Inside The Heat

With No Damian Lillard Yet, Miami Heat Ranked No. 5 In ESPN Power Rankings

The Miami Heat's ranking could change if they acquire Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard
Shandel Richardson|
With No Damian Lillard Yet, Miami Heat Ranked No. 5 In ESPN Power Rankings
With No Damian Lillard Yet, Miami Heat Ranked No. 5 In ESPN Power Rankings

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Miami Heat

As of now, the Miami Heat have gotten worse since their run to the NBA Finals. 

The only offseason moves were the departures of Max Strus to the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Los Angeles Lakers snatching up Gabe Vincent. The Heat are back to being overlooked by the national media until they find a way to secure a trade for Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard. 

That was the evident with ESPN picking the Heat No. 5 in its preseason power rankings. They were behind the defending champion Denver Nuggets, Milwaiukee Bucks, Boston Celtics and Phoenix Suns. 

The Heat are unable to improve until they figure out what's going on with Lillard.

ESPN's Tim MacMahon writes, "The Heat are in a holding pattern due to their interest in trading for Damian Lillard, who lists Miami as his lone preferred destination, prompting Portland general manager Joe Cronin to declare that a resolution to the All-NBA guard's trade request could take months. In the meantime, Miami lost a couple of key contributors to its NBA Finals run with the free agency departures of Max Strus and Gabe Vincent."

The Heat's competition used the offseason to beef up their rosters. The Nuggets remain the same while Bucks, Celtics and Suns all improved. The Bucks are once again healthy with Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton at full strength. The Celtics acquired center Kristaps Porzingis from the Washington Wizards, teaming him with Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. The Suns formed their Big Three by pairing former Wizards guard Bradley Beal with Kevin Durant and Devin Booker. 

The Heat only have a few months to see if they can keep pace. 

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Shandel Richardson covers the Miami Heat for Inside The Heat.

TWITTER: @ShandelRich

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For any Heat or NBA questions, please email shandelrich@gmail.com

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Shandel Richardson
SHANDEL RICHARDSON

Shandel has covered the NBA since 2010, with previous stops at The Athletic and South Florida Sun-Sentinel. He has covered six NBA Finals, one Super Bowl, the NCAA basketball tournament. He has also been a beat writer for the Miami Hurricanes and contributed on every major beat in South Florida since 2003, including the Miami Dolphins and Miami Marlins. He can also be read in the Sportsbook Review for gambling coverage from around the NBA. A native of Bloomington, Illinois, Shandel attended Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. He's also worked for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Kansas City Star. TWITTER: @ShandelRich EMAIL: shandelrich@gmail.com You can subscribe to our YouTube channel here Follow all of our Miami Heat coverage on Facebook here

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