Coming into these playoffs, no team over the past four seasons had won more playoff games than these Miami Heat. However, it does seem like they are a tier below the other contenders. It also needs to be mentioned that they had by far the worst injury luck in recent history: pretty much every other game they were relying on a novel starting 5.
Neither of their stars, Jimmy or Bam, are best suited to be top-level scorers and Herro hasn't quite risen to that level either. Their big need is a reliable high-level scorer and it would be nice to add some size as well.
Offseason Options
There's some friction between Pat Riley and Jimmy Butler, so we can't rule out a Butler trade, but I expect him to be back.
Most of the talk is about trading for Donovan Mitchell, but I think Trae Young and KD are worth keeping an eye on. Personally, I would prefer Trae, because his stock is low, but he has proven that he can carry a team through tough playoff series. If Butler isn't in those trades, then they'll cost Herro and one Jovic or Jaquez.
Which of those superstars are most worth pursuing?
Wild Card Trade
I was playing around with the trade machine and I actually found a trade I liked between Denver and Miami.
Miami gets
- MPJ
Denver gets
- Nikola Jovic
- Tyler Herro
- Orlando Robinson
MPJ plays bigger than Jovic, even though they're both listed at 6'10", and he's more of a flame thrower from three. Miami had good bench depth, so they need to consolidate it into a higher end scorer.
Jovic still shoots very well from three, but he's also a good playmaker and moves more like a SF than MPJ does. He also has nice chemistry with Jokic from playing together on the Serbian national team.
Herro can be the bench scoring option and Murray backup that they badly need. He should have great chemistry with Jokic, because he had it with Bam.
Contenders?
Would any of these approaches make them true contenders next season?
It would basically be Jimmy, Bam, and good depth options, plus whichever big fish they land.