By Kevin Perez
The Miami Heat’s unforgettable run ended last season with a 2-4 loss in the NBA Finals to the Los Angeles Lakers. Bam Adebayo and Goran Dragic, arguably their second and third best players, were unable to join the finals for most of the series due to bodily injuries, hampering their chances of victory. Regardless of whether the team could have won with a full set of healthy players, the Heat still had issues they needed to address.
As the offseason has rolled around, they had many free agents they needed to take care of — and they did. In addition to that, they also secured their franchise player, Bam Adebayo.
Heading into this agency Goran Dragic, Meyers Leonard, Jae Crowder, Derrick Jones Jr., and Udonis Haslem arrived as free agents. When free agency opened up last month, Miami quickly agreed to terms resigning Goran Dragic, and Meyers Leonard. Later that night, however, news came out that Derrick Jones Jr had signed with the Portland Trail Blazers. The Heat made up for this move by signing Moe Harkless early next Saturday afternoon. Jae Crowder ended up signing with the Phoenix Suns, Miami wanted to get a deal done with Crowder but reports say Miami did not want to offer more than one guaranteed year. After losing Crowder the Heat went out and signed G Avery Bradley. Udonis Haslem is also returning for his 18th season.
On November 25th, reports came out that the Heat and Bam Adebayo had agreed to a 5 year $163 million max rookie contract extension, possibly going up to $196 million. Before this deal, there was some uncertainty regarding Bam’s extension. The question was never if Miami would offer him the extension, but the significance relied on when they would do so. Miami offered him the extension now, which complicates the possibility of Miami signing Giannis Antetekounpo next summer. Still, each member of the pack comes first.
“One of the most important things a franchise can do is to make sure that your best, youngest, cornerstone players sign on the dotted line. Getting [Bam Adebayo] his extension was a no-brainer for us because we know he will be around for years to come” said Pat Riley in a statement concerning Adebayo’s extension.
Every element in last year’s roster stayed intact for the Heat, except the losses of Jae Crowder and Derrick Jones Jr, and as well the addition of Precious Achiuwa (draft pick), Moe Harkless, and Avery Bradley.
The Heat addressed size by drafting Precious and signing in Moe, the Bradley signing also gives them a great guard defender. While losing Jones Jr. and Crowder might hurt a little they made up for it by signing Harkless and Bradley. The Heat is still one of the deepest, if not the greatest, team in the league, while also being one of the best defensive teams. Like last year, they will prove once again they can compete with anybody, and can come out of the Eastern Conference again.
The Eastern Conference did get tougher — but not by a drastic margin. The Bucks traded for Jrue Holiday and Philadelphia shipped off Al Horford and surrounded Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid with shooters. While not making any huge changes, Miami slightly improved from last year. With the new-look Nets, Bucks with the reigning back-to-back MVP, the Celtics, the polished 76ers, and more teams there will be a lot more competition in the East but the Heat is still around the top.
Time will only tell how this season plays out. The NBA 2020-21 season officially tips off on December 22nd.
