How does Miami’s season end?
Over here at Hot Hot Hoops, we will be doing a five-part roundtable leading up to the Miami Heat’s 2022-23 season-opener on Wednesday, Oct. 19 against the Chicago Bulls. We conclude the final part of our series today: How will the Heat’s season end up?
How will the Heat’s season end?
Daniel Riccio: After losing the first preseason game, Miami bounced back to win every other game and finish 4-1. There is a lot to look forward to for this season moving forward. In the summer it seemed as if Miami was planning on running back a team that at times gave Jimmy Butler little to no help in the playoffs last season while other Eastern Conference teams made upgrades. However, it looks like the chemistry is as good as it’s ever been. Caleb looks to fill the gap PJ Tucker left nicely and add some more dynamic to the starting line up. Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro both look ready to continue making leaps in their games, Kyle Lowry looks healthy and rejuvenated, along with Victor Oladipo. The other role players look more comfortable as well. So there is a lot to be optimistic about and although it looks close to the same team as last year on paper, after watching preseason I expect the team to have a similar record as they did the year prior, if not even better. I look to see the Heat at close to the top of the standings to end the season once again.
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Matt Hanifan: I have the Heat as a top-4 in the East, likely behind the Philadelphia 76ers, Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks. But the Heat are directly in that next tier, and I wouldn’t put it past them to make noise in the Eastern Conference and potentially make it back to the Conference Finals. Their frontcourt situation is better than it’s getting publicized; two of their top three players — Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro — are 25 or under and are only getting better; collectively, they’ve continued to churn out production regardless of who’s in the rotation. This is a good team. I’m not sure they’ll win a title this season, but this could be a scary deep team that can send teams home early in a playoff series.
Surya Fernandez: This is a solid-looking team with some tantalizing depth, but they’re playing in a deep Eastern Conference — or so it would seem on paper. There’s always a few NBA teams every year that fall off after a successful season, like the Atlanta Hawks recently did and also the Heat more than once (and not too long ago). This time around it could be a team like the Phoenix Suns, but I don’t see the Heat crumbling. Hopefully it’s not a big “if”, but if they’re relatively healthy by the playoffs no East team is going to want to play them in a grueling seven-game series. They can reach the Conference Finals once again, and maybe this time Jimmy doesn’t miss.
Naveen Ganglani. Screw it. They’re winning the championship.