The Miami Heat are entering the 2025-26 trying to correct their offense, which has been a bottom-third unit each of the last three seasons.
That may be difficult without Jimmy Butler, but the Heat are intentionally trying to push the pace and play faster — getting more bites at the apple. It helps they also added guard Norman Powell, a near-20-point per game scorer who fits that bill, coming off the best season of his career with the Los Angeles Clippers.
Though Tyler Herro — who played a career-high 77 games in 2024-25 — sidelined for the first month after undergoing foot surgery last month. Bleacher Report’s Zach Buckley recently detailed why that could be a concern heading into the new campaign.
“Should we add Miami fielding a bottom-third offense to the list of life’s certainties next to death and taxes?” Buckley wrote. “And, remember, this three-year stretch featured three playoff berths and three series wins, because Erik Spoelstra is a mastermind, and Playoff Jimmy was him.
“Even without Jimmy Butler now, Miami could conceivably capitalize on a wide-open East by fielding even an average offense. But how is that supposed to happen? Shot-creation was already a question mark before Tyler Herro had surgery on his left foot in September.
“Bam Adebayo is in a two-year scoring decline. Norman Powell faces plenty of sustainability questions following an age-31 breakout, and he’s a play-finisher, not a creator. Nikola Jović has had trouble staying on the floor (and, at times, in the rotation). Rookie Kasparas Jakučionis may not be ready. So, it might be another round of nightly searches for scoring chances.”
The Miami Heat’s 3-point shooting is a concern, which limits their ceiling:
The Miami Heat lost their best floor spacer this offseason in Duncan Robinson. There isn’t a single player on this roster who attracts as much attention as a 3-point specialist than Robinson, the greatest shooter in the franchise’s history.
The Heat also don’t have many high volume 3-point shooting outside of Powell and Herro, who primarily operate on-ball. Nikola Jovic and Andrew Wiggins are the closest to that, with both shooting at least 36.0 percent from deep last season on reasonable volume; Davion Mitchell’s 44.7 percent isn’t sustainable.
Bam Adebayo flashed efficient 3-point shooting on moderate volume late in the season, but it’s unclear whether that will immediately carry over in Herro’s absence. Dru Smith and Pelle Larsson are both capable 3-point shooters on moderate volume, but not natural floor spacers (yet).
You need efficient 3-point shooting — as well as good spacing, paint touches, willing-and-efficient playmakers, etc. — to succeed as an offense. Miami’s fast-paced play was a mixed bag in the preseason, and its shooting was porous, leading to suboptimal offensive outputs and far too many leakouts defensively.
We won’t get to see it in regular season form until Wednesday, Oct. 22 against the Orlando Magic!
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ware sprained ankle he doesnt play chances beating big orlando team very small
if we were in the west def lose 50 games.glad miamis located in the east
gabe guarding jimmy lol seen that movie before gabe tring to guard a big.jimmy lives in san diego sun
His home is in Poway…about 10-12 miles from me.
melo tmac vinsnaity on nbc wow we could prob use those guys now.id take them over jjj pelle jovic
marcus smart in lakers uni doesnt seem right alt those years in boston looks funny rc
I like players who always hustle
he does more than hustle.borderline dirty player.got the most out of his talent which isnt that much
this is a heat chat room
😆
marcus smarts a dawg a miniature ud wish he was a heater
He’s past his prime.
the camera work of nbc is lebronish
Wild first game.
west is loaded glad were in the east.kd almost blew it calling to whenthey didnt have one.i miss jimmy on this team pat should have given him the $$$ kept him happy.i know u wont like that but he was by far our best player not even close.skinny luka might not be better player he used his bulk alot to back down players
He was our best player, but you know I disagree about giving a malcontent money when he doesn’t give you his best.
he was giving it his all guess wanted big arison $$. deserved it why not pay a ss big $$$ we have no chance winnng it all now with quitter always thought we had chance for jewelry.big mistake not paying him big
No he was not. Missed a lot of games. He and his agent said he would play more the following season. He didn’t. If you wanna pay a guy who totally screws your organization over I don’t know what to tell you. I wouldn’t do it. I miss having a player of his caliber. I don’t miss him. He is doing exactly the same thing right now with the Warriors that he did when he first came here. He played hard. He said how happy he was to be here. He’s doing the same exact thing over there, let’s see what it looks like down the road. I’m glad he’s gone. I’m glad they didn’t pay him. He was dog meat for one and a half seasons, maybe 2 1/2.
He is in his 14th year. His time down here was by far, the best years he ever had. If he would’ve played hard in the last 2 1/2 seasons, and not put us in the play in for three years in a row, he would’ve gotten his maximum extension. He didn’t do that. He didn’t earn the big payday. There is often bad blood with every team that he has been with. He has not carried any team to a championship. He needs to stop blaming the organizations that he has been with and just look in the mirror to see where the problem is.
