{"id":83625,"date":"2025-07-28T08:10:09","date_gmt":"2025-07-28T08:10:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=83625"},"modified":"2025-07-28T08:10:09","modified_gmt":"2025-07-28T08:10:09","slug":"heat-notes-star-duo-jovic-larsson-fontecchio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=83625","title":{"rendered":"Heat Notes: Star Duo, Jovic, Larsson, Fontecchio"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Heat<\/p>\n

July 27th 2025 at 5:02pm CST by Eli Cohen<\/p>\n

\n

If this season goes poorly, it could lead to an internal examination of the Heat<\/strong>\u2018s longest-tenured pairing, writes Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.<\/p>\n

In an offseason mailbag, Winderman says the entire organization, including head coach Erik Spoelstra<\/strong>, understands that the team\u2019s performance during the last two years \u2013 including back-to-back No. 8 seeds and pair of first-round playoff exits \u2013 is not to the franchise\u2019s lofty standards.<\/p>\n

Jimmy Butler<\/strong>\u2018s impact on those outcomes can\u2019t be overlooked, but Winderman also suggests that the coming season could be \u201cmake-or-break\u201d for theTyler Herro<\/strong>\/Bam Adebayo<\/strong> duo.<\/p>\n

Herro had a career year last season, averaging personal highs in points (23.9) and assists (5.5) per game while making his first All-Star team, but that coincided with Adebayo posting his lowest scoring year since the 2019\/20 season. Most importantly, it didn\u2019t lead the team to wins \u2014 Miami had a 37-45 regular season record, its worst mark in a decade.<\/p>\n

Winderman notes in his mailbag that the trade for Norman Powell<\/strong> was a win-now move designed to bring in more reliable offense, and that there will be expectations for the team to show signs of growth in the first full season of the post-Butler era.<\/p>\n

We have more from the Heat:<\/p>\n