Miami Heat Facing 'Uphill Battle' to Fix Roster for Future

Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images

Erik Spoelstra, Miami Heat

The Miami Heat have endured a difficult season. Jimmy Butler‘s trade request and subsequent departure from the franchise have highlighted the amount of work needed to become a contending roster.

In an April 3 article, Dan Favale of Bleacher Report detailed the uphill battle Miami’s front office faces.

“Miami doesn’t have the freedom to rebuild, is light on tradeable firsts even after scooping up Golden State’s for this year, and cannot carve out meaningful cap space until at least 2026,” Favale wrote. “The Heat have limited capacity to shake things up, and the odds of dramatic internal improvement rest predominantly with Ware or Jaime Jaquez Jr. (to a lesser extent these days). This is far from the league’s worst situation, but it’s not exactly an enviable position, either.”

With limited tradeable assets, it’s hard to see how the Heat can pivot. Keeping Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro is essential to the team’s chances of long-term success. However, given their lack of assets, the front office may need to lose its best players to re-stock the cupboard for the future.

Fortunately for the Heat, they’re one of the most desirable free-agent destinations. If they can generate significant cap space, the front office can turn the franchise around rather quickly. Creating that type of space is a difficult task, though.

Heat Among Kevin Durant’s Preferred Locations

Kevin Durant is expected to hit the trade market this summer. His tenure with the Phoenix Suns has failed to bring he success Mat Ishbia had hoped for. Durant would instantly change the current trajectory of the Heat, at least in the short term.

According to Shams Charania, Miami is among Durant’s list of preferred destinations, should he actually be traded.

“The Suns and Kevin Durant would work together on any trade,” Charania said. “…Back at the NBA trade deadline, there was a list of teams where there was mutual interest with Kevin Durant. That’s Minnesota, New York, Houston, San Antonio, Miami. Those are the types of team, from my understanding, that had interest then and I expect them to be in the mix in the offseason.”

Durant has been excellent this season, averaging 26.6 points, 6 rebounds and 4.2 assists. He’s shooting 52.7% from the field and 43% from deep.

Heat’s Tyler Herro Has Improved This Season

Another way the Heat can avoid a total slide will be through internal development. Tyler Herro has taken his game to a new level this season.

“He’s playing so patiently without the ball,” Spoelstra said. “It’s really slowing down for him. The more aggressive you are, he’ll play off the ball. He’s playing less and less, bringing the ball up the court and running an angle pick and roll; he’s playing off a catch, playing off overreactions. He’s so skilled; if you are getting him on the move like that, he’s a handful. And he’s burning a lot less calories doing it as well. Guys are getting comfortable getting him the ball when he’s on the move.”

Kel’el Ware and Jaime Jaquez Jr. are both capable of improving their games. Miami could also look to the free agency market in the hope of locating another undrafted gem. While the Heat’s future looks bleak on paper, there are still multiple options on the table for the franchise. It will be interesting to see what direction they take.

Adam Taylor is a basketball reporter covering the Boston Celtics and Phoenix Suns for Heavy. He has also written for CelticsBlog, USA Today, Yardbarker and FanSided. Adam has a bachelor’s degree in creative writing from Open University. More about Adam Taylor