#miami-heat

#miami-heat

Larsson has played three games and seems to keep getting better with each game. In his most recent game on Monday, Larsson scored 28 points off 10/20 shooting and got to the free-throw line six times. As we have highlighted from his Summer League play, Larsson's ability to get to the line all summer could be a major boost for a Heat team that was near the bottom of the league in free-throw attempts in 2024-25.

Former Heat guard Mario Chalmers recently said the quiet part out loud, something that the fan base has long been clamoring for the front office to address - the fact that they need a true point guard on the roster to fully unlock this team's potential. In the words of Chalmers, "Miami's at their best when they have a true point guard. I kind of think that's what they're missing...a true point guard."

There's no sugarcoating it: The Miami Heat have been mediocre each of the last three seasons. In fact, with the exception of one historically great playoff run in 2023 that nobody predicted nor could've predicted, they've been a smidge above .500 (127-119) in the regular season and just 1-8 in the postseason. Yikes! Not to mention, one of those postseason exits was in historical fashion ... in a humiliating way!

It would be shocking if the Miami Heat didn't explore adding another big man between now and the start of the season. But even if they did, you'd have to imagine they're going to need to make some sort of move to solidify their frontcourt depth at some point soon. Theoretically speaking, Nikola Vucevic could be a natural potential fit for the team.

The NBA Finals series that sparked Dwyane Wade's Hall of Fame career, and the one that helped put the Miami Heat on the map, still haunts former Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban to this day. Cuban admitted as much on a recent podcast with DLLS Mavs. During the interview, Cuban said that he still believes that series was "stolen" from the Mavs.

Once they started signing everybody else, they pushed me down, and I can see it,

Truth - Miami doesn't have a true superstar The highest-rated player for the Heat is Bam Adebayo, rated 88 overall and the 30th highest-rated player in the game. Tyler Herro did get a bump this year, but despite being an All-Star for the first time, he comes in 42nd overall with an 86 rating. As we here at All U Can Heat have written all offseason, this tracks with the roster Miami has built for the 2025-26 campaign, where the Heat are hoping that a young core of players can gel and be stronger as a unit than what their individual quality might indicate.

Maybe the Heat have different ideas for how to attack the 2025-26 NBA season, though. Given the lack of size on their roster, perhaps they want to spread out what they have and not cram it all into the opening group. By shifting Ware into a high-mileage reserve role and clearing a starting spot for breakout candidate Nikola Jović, they could cover up their depth issues and perhaps elevate their offense.

Sure, the Heat will keep their options open over the next 12 months and be ready to pounce if a star player does become available. However, as NBA scribe Tim Bontemps lays it out, there's a chance that multiple stars could become available in 2027. And it's probably the safer play for Miami to retain flexibility all the way up to that summer.

The biggest one: Head coach Erik Spoelstra is planning to play small. Potentially really small. Yes, the Heat went from (an injured) Highsmith to bringing back Smith in part because it fit with their plan to get under the luxury tax. They also didn't need to cut payroll. They have until the end of the 2025-26 season calendar to shave dollars and cents off the bottom line.