Lastly, try and deal with reality here. He is gone. He is not coming back. It’s a moot point whether he should’ve been paid or not paid. We have a different team and he is not on it. I will be rooting for the team that we have on the court. Not one in my private fantasy world.
just watching him play last night wish he was still here pink floyd wish u were here
That’s like seeing your ex-wife and wishing you were still together (even though she was a real bitch who brought out the worst in you).
Absolutely agree. Glad the quitter is gone. Good riddance.
hard to watch reg season games other than heats. playoofs ill watch lot more games
Can’t wait until Miami plays the Rockets. Should be a piece of cake.
Today’s Rockets’ starting five today vs OKC is expected to be:
yeah saw that somewhere. i didnt know Amen Thompson is a pg. or Jabari Smith? thats actually a slow lineup but hard to run if you cant rebound the ball against them
Oct 20: Ware didn’t practice Monday due to neck spasms, Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald reports.
hes not avail at beginning no rebounds no wins
If he doesn’t play, who is his back-up, Goldin? Johnson? Jaquez? What is Plan B Pat?
goldin saw him at fau have u seen him play hes capable
would u have kept keshad over precious
Would you prefer herpes or the clap?
espn picking orl atl 3 4 in east.
Like Herro, Young didn’t get an extension either. Wonder if there is room for a trade there? Hmm?
The official deadline has now passed – there will be no extension for Herro this season. We may now all exhale. He will not be eligible again until next July.
@ Oregoner what’s your outlook on the blazers young pieces of clingan sharpe and camara out of curiosity?
Camara is a solid 3-and-D player, he’ll eventually be a rotation player for a championship contender. Clingin is a solid big. He’s not quick enough and can’t shoot, so he’ll never be a superstar. But he can block shots and anchor a defense, so he’ll also be a valuable player if he ever plays for a good team. Sharpe feels like one of those guys that has all the talent and athleticism and you’re just waiting for him to put it all together, but he never does.
In general, I think the Blazers have stunk for half a decade, so they’ve got some good young players. But I think it’s been a losing culture for so long that it will be tough to turn it around. I like the idea of bringing in Jrue to change the outlook. They’ll be lucky to make the play-in, and have almost no chance in the playoffs. But they’ve been so bad for so long that it will be nice to have some competitive basketball in town
heat chat room
How come you’re always writing about other teams?
im usually comparing other teams to ares,i dont give an f about other teams.i know about the other teams but im heat for life not blazer for life.c u tomorrow win or lose got u and e reid thats good enough for me.
People can discuss what they want to here. We’ve discussed vacations, Disney, restaurants, music, Dolphins, Panthers, Marlins. Mox nix.
sorry rc go blazers
Wizards! Btw, probably heading back to AK Lodge in January. Probably will do Boma again.
u ever try ohana buffet at polynesian thats impossible to get into
No, had breakfast there once. You eat there?
no i make din resvs for disney.lilo and stitch there for bfast.bomas ez to get into ohana never has times avail bfast or dinner
@ sunman we gotta get Camara at some point I know we missing big man depth but that kid reeks of Heat culture
One step at a time. May be possible if Blazers want to include a big in a package deal.
I hope this team turns out to be more fun than I’m expecting. With Dunc traded and Herro injured, it’s a whole new backcourt. We’ll see what Jaku and Norm can bring to the table. But we’re still looking at Wiggins, JJJ, and Pelle on the wing, and still looking at a Bam Ware and Jovic up front. I like the frontcourt, but that might be the worst wing rotation in the league.
I dunno. I think this team will probably hover somewhere around the 6-8 seed, like they have every season over the past few years. I saw a fake trade online where Miami send Herro, Ware, and picks to the Suns for Devin Booker, and for a second I remembered what it was like to be excited about the roster.
I dunno. Sorry I’m being so negative. Usually not my style. But I thought they needed to rebuild this roster two seasons ago. It just feels like the Heat are feeding us 3-day old leftovers with this team
jovic has been so inconsistent since hes been here.sure hes got good size but what is he really good at.hes a jack of all trades master of none goldin has to play or else we will get killed on the boards.hes not as slow as rc says he is and hes big and strong which jovic isnt .i cant believe they cut achiuwa hes more useful for this team than jovic.not saying hes a better player but hes got rebounding and some toughness we lack.
I am not the only one who thinks so….
