Let’s talk a little about the Miami Heat

 This team reminds me a bit of that 2016 Heat team. So much depth this year. A great mix of young dudes and vets.

miami has made great moves throughout.  this team has roster flexibility to play fast or go big.  they have good stretch bigs in leonard and olynyk.  they have down low bruisers in bam and johnson.  herro, waiters and dragic are combo guards that are big pg’s.  winslow and butler can play/guard 1-4 (small ball).  jones and okpala are 2 guys that can continue to get better and fill multiple positions as well; both can jump out of the building.

i think the best thing they’ve done is manage the extensions extremely well.  dragic’s contract will expire at age 33, waiters at 28, johnson at 33 (if option is exercised) and olynyk at 29 (if option is exercised).  all are rotational players with starter celings and 1st off the bench floors.  there’s not a lot of dead money sitting on the bench with this team.  and there’s a lot of money about to free up.

 Herro was the steal of the draft!!!!

 I agree I think they are a top 4 seed in the East. I see them as a team that will be slow out the gates floating around .500 but in the 2nd half of the season after they have had a bit of chemistry, get used to their new roles and when half the leagues tanking they will get hot and into a groove. Butler is a top 20 player maybe top 15 he makes every team he goes to better and every team he leaves worse.

 Herro is a slightly shorter Mike Miller. Jimmy seems to be a perfect fit for the mentality and approach of Riley and Spo; they emphasize conditioning, intensity, and competitiveness. They are rugged and gritty. 

Bam reminds me a young Serge Ibaka, with a better handle but not quite the range. 

I’ve long found Winslow overrated, but I think his passing will gel really nicely with this roster. I had them in as my 8th seed, but the more I think about it, I wish I would’ve had them a few slots higher. 

I don’t see it.

in the last 5 years since Lebron left, Miami has only made the playoffs twice despite being one of the best defenses in the league; in fact last year they only won 39 games while being the 6th best overall defense..

That says a lot about this team because it is very very unsual to be such a good defensive team and not make the playoffs, specially playing in the east.

To make it worse, in my opinion the biggest reason in Miami for such defense was Whiteside, now in Portland and then Richardson, now in Philly… Richardson’s defense will be replaced by Butler without problem but i don’t think that Adebayo is a rim protector like Whiteside and much less their rotation centers like Leonard or Olynyk, so even though Miami’s overall Offensive Rating will improve some with Butler i don’t think it will be enough to compensate the deterioration of their defense and if Miami was not able to make the playoffs last year being the 6th best defense i don’t think that they’ll have the collective numbers needed to be better than an 8th seed at best.

Remember that Butler only won 42 and 41 games his last 2 seasons in CHI playing along very decent and experienced players like Wade, Gasol, Rose, Rondo or Gibson and barely made the playoffs one of those years, just like in MIN playing with Towns, Wiggins, Teague and Gibson where they barely took the 8th seed.

Add that Dragic is nowhere near the player he used to be and he is 33, that Waiters, T.Johnson,Winslow and D. Jones Jr are cristal bones players, that Herro-Okapala are just rookies and that Butler, Winslow, Dragic and Waiters all need the ball in their hands and are not good playing off ball…

I just don’t see Miami being better than MIL, PHI, BOS, IND, TOR, ORL or BKR… plus you have young teams like CHI or ATL that will improve from last year and will push for that 8th seed.

So in my opinion good luck if they make the playoffs.

 I can’t see how they can be a top 4 team in the east.

Goran is old, Jimmy is a diva cancer with Thibs miles.  I like Bam but its not like he will be an all-star this year.

I think they will battle for a playoff spot and prob sit around 500

 Miami will be a playoff bubble team. They have slightly more talent s around than the Wolves when Butler was there, but the Wolves had KAT who is better than anyone Miami has. 

Dragic Herro Butler Winslow Adebayo, bench of Johnson, Waiters and Jones jnr – it’s a fun lineup, can scare some teams but for me I can’t see them doing anything of significance. 

 I think they’ll compete for the bottom seeds in the east. Waiters has been hurt over the years. Bam has no post moves, no jumper and an average defensive player. Can Gordon stay healthy? Butler is Butler, he’s going to ball..I like Herro but I don’t think he’ll be that big of an impact his rookie year…

It will be classic heat, since lebron left, they’re averaging 41.8 W per season.

37 W missed PO, 48 W PO, 41W missed PO, 44 W PO, 39W missed PO.

First of all, they should make the PO(out, in, out, in, out, ?).

Let’s not forget they’re playing in the worst division in the league, they’ll battle with the magic.

They are supposed to win 41-44 games, 8th seed, 7th seed winning the division, best case scenario 6th with a 45th win or a tie breaker on a disapointing, underperforming team(nets, celts, raps, all playing in a much tougher division).

So 42 wins 8th, easy money.