The Miami Heat may have won six more games than they did in 2024-25, but it still resulted in a play-in appearance for the fourth-straight year. This time, however, the Miami Heat lost to the Charlotte Hornets, snapping the Heat’s streak of six-straight postseason appearances.
Entering a critical summer, Miami must reevaluate its whole roster and have a lot of tough conversations. Who were the biggest disappointments this season?! Let’s examine!
Tyler Herro:
Skinny: While it was unfair to expect Herro to completely replicate his career year in 2024-25, especially with Norman Powell in the fold, he didn’t reach expectations this season.
Herro played in a career-low 33 games (28 starts) due to myriad injuries. And when he was on the court, he never consistently found a rhythm alongside Norman Powell. His defense stayed poor, even though he was aggressive in the passing lanes, and his playmaking took a considerable dip in the Heat’s new offense bereft of ball-screens, where Herro thrived most as a passer.
Herro’s expiring will be worth $33 million. If the Heat can’t move him this summer, he must rehabilitate some of his value in 2026-27 (unless they plan on re-signing him), although the league no longer values his archetype: A one-way scoring guard who doesn’t offer much value elsewhere.
Dru Smith:
Skinny: Smith, 28, returned to Miami on a three-year, non-guaranteed deal last August. Coming off his third season-ending knee surgery of his pro career, there weren’t many expectations for him entering the new year.
Yet, as someone who’s been fond of Smith when he’s been on the court over his career (even though I did not want him back), his defense, shooting and decision-making left plenty to be desired. His defense, while still very disruptive, wasn’t as impactful. Furthermore, he shot just 29.5 percent from 3-point range, where he took roughly 40 percent of his attempts. Lastly, his decision-making was oftentimes confusing.
He was poor on- and off-ball offensively, and played nearly 200 more minutes than Kasparas Jakucionis. While the latter wasn’t ready to begin the season, how Smith played as the season progressed didn’t quite justify that gap.
Nikola Jovic:
Skinny: As we discussed in his player review, Jovic was the Heat’s most disappointing player, bar none.
Jovic couldn’t punish defenses from beyond the arc, where his efficiency fell off a cliff. Jovic shot just 26.9 percent from 3-point range despite being a 37.0 percent 3-point shooter over his first three seasons. From there, his confidence took a major hit. He didn’t let it affect his defense, but Jovic looked like a chicken with its head cut off offensively.
He didn’t rebound the ball particularly well (for his size); his slashing was poor, thus limiting his playmaking upside. All around, it was a poor season for the 22-year-old, who was fresh off a brand new four-year, $62.4 million extension he signed last summer.
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- 2025-26 Miami Heat Player Review: Dru Smith
- If Heat score a top-4 pick in 2026 NBA Draft, here’s how their board should look
- 2025-26 Miami Heat Player Review: Norman Powell
- Examining the Miami Heat’s history in draft lottery
- Should Heat buy low on this former No. 1 overall pick?
- Who were the Heat’s most disappointing players this season?
- 2025-26 Miami Heat Player Review: Davion Mitchell
Why isn’t Bam on this list?
Who would you expect to get back in trade that can do what he does defensively?
Come on…zero question with both eyes closed & hands behind the back. Jovic.
i wasnt expecting much from him so i wasnt that dissapointed.i thought dru would be better
Jovic was the biggest disappointment by a landslide, 3pt shot fell off the cliff, has the worst layup package on the squad, big for nothing, way below average rebounder for his size, and still hasnt played over 47 games. Also it’s true what vagi said about Serbian athletes, thinking there the best in the world with Hella arrogance. The only exception is jokic, but this fool jovic even blamed the offense for his shortcomings, when it was tailor-made for him smh 🤦
All true, except there is a minor thing, which could be a problem for many European players. They used to play in some kind of a system, where there is a structure in offence.
If there is not, some of them are lost.
Pelle and Simone adjusted well, he didnt. Which said something about him too.
Let me rephrase the title.
“Who were the Heat’s most disappointing personnel this season?”
At #4 might be Pat/Andy
#5 Spo 😜😂
There fixed it. You’re welcome 😁
1 pat 1a spobot
I’m going to stick up for Ty here. He is such an offensive talent that some defensive shortcomings are tolerable. Put Herro in the right situation and that team will be very happy with his being there. You see Robinson succeeding as a starter for Detroit. Well, Ty would do even better. I really hope some team sees what he could do for them. For us, as long as we have Powell, Herro’s contract takes up too much space and his trade value to get a player where we have more need makes him best sent elsewhere. But, not because Ty isn’t a good player, as he is really gifted and has been a pleasure to watch.
