

But giving both Butler and Adebayo 3 games off in that span, while Lowry has gotten 2 games off, puts their standing positioning into even more perspective. They don’t have to rush back the top dogs any time they get injured, which once again, is something new.ġ1-5 and first seed in the Eastern Conference during one of the toughest parts of their schedule is one thing. How is that? When you have a 21 year old Herro taking over games while Butler is resting on the sidelines, that forms extra bodies by the end of the season. It may seem like a pretty obvious thing to say, but something must be added to that: extra options create more depth. The point is that the depth on this team may seem frail at times when they’re down a third of their rotation, but when everything is put together down the stretch of the season, even that will elevate.

If the guards aren’t giving them something on a specific night, I see Coach Spo bringing in Strus to start the second quarter without batting an eye. With a 50 game limit, it’s clear Miami will need to eventually convert him over, since he can be used way more than 50 games this season.Īnd although Max Strus continues to impress in his rotational role this season, a 10th man spark will probably be his role by playoff time.

And yet, his offense doesn’t even touch half the potential of his defensive structure.Ĭaleb Martin has been a steal of a pick-up on that two-way contract, but as many have noted, he won’t be stuck in that deal for long. Herro goes down, Vincent can be the strong attacker and eventual shooter in Herro’s role next to Lowry. Lowry goes down, Vincent can be that sidekick to Herro’s scoring. Aside from the shot falling or bricking, he provides something that Miami can use in certain spots of the season. Obviously we’re coming off a major offensive punch from Vincent on Thursday night, but that isn’t the only reason it’s being brought up. What does that mean? Well, Max Strus, Caleb Martin, and Gabe Vincent will all be on the outside looking in, which is a pretty great spot to be in when looking at the team on paper. To cap off the nine-man rotation, Markieff Morris and Dewayne Dedmon will most likely be the relied on veterans on the back-end. With a returning Victor Oladipo, even disregarding the exact health levels he comes back at, he will no question be a part of that bench back-court with Herro. While we know about that stuff involving the depth at this very moment, let’s fast forward to a fully healthy Heat team and evaluate the “depth,” since the goalposts seem to immediately move. The best front-court option outside of the rotation is Udonis Haslem, and it’s kind of wild that it took so long to realize that. The issue is that 3 rotational pieces down in a specific game, means the depth dwindles down real fast. A strong core like that pretty much means they can pick up the slack for the others. Could Omer Yurtseven develop quickly? Will KZ Okpala finally break-through? Does Gabe Vincent’s scoring ability come along?Īll of those were pretty viable questions to pose, and the frequency of actually presenting those questions has risen quickly.īutler, Adebayo, Lowry, and Herro seem to be switching off games to take the night off, which is something they haven’t been able to do in the past. It just simply isn’t one translating factor to a winning basketball team.īefore the season, the depth of this team was questioned. Jimmy Butler’s MVP status, Bam Adebayo’s two-way play, Tyler Herro’s continued emergence, or Kyle Lowry’s quarterback control. Iguodala would return to the Golden State Warriors the following season after two seasons with the Heat.Film dives aside for a second, the Miami Heat are the number one seed in the East.Ĭredit can fly in a ton of different directions. It was also the first time since 2014 that Andre Iguodala missed the NBA Finals. This is the first time that the Heat were swept in the playoffs since 2007 which was also in the first round against the Chicago Bulls. They attempted to make back-to-back NBA Finals appearances for the first time since 20, but fell to the eventual champion Milwaukee Bucks in the first round in a four-game sweep in a rematch of last season's Conference semifinals in which the Heat won in five games. With a win over the Boston Celtics 129-121, the Heat returned to the playoffs for the second straight year on May 11. The season began just 72 days after the completion of the 2020 Finals, giving the Heat and the Los Angeles Lakers the shortest off-season in league history. The Heat entered the season as both the defending Southeast Division and Eastern Conference champions. The 2020–21 Miami Heat season was the 33rd season of the franchise in the National Basketball Association (NBA).
Miami heat roster 2021 professional#
NBA professional basketball team season 2020–21 Miami Heat season
