#miami-heat

#miami-heat

But their loss against Minnesota - their second in four days to them - continued to reinforce a truth that's been the case for three years: When pinned against longer, deeper, more athletic teams, the Heat can't overcome the hurdle in front of them. Recent exceptions to the rule are the Denver Nuggets - who were without Nikola Jokic for the second half - and the Detroit Pistons. Those were good wins - very good wins.

The Miami Heat have sort of papered over their years-long struggle with offense by playing at the league's fastest pace, but they still rank in the bottom half of the league in points per 100 possessions. ... If they don't get a midseason breakout on that end from someone like Andrew Wiggins, Jaime Jaquez Jr. or Bam Adebayo, it's hard to imagine the Heat breaking free of the middle of the NBA's pack.

In a vacuum, reshuffling this currently flawed Heat roster into a core of Kawhi, Harden, Kel'el Ware, Norman Powell, and Bam Adebayo may seem great and appealing And if things would theoretically fall in that team's favor, it could even lead to them making a lot of noise in the Eastern Conference. However, this is a trade that would be extremely short-sighted and one that could end up hurting the Heat in the long run.

2025 stats (67 games, including postseason): 10.3 PTS, 6.4 AST, 1.2 STL, 50.5 FG%, 42.4 3P%, 59.5 TS% Skinny: I was bullish on Mitchell's fit when they first acquired him in the Jimmy Butler blockbuster. His tough, relentless, energetic demeanor made him a quintessential Miami Heat player. He hasn't been as aggressive this year as he was in 2024-25, but he's shown to be an incredibly important focal point of this team.

In what has already been a daunting first-half season schedule for the Miami Heat, they will face yet another tough matchup as they host multi-time MVP Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets on Monday. Dating back to the 2023 NBA Finals, the Nuggets have won nine of their last 10 games against the Heat. Miami hasn't won a game versus them since Game 2 of those Finals, and they haven't beaten them in the regular season since 2021-22.

There have been a slew of injuries to star players throughout the NBA, including the Miami Heat. Tyler Herro is set to miss his 26th game of the season on Saturday, while Bam Adebayo is expected to miss his 8th. The list doesn't end there: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Victor Wembanyama, Franz Wagner, Paolo Banchero, Anthony Davis, Ja Morant and Anthony Edwards, among several others, have all had prolonged absences due to injury.

Through the first 30 games of the season, the Miami Heat are somehow worse than they were last year. Especially after the impressive 14-7 start to this season, this has to be the biggest sign that it may indeed be time for the front office to blow up this roster. The Heat is 15-15 through 30 games this season, and was 16-14 at this point last year. That simply doesn't add up, and it can't be a great sign for the Heat moving forward.

While the NFL has done its best to invade Christmas Day, it will always belong to the NBA. The league's annual five-game slate is usually packed with the best and most intriguing matchups. In the midst of a dreadful nine-game stretch, the Miami Heat do not play on Christmas Day this year. But let's not forget that they are the best Christmas Day squad of all time.

While it wasn't exactly formal, exactly one year ago today, Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler not-so-subtly requested a trade away from the organization. The relationship between and the organization continued to deteriorate over the next several weeks, which ultimately led to him being moved in early February to Golden State. While Miami fell apart down the stretch without its former star, its start to 2025-26 was much more encouraging.

Remember the wave of excitement surrounding the Miami Heat's selection of Kasparas Jakucionis as the 20th overall pick of the 2025 NBA draft? That was never tied to any hopes of him competing for a rotation role on opening night and vying for Rookie of the Year honors. And even if it was, his shaky showing in summer league basically underlined and highlighted his need for further development.

"This is not what I would have predicted. I thought we were ready, I thought we had a good session this morning. I thought coming off of our last two games, on the road, even though there were losses, there were way more good things than negative things. It was a lifeless start. And then we just felt like we were digging back the rest of the game. You have to credit Toronto. They came out with a force and speed in this game that we couldn't get a grapple on."