Detroit is a perfect fit for Herro. Otherwise, most teams can’t cover for his defensive shortcomings. You remember how Cleveland targeted him in the playoffs last year. Plus now he is looking for a multiple year extension at $40M+ per year.
Powell is a slightly worse defender than Herro. I don’t think Miami can afford to keep either of them. Wiggins would be worth keeping if he is willing to take less than $30M per year.
I don’t think the Heat should keep trying to put a patchwork team together and calling it competitive. Neither Herro nor Powell is part of the team’s mid or long term solution. This team is a long way from becoming a contender, regardless how much smoke Riley tries to blow.
powell is def not worse than herro defensively no way lebron.watch the games please.where as dunc is always avail herro isnt.hes more talented than dunc for sure but always hurt.,i really like norm as a player id want him and wig back at the right price.2 all star type players.u cant just let talent like that go.get that one top 10 player alpha male closer youll see how close we are.i think the coaches use of personnel stinks hes part of the problem that goes by the wasteside.small ball small ball no kj ever big vlad no gardner to bang guys up ala smart hart randle.
Let’s just say they’re both trash defensively, I don’t want none of them back, unless it to trade them. I would want keep wiggy if the price right , only if we get injury prone star like kawhi. Either way he has a player option, so most likely trade him too.
i dunno didnt see norm so trashy defensively .why is he so trashy hes pretty well built athletic just dont see him even near ty or uncs level.those two on a level of their own
Age and body breaking down. Better when he was younger.
Norman Powell: While he has shown potential as a solid defender previously, he has struggled defensively this season, allowing 51.6% shooting to opponents (seventh-worst in the league, according to report citing Barry Jackson).
Tyler Herro: Recognized as a significant defensive liability, allowing 49.5% shooting to opponents. He is often viewed as a “bad” defender whose shortcomings require significant team coverage.
Dude, you’re the one that says Miami should only recruit/draft two-way players. So now you want to make exceptions? Wiggins OK if he comes at a reasonable price. No more one-ways.
True. A part of me wants to try to fix what we have because I don’t feel that great about our young players either so it’s like we have issues approaching the short term either way. And noone wants to do a trust the process rebuild either. And btw, even that may prove to be a difficult path with the new rules.
So, I find myself trying to fix what we have, as if you can even do that as exactly as you need to for optimal results. There are so many complications in trades that no path is easy.
But my best fix is acquiring Ja for Herro and I still think we will need to pay more, maybe JJJ, but I still do it. I keep Powell and Wiggins, draft a 6’8ish two way player who shows some ability to be a scorer first, then make a trade or give draft choices for a 6’11” quality third big man. I’d like to see how we would do with that exact team keeping everyone else. Thats my best path knowing that all approaches and all solutions have difficulties associated with that path.
With a little luck, Heat might make the play-in then the playoffs as #7 or #8 team and get masacred in the first round.
Rather than allowing the Arisons & Riley to fool us and us fooling ourselves…again, into believing the team would be competitive, I would rather get rid of the old guys, Wiggins, Powell, Fontecchio as well as Herro and Jovic and try to obtain all the young players with potential and draft picks possible. Then give the youngsters all the playing time possible while continuing to draft young players and assimilate them into the team.
A good young core for Miami to start with would be Ware, Jaquez, Larsson, Jakucionis, young players acquired via the 2026 & 2027 drafts (two lottery picks and one 2026 second round pick), young players acquired via trades, plus Mitchell and Bam. That team wouldn’t make the playoffs, but it would set itself up to trade for a ss by 2027 and be competitive in the future.
theres 29 other teams looking to trade for a so called ss that will be available.if u have a ss why would u not want to retain him unless he wants out..ss like franchise qbs are not easily obtainable.u tear it down it could take a while to build it back up sm.i think with couple prudent moves we can contend for the east.teams like spurs minn okc gonna be hard to beat for a while
What good is a ss QB if you don’t have a strong line to protect him or a strong running game to keep opponents from keying on him? What is a ss on the Heat, if you don’t have a strong supporting cast? I say assemble the supporting cast via drafts and trades then it will be easier to attract a ss or two.
Right now, at minimum, Miami needs a starting SF, SG and a back-up PF/C. If a primo PG drops in their lap, then he should be considered. Why would Miami want to get rid of injury prone one-way players (Herro and Powell) to bring in another one with an even worse availabilty record at $40M+ per year (Ja)?
The Heat don’t need to do things impulsively. That’s what resulted in so many bad contracts over the years, the most recent of which is Jovic’s. Instead, Riley should think strategically, rather than out of his desperation to remain relevant.