their division, although the window of some of their respective stars to win a championship is closing, so this is close to a ‘now or never’ move as we’ve seen recently.
Inking Kyle Lowry to a major contract over the next three years where he’ll make ninety million dollars pairs him with Jimmy Butler and cements the attitude that the Heat made their money with in 2019-2020. Losing Goran Dragic was the natural way for that trade to go, and Precious Achiuwa hurts, but Lowry still holds enough value to where it was going to require a better-than-decent prospect to make the trade work.
Miami’s offseason outside of the Lowry deal was largely defined by contracts getting resigned. Jimmy Butler caught himself a nice four year, $184m max deal that will be questioned by some at this point in his career, but until it’s time to pay Bam Adebayo, dedicating that money to Jimmy makes sense, according to this bullshit opinion. The other two culture additions were P.J. Tucker and Markieff Morris, both of whom were most likely not brought in for their skill only.
World famous podcaster Duncan Robinson also signed the biggest extension an undrafted player has ever received, five years, ninety million. Dewayne Dedmon will return after last season’s late season addition, as well as Victor Oladipo looking for his second wave of his career, and new to Miami is forward Udonis Haslem, bringing a youthful spark to the bench.
Max Strus, Gabe Vincent, and Omer Yurtseven also will join the squad, after the prior two were on two-way contracts last season and cemented their deals this summer, and the latter came out of seemingly nowhere to be Miami’s biggest summer star. His performances were highlighted by a 27 point, 19 rebound, 2 block show against the Lakers, showing a lot of skill and three level scoring ability for a 7-footer, making him a dream modern big to spell Bam.
An argument could be made that the Heat gave up considerable depth this offseason, both in trading for North Philly’s finest, and in free agency, with nice pieces like Kendrick Nunn leaving for nothing to join a loaded Lakers squad. That being said, Lowry gives them another star with experience winning on the highest level, they brought in two stretch bigs that fulfill their culture, and despite not having a first-round pick of their own in this particular loaded draft, they have three young players on their roster now who will be able to spell minutes down the stretch. The Heat will have to fight for the top of the East this year, but it’s certainly not impossible.
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