Portis wants to move better, contribute defensively and set the tone as a veteran. His longtime teammate has already noticed the work.
Bobby Portis Jr. had more than a new team to prepare for this offseason. He also had Miami’s conditioning test on his mind.
The veteran big man said he started the offseason at approximately 266 pounds. By his most recent weigh-in, he was down to 247—a 19-pound difference he hopes will help him contribute in several ways with the Miami Heat.
“I think it was good for me just to get up and down the floor the way I want to, switch on defense, move my feet a little better, and things like that,” Portis said. “Trying to impact winning as much as I can.”
There was also the matter of making a good first impression.
“I always heard about these Heat tests, the conditioning tests, you feel me?” Portis said. “I didn’t want to be that guy that didn’t make it.”
His update for the room?
“So for you guys to understand, I did make it.”
Giannis has noticed the difference
Giannis Antetokounmpo knows Portis’s habits well after their years together in Milwaukee. But even with that familiarity, he sounded encouraged by how his longtime teammate is entering this next chapter.
“He had one of the best offseasons of his career,” Antetokounmpo said. “He looks good. He’s moving fast. His shot is sharp.”
Antetokounmpo also pointed to Portis’s weight loss and movement before describing a player who appears particularly focused.
“He’s in a different kind of zone right now.”
For Giannis, Miami’s environment could help bring even more out of him. He pointed to the team’s expectations and the opportunity for Portis to reach another level with the Heat.
Antetokounmpo said others within the organization have been surprised by how Portis works and leads. Those qualities were already familiar to him.
Portis, meanwhile, sees that leadership as an important part of what he can offer Miami.
“I think as I’ve grown in my career, I’ve gotten comfortable in my skin with being vocal and talking to my teammates and just letting them know what’s up,” Portis said. “I think that’s my role and that’s my place on the team.”
Setting the tone in a new locker room
Portis wants to be someone teammates can lean on. Entering his 12th NBA season, he has enough experience with the highs and lows of the league to help younger players navigate their own situations.
That role starts with building relationships. Portis emphasized the importance of the group spending time together before training camp, learning about one another beyond basketball.
“I think when you want to win a championship, when you want to get to that next level and play in June, it doesn’t start in training camp,” he said. “It doesn’t start in preseason. It starts in the offseason.”
His reasoning was straightforward: knowing what a teammate is playing for makes it easier to sacrifice for him on the court. Setting a screen or diving for a loose ball becomes part of a shared investment in winning.
Portis likes the makeup of this group, particularly its willingness to put the team first.
“I think we got a lot of selfless, hungry, self-motivated guys that can sacrifice for the betterment of the team,” he said.
The Heat still have to turn that willingness into results. Portis’s preparation gives him a starting point: arrive in better shape, move more comfortably within Miami’s system and bring the competitive energy he expects of himself.
For all the talk about a new city, new teammates and a lighter frame, his goal is familiar.
“The lasting impression that I’m trying to leave is just to win.”
***
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THE GAME VS TORONTO ON SATURDAY IS BEING TELEVISED ON NBA TV.
You can watch the Heat vs Raptors live on NBA TV on Saturday, October 3, 2026, at 7:00 PM EDT (4:00 PM PDT) from the Videotron Centre in Quebec City.
canes clemson
Record it and watch it later
i got two tvs side by side
Knock yourself out.
Our first real test. We will learn if this years Canes team is as good as its ranking this weekend. Wake Forest is a better than average team but this is a slight step up from there, particularly at Clemson. And the illusion that you are better than you are when you play crappy teams in any sport could apply here. But, my guess is we will survive.
mensah toney would be good against anybody.think our defense is not champ dl.need frederique back.clemson not the same old clemson anymore.16 pt fav at clemson is crazy.marios the new pat riley don shula
Eastern Conference power rankings before the start of preseason(Charlotte Hornets on SI, October 1, 2026)
#1 Miami Heat
Lots of people have concerns about the Miami Heat’s bench, and that is fair. But their starting lineup is as loaded as they come. Davion Mitchell, Pelle Larsson, or Tim Hardaway Jr., Andrew Wiggins, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Bam Adebayo should strike fear into many opponents. It is surely the most well-rounded lineup Antetokounmpo has had around him since his title run with the Bucks.
