The Miami Heat always seem to be interested in every star player that becomes available on the trade market. The only problem is, they rarely ever land them.
The Heat have made two NBA Finals appearances and four trips to the Eastern Conference Finals since 2020. As impressive as it is, the main issue is the team’s president Pat Riley has made little to no changes to the roster over that period.
“Look at the Miami Heat’s roster. Really look at it. How many names are you prepared to guarantee will rank among the top 100 players next season? (Bam) Adebayo and (Jimmy) Butler are givens, but the locks end there,” writes Bleacher Report’s Dan Favale.
“Finishing next year with just two ironclad top-100 players would likely mean the Heat are exactly where they were last season: far from irrelevant but even further away from genuine contention. And this time, they’d need to reconcile that reality with Butler potentially entering free agency.”
If Butler leaves the team in free agency this upcoming offseason, Miami will be left with just one star on the roster in Adebayo. The Kentucky product is one of the best big men in the league, but in a stacked Eastern Conference, it would almost be negligent for Riley to let the state of the roster play out like that.
The Heat need to make a move before the season is over if they hope to remain a contender moving forward.
