Inside The Heat

Miami Heat Have Not Run It Back Since The 2023 NBA Finals

Ethan J. Skolnick|
Jun 12, 2023; Denver, Colorado, USA; Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (15) battles for a rebound against Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler (22) and center Bam Adebayo (13) during the third quarter of game five of the 2023 NBA Finals at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images
Jun 12, 2023; Denver, Colorado, USA; Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (15) battles for a rebound against Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler (22) and center Bam Adebayo (13) during the third quarter of game five of the 2023 NBA Finals at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images | Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images

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Miami Heat

It's become such a punchline that the Miami Heat always "run it back" that team president Pat Riley used the term "R-I-B-itt" in his end-of-season press conference.

So what do we make of this, after the Heat's trade of Haywood Highsmith to the Brooklyn Nets on Friday?

That's right, just two.

Tyler Herro, you say?

Well, he didn't play in that NBA Finals because of an injury.

So it's just Bam Adebayo, who was a starter and arguably the Heat's only effective player in that series -- even though he was matched up against Nikola Jokic.

And it's Nikola Jovic, who played a grand total of two minutes.

After Adebayo, who led the Heat with 209 minutes in that series, here were the others.....

Jimmy Butler: since traded to Golden State.

Kyle Lowry: traded to Charlotte, and is now with Philadelphia.

Gabe Vincent: signed as a free agent with the Lakers.

Caleb Martin: signed with Philadelphia and now with Dallas.

Max Strus: signed with Cleveland.

Gabe Vincent and Max Strus moved on a while ago.
May 23, 2023; Miami, Florida, USA; Miami Heat guard Max Strus (31) ad guard Gabe Vincent (2) react in the third quarter against the Boston Celtics during game four of the Eastern Conference Finals for the 2023 NBA playoffs at Kaseya Center. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images | Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

Duncan Robinson: traded to Detroit.

Kevin Love: sent to the Clippers this offseason to acquire Norman Powell.

Highsmith: now a Net.

Cody Zeller: not currently in the NBA.

Udonis Haslem (who only played one minute): now a media star.

And then there's Jovic (still with the Heat) and Omer Yurtseven (out of the NBA), who played two minutes each.

You can certainly argue that the Heat are not better than they were then. But you cannot argue that they are the same. Now the question is how they acquire the players to get them back to that level.

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Ethan J. Skolnick
ETHAN J. SKOLNICK

Ethan has covered all major sports -- in South Florida and beyond -- since 1996 and is one of the longest-tenured fully credentialed members of the Miami Heat. He has covered, in total, more than 30 NBA Finals, Super Bowls, World Series and Stanley Cup Finals. After working full-time for the Miami Herald, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Palm Beach Post, Bleacher Report and several other outlets, he founded the Five Reasons Sports Network in 2019 and began hosting the Five on the Floor podcast as part of that network. The podcast is regularly among the most downloaded one-team focused NBA podcasts in the nation, and the network is the largest independent sports outlet in South Florida, by views, listens and social media reach. He has a B.A. from The Johns Hopkins University and an M.S. from Columbia University. TWITTER: @EthanJSkolnick and @5ReasonsSports EMAIL: fllscribe@gmail.com

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