Assuming that Antetokounmpo will miss at least roundabout fifteen games, and taking into account that it will take time for him to adjust to Miami and his teammates, the Heat could struggle a bit to start the season.
Do not be surprised, though, if they find their stride after a few weeks and start tearing through opponents.
Miami has an incredibly dangerous setup that few other teams have: An MVP-caliber player (Antetokounmpo), willing second and third options (Adebayo/Wiggins), and tons of reliable low-usage complementary players (Larsson, Mitchell, Hardaway Jr., Richards, Fontecchio, Thompson, Jovic, Smith).
And that’s not even accounting for frequent sixth man of the year candidate Bobby Portis Jr. And the fact that this roster will be coached by one of the league’s most experienced and successful head coaches, Erik Spoelstra.
So, Mitchell is our only point guard still healthy. It looks like that good old times of playmaking by committee are back. Very interesting times, but not really successful.
I wonder if Gabe is on his way to Miami.
Conwell, Pelle, Donaldson and maybe even a little point forward action from Jovic.
Dont count on those. If something happens to Mitchell, Heats best (and only) ball handlers are Greek, Bam and Jovic.
To see a lineup of Bam, Giannis, Wiggins, Pelle and Niko at point guard, that would be something.
Heat could use Jaime’s playmaking skills.
True.
to get the second best player in the nba let milw enjoy the highway,ill enjoys greeks playmaking skills slightly more
I didn’t mean instead of I meant in addition to.
It’s good for our rookie guards, but not really for the team. But it’s no surprise with Dru’s history. They say it’s not serious, but it’s not a comfortable situation to be in. To have just one reliable point guard. There are available unsigned players, but I doubt they will go after one before the season starts.
We will see. In my opinion, point guard position is the most important one in the team, because it brings structure to the game.
dru hurt already let the kyrie rumors start again.im giving up wiggins for kyrie,u have bam who can guard sf.th jr even pelle or the gardner bam or port on pfs greek richards on cs.u add kyrie to thompson bam port greek wow sweet 5 imo or pelle for d for thompson.lets take 6ers port on joel greek lebron bam brown klay edge tyrese irv.
Honestly not ready to trade away wiggy…. unless we’re a 7th or 8th seed close to the ending of the trade deadline, that’s the only time I’ll consider it.
No one knows if Kyrie is still damaged goods. It would take Wiggins, Mitchell and a pick to get him.
Wiggins wants to play in Miami. Furthermore, he has shown loyalty to the team. He gave up money to prove it. You don’t reward a player’s loyalty by stabbing him in the back.
In the past six seasons from 2019-2020 through 2025-2026, Irving played a total of 271 of 492 possible games (an average of 45.17 games per season/ 55.1% of the total possible games). If, as Riley says, the most important ability is avail-ability, Kyrie fails miserably.
Miami should go with what it has and see if one or more of the team’s current players steps up to cover back-up PG duties. Who knows, Dru’s misfortune may be another player’s fortune (and possibly Miami’s as well). Worst case scenario, Heat can bring in a short term fix (e.g. Gabe Vincent) and resolve the matter by the trade deadline.
i dont consider gv a fix.we have 3-4 year window with greek.if u think current roster is good for jewelry i trust u sm.an nba finals loss is not acceptable.cause after greek is done lord have mercy on our team.only rc will be watching the games in feb from start to end lol
If Riley gets really desperate for a warm body he has Gabe, who is comparable to Dru and knows the system. It doesn’t fix the problem, it just stops the massive bleeding. I have a feeling one (or more) of the younguns (Conwell and/or Donaldson) will surprise everyone and come through in the pinch.
I agree totally and think it’s to Miami’s advantage to leave that 15th spot open.
Yup! And other real fans too.
Dallas played one season without real point guard. I think, they done with that.
Irving will be available in exchange for another, younger point guard later in the season, if Dallas collapses.
