With the release of the Miami Heat schedule last week, People are already wondering what the team’s record could be, as they finished in eighth place in the last two seasons. Both seasons had different results, as in 2023, Miami went from eighth place to the NBA Finals, where last year they were eliminated in the first round by the Boston Celtics.
However, it’s a new season and the question remains whether the Heat can improve on their previous record (46-36). That will be a topic of discussion, but the conversation intensified when the schedule was released with ESPN’s predictions for how the Eastern Conference will play out, with Miami fans likely to be disappointed with the outcome.
ESPN saw the Heat finish at eighth seed for the third consecutive season with a 45-37 record which makes them a worse game than the previous year.
“The Heat, eliminated by the Celtics in the first round last season after reaching the NBA Finals the year before, are projected to finish eighth in the standings – a familiar spot to Jimmy Butler & Co. after finishing there two consecutive years,” ESPN wrote.
There might be some validation of ESPN’s prediction by looking at the Miami Heat’s roster, which is virtually the same with a few exceptions, including the absence of Caleb Martin who left the Philadelphia 76ers in free agency. Additionally, Heat welcomes impressive signings like Kel’el Ware and Pelle Larsson and even a veteran guard in Alec Burks.
The Heat have confidence in their team, with injuries being a major factor for them
Other than that, the team will still rely on its current big three, Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro, whose track record with all of those players isn’t as good as it was in January during the season. they were 31-36 in the last 15 months according to the Miami Herald. However, it has been repeatedly reported that the Heat and president Pat Riley believe they have a championship-caliber team when healthy.
“Until you change the way you do the things that are necessary to win, whatever they are, the things that you do to try to win, if they’re not working, you have to change,” Riley said at his end-of-season press conference in May. “And that’s not to say that ‘change’ is a sinister word here. There’s a lot of elements to consider in a culture, the erosion of a culture, being together for 30 years, generational change, the issues in the NBA that, throughout our league, health-wise, translates into players being out and players being available.”
“If you look at all the young guys coming in, they haven’t had a taste of this yet: OKC, Minnesota, Indiana, Boston with a new group, Orlando, etc., etc.,” Riley continued. “You know, for whatever reason, these guys are playing 70, 80 games. It’s more of a sentiment thing than anything. But it’s definitely a deep dive for us this summer and player availability, but we have to change some things. But we’re certainly not going to tear it down here.”
Jimmy Butler more motivated than ever for the Heat?
Riley is right about one thing, which is that Miami’s injuries last season were worse than ever, as they ranked near the top of the NBA in games missed by players and had over 30 different starting lineups. There are a ton of other variables that can impact this season’s record besides health, though, which is the increased play of Jimmy Butler, since he is in a year where he must “prove himself” as he seeks a contract extension next offseason according to Shams Charania.
“Jimmy Butler will play next season under his current contract with the Heat,” Charania said. “I’m told he will not sign an extension with the Heat or any other team until he opts out in 2025. That clears up any notion of a trade request from Jimmy Butler. He intends to play next season.”
With Heat not committing to contract extension, Butler will make his case
The news follows Riley’s comments after his end-of-season press conference where he would not commit to giving Butler a contract extension.
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“We don’t have to do it for a year and we haven’t discussed it internally yet, but we have to think about it and make that kind of commitment,” Riley said. “We don’t have to do it for 25 years, but we’ll see. We haven’t made a decision on that yet. And we haven’t really discussed it seriously. So we’ll see what happens.”
“Well, I mean, if you ask, we can either accept it or say we’ll consider it,” Riley continued. “We haven’t made a decision on that and I think you can draw too many conclusions from that. He’s got two years left on his contract. Theoretically, he has a player option, but it’s something we really have to think about based on a lot of factors. I don’t want to go through the litany of factors right now because they all come into different assumptions, but yeah, it’s a big decision on our part to commit that kind of resource unless you’re someone who’s really going to be there and available every night, that’s the truth.”
Final prediction on the Heat’s record for the upcoming season
A lot of things need to happen for the Miami Heat to increase their win total this season, with the main reasons being player availability and Jimmy Butler’s motivation. Looking at the schedule, the Heat need to take care of their home games more than they did last season, which was disappointing, and perform better on tough road trips.
Even though the Heat are still there to surprise the world, the record should be about the same with maybe one or two more wins.
Prediction: 47-35
