Miami Heat final player grades for the 2025-26 season

The Miami Heat’s season is officially over after falling to the Charlotte Hornets in the Play-in tournament, this means the Heat are now in the lottery and hope to get some good luck when the draft order is drawn. Until then the Heat will need to decide what to do with their current roster, as it is clear there need to be changes. Part of that process is evaluating how each player performed this season and that is what we are here to do today.

The Stars

Bam Adebayo - Grade: A

The highlight of Bam Adebayo’s year was undoubtably breaking Kobe Bryant’s 81 point scoring night with an 83 point outburst against the abysmal Washington Wizards. That alone should get Adebayo praise from anyone. I thought Adebayo showed strides in his offensive scoring ability this year and he seemed a lot more comfortable in his three point shooting. The confidence he shows in his own game gives me confidence that he will continue to improve.

Adebayo was also his Steller self on the defensive end and rebounding. For the first time in his career, he averaged 20 points and 10 rebounds. He was the rock of the Heat in all of the turmoil of the season. The analytics favor Adebayo as well, for example he ranks near the top of the league in on/off differential. He is without a doubt the team MVP this season.

Norman Powell - Grade: B

I think Norman Powell did much better than many expected when the Heat acquired him in the shocking offseason trade. Especially at the start of the year when Powell was one of the best scorers in the league and was a large reason for the Heat starting the year on fire. His scoring ability instantly made him a fan favorite and was a breath of fresh air.

The issues came later in the year when Powell started to decline and Miami as a whole started to slip. Powell was dealing with nagging injuries that seemed to derail the 2nd half of the season. There is a good possibility that without the hamstring injuries we would look back at the season differently. Powell still deserves flowers for being a first time All-Star, but it did feel like some was lacking in the 2nd half of the season.

Tyler Herro – Grade: D

Tyler Herro is still the most gifted offensive player on the team. I do not really think that is for debate. He has the ability to score in a multitude of ways and displayed that whenever he was available. That is the thing though, he struggled to stay available. This caused a multitude of problems and made a lot of people question once again if Herro should be on the team next year.

If this grade was solely about his play, then it would be much higher, he showed he is a legitimate player in this league and in my opinion has improved every year. He played his best complete basketball of his career this year, but once again he needs to be on the court.

The key players

Andrew Wiggins – Grade: B-

Andrew Wiggins was a lot of what you would expect this year. He provided usefulness and effort on the defensive end while being a secondary scorer that provided consistent buckets. He should not be relied on to be the alpha, but he is an excellent complementary player. I truly like Wiggins game, and it would not be shocking to see him get a nice contract in free agency if he declines his player option. Wiggins is a player that consistently did his job and then sometimes gives you more.

Kel’el Ware – Grade: B+

This might be the hardest grade for me to find. First, there are some things that Kel’el Ware does that are infuriating but we knew these were things they expected coming into the year. Second, he shows extraordinary potential for stretches. There was a whole month where Ware looked like he could blossom into a superstar in year 2. His biggest issue is consistency and motor, which to his credit he did greatly improve on both compared to his rookie year. Ware did find himself in some interesting drama in the year with coach Erik Spoelstra but that appears to be managed and behind them. He did outperform my expectations, so for that he gets a nice grade and my respect.

Jaime Jaquez Jr. – Grade: A+

Compared to expectations, only one player performed better than Jaime Jaquez. There is no doubt in my mind that he should win the 6th Man of the Year award, even though I doubt voters give it to him because of the Heat’s position in the standings. After a shockingly bad 2nd season Jaquez found his spark again and looked to be someone that Miami will be able to rely on for years to come. Jaquez plays the game the right way and is an easy player to root for.

Pelle Larsson – Grade: A+

Pelle Larsson was the biggest surprise to the Heat this season. He was an animal for the moment he took the court. An absolute plug and play player for Miami that fills whatever role is asked of him. The best part of Larsson is the edge he plays with and is not afraid to ruffle a few feathers, which is something the Heat have consistently had in their locker room and provides toughness to the team. Larsson is a perfect role player and should be gaining a bigger role as his career continues.

Davion Mitchell – Grade: B

Davion Mitchell had a good year and showed he is a serviceable player in the NBA. He provided more on the offensive end than I was expecting, something that could have been aided by the new offense. I particularly appreciated his low turnovers and passing ability. He was able to do a lot of the little things for this team and help the new offensive scheme run smoothly. Mitchell can be a useful player on a contending team and seems to of found a home in the Heat.

The others

Simone Fontecchio – Grade: C

Simone Fontecchio was a lot of fun when the season started but became less fun as the year went on. He was on absolute fire to begin the year, and it had many thinking the Heat somehow found another elite shooter. Well, like all good things, it can’t last forever and he started to come back down to earth. He still finished the year at 37% from three which is still good, but nothing like he was at the start. Fontecchio is a fine player to have off the bench but should not be relied on to do much consistently.

Dru Smith – Grade: C-

Dru Smith is always a talking point for Heat fans because literally everything he is good at is easy to overlook. He is a good defender and absolutely exceptional at getting steals and deflections, but most get caught up in what he lacks. You would think a guy that leads the team in steals averaging just 16 minutes a game would get more love, but then you see he shot 41% from the floor and less than 30% from three and its easier to understand why some are not his biggest fan. I personally like his game and think he provides a useful role, especially in specific matchups.

Kasparas Jakučionis – Grade: B

Mar 12, 2026; Miami, Florida, USA; Miami Heat guard Kasparas Jakucionis (25) reacts against the Milwaukee Bucks during the third quarter at Kaseya Center. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images | Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

This grade is more based off feel than anything else. Kasparas Jakučionis only appeared in 54 games and averaged less than 18 minutes per game, so it is hard to get a full read on what he did. Despite his uneven role I always appreciated his approach and hustle to the game. No matter what you can count on him to be engaged and try to do everything he can to make winning plays. Arguably his brightest spot was his three point shooting, finishing at a clip of 42%.

Nikola Jovic – Grade: F

I do not think many expected this season from Nikola Jovic. He truly was unplayable most games. He had a few very good performances but those are easily overshadowed by the amount of times it was painful to watch. I still think he has the tools to be a good player and maybe like Jaquez he can figure it out. This was a disappointing year from Jovic.

Myron Gardner – Grade: B+

Myron Gardner just screams Miami Heat player. He is the ultimate instigator that will not back down from anyone. Similarly to Larsson he has an edge that ruffles some feathers, but all he does is play hard and physically. There is no dirty play, people just think he is annoying, which is incredible. Gardner looks like he could be a tough nosed role player.

Keshad Johnson - Grade: D

Kechad Johnson is looking to stick in the NBA and he did not really show much of anything this season. Now in his defense he did have limited opportunity playing in just 32 games and less than 10 minutes per game, but the question also needs to be asked why is he not earning more of a rotation spot. Johnson is a fun player that will provide great highlights but needs to polsih his game more. The best part of his season was winning the Slam Dunk Contest which was one of the highlights of the Heat season.

Not enough games

For this exercise I will skip over Trevor Keels, Vladislav Golden, and Jahmir Young. Out of this group, Young led with 15 games played and just 4 minutes per game. It would be unfair to assess anyone in that little time, so the Heat will need to evaluate them more behind the scenes, things like practice and probably G League film.

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