RC predictions (I will copy and paste on other threads, so sorry for redundancy):
Klay will average at least 15 ppg, at least 38% 3p%, and will start.
Pelle will play at least 25 mpg and be in mip and/or 6moy conversations.
Conwell will get meaningful minutes sooner than later (this will now be much sooner due to another Dru injury which will sideline him for several weeks).
Mitchell will average 13 ppg and will continue to provide great defense and assist to turnover ratio.
Jovic will have a bounce back season (I hope). 10/5/5 38% 3p%?
Heat will finish top 6.
Heat will have top 3 defense in the league.
Record 49-33, and at least second round.
Hey. Did you hack into my computer again and steal the draft I was working on? I hadn’t quite finished so you didn’t include the parts about:
— Davion averaging 8-10 assists,
— Giannis and Bam averaging 50/20
— Wiggins averaging 16 ppg.
— Pelle averaging 15/5/5
— Portis averaging 15/6
Starters Giannis (30), Bam (20), Wiggins (16), Thompson (15) and Mitchell (13) = 94 ppg
Rotation players Pelle (15), Portis (15) and Jovic (10) = 40 ppg. ppg.
Combined = 134 ppg
That doesn’t include the projected ppg for other possible rotation players such as Hardaway, Fontecchio, Conwell, Smith and Richards.
Who knows, Heat may average 150+ ppg. So if they give up under 110 ppg, that’s a point differential of at least 40. That should get the job done. Jus sayin.
You shouldn’t leave your screen open like that when you step away. 😀
Sly dog. Dude…I was in the bathroom reading articles and watching videos about the Heat. I couldn’t have been gone more than 45-50 minutes.
u sure it was heat video and articles sm?
I’m like RC. I only read the articles.
Ha!
Thanks for your input. Your projections are quite plausible. I did tell my Celtics fan friend we’d get 48 wins and he told me I was a tad optimistic. But, I’m sticking with 48 wins. I’m wondering if anyone has an opinion on how Hardaway and Richard’s will fare. Will we be satisfied with their roles, will they contribute more or less than we expect?
Good question. I think Hardaway is a known quantity. He will give his all, will hit 3s in the upper 30% range, doesn’t play great defense. No idea about Richards except he has good size, gives solid effort, will run the floor well. I imagine he will get maybe 10-15 minutes average per game.
THJ is probably one of most annoying players I ever watched. When he is on, he can destroy any opponent. Unfortunately, thats one out of 6-7 games. He also has occasional wild moments doing totally stupid things, like going to the rim attacking 3 opponents there. I saw a lot of that watching Dallas.
Still, he polished his game lately, he is more reliable as he use to be, and he cut his “moments”. But expect a lot of up and down with him.
Defense not so good.
Klay wont average 15, that’s for sure. He also has a traditionally slow start into season, so we should expect a lot of bad games early in the season. I expect him to be at his best in March or April, averaging 10+ with over 40 % from three, and occasional over 20 point game.
top 5 shooter all time little older can still shoot that doesnt go away movement maybe but with greek out there requiring lots attention i expect klay to be good .hes gonna get looks that he didnt in dallas
He played with Luka in 24/25 in 21 games with
14,9 ppg, 3,4 reb 1,8 ass, 43 %, ov, 40,6 % for 3 in 27 minutes
without him 51 games
13,6 ppg, 3,4 reb 2,1 ass, 40,2 %, ov, 38,4 % for 3 in 27 minutes.
in 25/26 his stats in 69 games was:
11,7 ppg, 2,1 reb 1,4 ass, 39,3 %, ov, 38,3 % for 3 in 21,7 minutes.
Even with an elite playmaker never reached 15 ppg, and his numbers dipped when played with Irving instead with Doncic. Playing without both gives 11.7 ppg in 22 minutes.
Taking into account that he will probably play much closer to 20 minutes then 30, that his production 2 years ago with an elite point guards was bellow 15 points, is unrealistic to expect from him much more then around 10 ppg in 20 minutes at 38 % 3p average.
I would be happy with that.