NBA scout and draft reports indicate that while Vladislav Goldin has significant strengths as a powerful, old-school center, his athletic limitations—specifically a lack of quickness and explosiveness—are a major weakness. He is generally considered slow for an NBA-level athlete, which creates challenges on both offense and defense.
watched him at fau hes got offense in him and defense to.hope he gets 15 mins a game
I am fine if he does. He is a big dude. He can clog the middle a bit just by standing there. I have also seen that he has some offensive moves. Can it translate to the big leagues? We’ll see.
we better find out
We’re going to find out
so i guess this is a make or break season? reading the doomsday scenarios here and other socmed sites Heat feels like they’ll end up with just 20+ wins. its the “curse” of a highly respected franchise, there is not much room for slack. this might be a trial run for a new look team leading to the free agency of stars in 2027. that could be the plan but who knows? see you all in the first game. hoping for the best but could be a massacre. sigh. go Heat…
I don’t think it’s going to be 20 wins. Most likely, something like 38 wins, and another play-in season where they get crushed in the first round by a top-2 seed.
losing jimmy is a major loss losing unc is a plus.adding norm good addition .we all hate jimmy here yours truly included.but theres no doubt he was the reason we were relevant for last few years.lets say we just had norm instead of quitter these past years theres no way we make playoffs.for us to be good all our starters gonna have to have good years.we dont have a ss anymore group effort needed
Whatever happens, good or bad, there should be no excuses. Whatever happens, good or bad, the GM should take ownership of. He has had almost free rein and has made all the choices and moves he decided on and the ones he decided not to make. Even this adhering to the the salary cap is on him and the contract decisions he made. Here’s hoping it all works out and we have a fun season.
It has been noted that for the last 2 or 3 years, Riley has NOT made all the choices. It is more committee based. Does he still have influence in the decision making? Absolutely! But I’ve also read that he’s been overruled by Arison at times.
I don’t think he can be exonerated from responsibility. Even if he’s only 95% responsible, which I don’t buy as I see him very much in command of this organization and has the last word on almost everything, he still bears too much culpability to make any excuses for him. If this team does mediocre or worse this year, it will be his fault, and the finger should be pointed at him. And anything less just allows a person to continue to perform poorly at their job. He already gets such a pass because of his past. But, this year will be three years of irrelevancy, if things turn out as the prognosticators think they will. His legacy is one of greatness, but that was then and this is now. I, for one, will not give him a pass anymore if we have another year like the last two.
And if we do well this season, I will give him his appropriate props, and gladly. Because this teams success or failure is down to him. It’s just that someone has to be accountable.
I don’t disagree. The brunt of the responsibility is on his shoulders.
I agree. If Riley pulls a rabbit or two out of somewhere the sun don’t shine and builds a good front court and finds a ss who will actually make a difference, I will give him all the credit in the world (as he deserved for the Ware and Jakucionis draft picks and Powell trade). However, if he fails to remedy the Heat’s current personnel issues and the team fades into another mediocre season (or worse) I will blame him for the failure.
kasper injured now what has he done
Dude, he’s 19. If the Heat cleans house, he is one of the few players who will definitely remain. The kid’s potential upside is all-star level and his lowest downside is as a good back-up combo guard. I can see Jakucionis and Ware still playing together successfully 10 years from now.
u can say that about any nba 1st rnd pick.harold miner justice bustice .michael weedsley
I don’t remember a young Miami PG and C duo who had the chemistry and potential these two do. Just trying to be optimistic heat.
pat gets the credit for the rings has to take blame for mediocrity .results business sports.hes the decision maker nobody else of course he gets inputs from scouts and other people but ultimately he pulls the trigger.we can never rip pat hes the savior of this org.
More questions than answers this season and very little room for error. The good thing is that we should find out rather quickly what this team can do and in what direction they are headed. If it can be battle ready with a strategic trade or two or if it is in need of a total makeover. Hope for the best and prepare for the worst. GO HEAT!
Yup, major question marks abound. They have to be better defensively and rebound better. Yes, I know, starting Bam at center likely results in a bigger rebounding disadvantage. It’s why I feel Ware has to play at least 30 minutes per game.
Based on eye test, combo Bam/Ware doesn’t rebound much better then playing separately. Rebounding is one of the problems Heat have for years.
Maybe, but rim protection is substantially better with Ware
Plus Jovic isn’t a rebounder AND doesn’t play defense, especially against big PFs and C’s.
The way I see it, between the PF and C positions, Bam and Ware should get about 34 minutes each and Jovic and Goldin should split the remaining 28 minutes, with Jovic and Jaquez picking up minutes subbing for Wiggins and Jaquez and Larsson picking up minutes subbing for Powell. Mitchell, Smith and possibly Rozier should split the PG minutes.
what does jovic do good
I don’t know. Ask vagi.
It is well known, that the size of the nose corresponds to the size of something else, as explained here:
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/kOKaHF-EY3c
So there is an answer. Nico takes care of wives and girlfriends of teammates, FO and coaches, which can focus on basketball without distractions because of that.
This alone earned him a massive extension. If he can contribute a rebound here and there or a point once in the while, even better.
So leave him alone , he is doing all heavy lifting off the court. Therefore you cant expect too much on the court from him.
…This alone earned him a massive extension…..
hahahahaha!
He could definitely do some damage with that nose, depending on where he sticks it. Must be at least an 8″-10″er.