Inside The Heat

NBA Insider Believes Miami Heat Aren't Sold On Bam Adebayo As No. 1 Scorer

Alex Toledo|
Oct 23, 2024; Miami, Florida, USA; Miami Heat president Pat Riley addresses the crowd during the Pat Riley Court dedication ceremony at halftime at Kaseya Center. Mandatory Credit: Jim Rassol-Imagn Images
Oct 23, 2024; Miami, Florida, USA; Miami Heat president Pat Riley addresses the crowd during the Pat Riley Court dedication ceremony at halftime at Kaseya Center. Mandatory Credit: Jim Rassol-Imagn Images | Jim Rassol-Imagn Images

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Miami Heat

The Miami Heat entered this offseason with one goal in mind, to shake up the roster that saw them lose in historic fashion in the first round of the Playoffs last season, and they did so with a variety of smaller and medium-sized moves. After Luka Doncic and De'Aaron Fox signed extensions with their respective teams, the Heat's previous plan involving 2026 free agents has now been postponed a year, according to some.

"I would say the Heat, now, are waiting to see if they can get a player that's better than Bam Adebayo, and the reason they say the summer of [2027] is that's when Giannis [Antetokounmpo] is a free agent, that's when Nikola Jokic is a free agent, that's when Donovan Mitchell can be a free agent," ESPN's Tim Bontemps said on the Hoop Collective podcast. "That's when a lot of these guys can be available, and we've seen the Clippers and these other teams talk about 'We're going to wait till the summer of 2027 to have the ability to do something.' I think the Heat are probably going to sit in that space."

The potential free agents in 2027 include not just the aforementioned superstars but also Stephen Curry and Kawhi Leonard, who will be unrestricted free agents. Anthony Davis and Karl Anthony Towns will have the player option to do the same, (along with Antetokounmpo, Jokic and Mitchell).

"And look, they have the expiring contracts, like if Giannis wakes up tomorrow in Greece and says, 'You know what? I'm done being with the [Milwaukee] Bucks and I really want to go to Miami.' Well, they've got a bunch of expiring contracts. They've got a guy from Milwaukee," Bontemps added. "They can come up with a package with some draft picks and say, we can try to give you something to get you Giannis."

The Heat could theoretically put together a package for Antetokounmpo that includes Milwaukee-born Tyler Herro, expiring contracts, multiple draft picks and intriguing young players if Antetokounmpo were to ask to be traded at some point.

"But I think this is about biding their time, rebuilding their asset base some, and acknowledging that despite the fact that they had a really good five-year run and made the Conference Finals three times and the Finals a couple times, they weren't really a championship-level team, and they had to do some sort of a reset," Bontemps said. "And while the Heat are not anytime soon, I think, going to go back to the full tank days, they've kind of middled it, getting Kel'el Ware in the draft, making the Norm Powell deal, having some salary cap flexibility, and now we'll see where they sit over the next 12 to 24 months."

Miami Heat Star Sees NBA 2K Rating Drop Ahead Of Next Season

The Miami Heat head into next season with a shaken-up roster, as well as shaken up expectations, with their leading scorer Tyler Herro at the center of it all.

NBA 2K is slowly dropping their Top 100 ratings ahead of NBA 2K26, where Herro saw his rating drop by two points, going from a rating of 88 overall on NBA 2K25 to now an 86 overall rating, (one spot below former co-star Jimmy Butler).

The 25 year-old guard was a first-time All-Star in 2024-2025, finishing the regular season averaging 23.9 points, 5.5 assists and 5.2 rebounds, converting on 47 percent of his shots and 37.5 percent of his threes.

However, what could be part of the reason for the lower rating is, for the second consecutive year as the main scoring option, Herro struggled in the Playoffs. Herro averaged 17.8 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.8 assists in the Heat's historically bad first round series, converting on just 41 percent of his field goals and 31 percent of his threes.

The season before, with former Butler sidelined due to injury, Herro averaged 16.8 points, 5.4 assists and 3.6 rebounds, shooting 38.5 percent from the field and 34 percent from three in the five-game series against the Boston Celtics.

Perhaps there is some projection being done, wherein NBA 2K is essentially predicting that, with the offseason trade for scorer Norman Powell, Herro's production will come down a bit. Powell is coming off a career year is looking for a new contract.

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Alex Toledo
ALEX TOLEDO

Alex, who was born in Miami, is also a producer, co-host and reporter for the Five on the Floor podcast. He has covered the Heat and NBA since 2019 as a season credential holder. He studied journalism at Florida International University.