With Giannis and Bam threatening the interior, I expect teams will collapse defenses in the paint which should allow passes to be kicked out to open players on the perimeter for quality shots. Fortunately, Miami will have quality perimeter shooters including Thompson, Mitchell, Wiggins, Hardaway, Portis and Conwell. In addition, Jovic and Larsson may also improve their 3 point shooting this year.
If Thompson’s ppg is around 10 ppg as you predict, I expect the other players mentioned above should more than make up for it. That doesn’t include points he will score because of the team’s fast breaks and faster pace. Don’t forget, Miami was the fastest paced team in the NBA in 2025-2026.
Of course, we’ll see, but I just don’t see Klay only averaging 10ppg.
I don’t see klay averaging 15, but also don’t see him just averaging 10 either, I would say probably around 12 with 40 percent beyond the arc. With bam and giannis, teams will be closing in late on klay from beyond the arc, also dho game will be elite with a future hof with bam or giannis dropping it off.
That would be great, but we shouldn’t overstate the interior game of Bam and Giannis. You cant have both at the same time inside.
Its not that having those two will automatically unlock Klay.The thing is, that Bam and Giannis are similar players, and they have to learn first not to step on each others feet’s first.
I dont think there would be a lot of useful balls from Bam or Giannis directly. Every opposing coach knows, that that is a dangerous game. A succesful Klays shot will require at least Giannis or Bam goes to the rim, a pass outside to another player, a block of third player to free up Klay.
I just hope that we wont see much of Dunc/Bam like game.
With the space both players can cover, Bam and Giannis should be able to handle the interior and still be disruptive on the perimeter.
Don’t forget that other team’s strategy was to create a wall to stop Giannis, using 2 or 3 players. No team can effectively stop him one on one. That means that there will often be one or two players that are wide open. We know Klay will have no problem hitting wide open shots. If Mitchell can stay at least in the 37-39% range, that will help keep the defense honest. Interestingly, the player most likely to be left open will be Bam if he is on the perimeter on offense, so he absolutely must get back to the 35.7% he shot in the 2 previous seasons.
Wiggins is another good 3 point shooter who may get a ton of open shots. He shot 41.4% last year and has a career 36.2% average. Same with Hardaway 40.7%/36.5% and Conwell 37.6% (during college career).
Bobby is so happy and appreciative to be on the team he rooted for back in the day. Probably feels lucky to have it be Giannis in a roundabout way that got him here. I hope he has a solid year. I’m rooting for him.
This year’s team has a lot to like. They are a frendly easy going bunch who take their training seriously. They are unselfish, ambitious and have positive attitudes. I suspect they may also be overachievers.
Any way you look at it, this team is going to be fun to watch this year.
GO HEAT!!!
fun becuase they will be good.i never liked watching a bad heat team.port of miami is one of the strongest guys in nba dude 3 pt % was crazy good last year.with richards port backing up bam and greek we are in good hands.no mo wigg at the 4 or bam guarding joker and embid pls spo dont do this again
“i never liked watching a bad heat team.”
uh-huh. Fan?
He still liked watching bad Knicks teams. 😉
im not enjoying the dolphins this year and they are my fav sports team.
of couse im a fan do u enjoy watching your team get its ass kicked night after night
In their first 5 years, they averaged 27 wins per year. I didn’t hate watching them. When they went 15-67, I didn’t hate watching them. I hated losing so often, but didn’t hate watching them because I wanted to determine where and how they could improve, how best to manage draft picks or trades, who was a keeper, etc.
Last season, I enjoyed the success of Jaquez, Pelle’s feistiness (Gardner too), Kas at 19 learning the game, Powell’s first half, and other stuff.
I don’t hate watching the Heat.
“Every cloud has a silver lining, and it is up to us to find it.”
~ Jane Anderson ~
Some are better about finding the dark cloud around the silver lining.
gl to your dodgers sun
San Diego always tough in the playoffs. That kid L.A. pulled up from AA (Josue De Paula) is the real deal.
tatis didnt hit a hr for like 2 months him and machado 2 great power hitters rest of lineup not much .lad gonna win with their starting pitching imo.lineup not to scary anymore especially w.o ohtani