The 3 Biggest Adjustments the Miami Heat Must Make This Offseason

Not even Willy Wonka could sugarcoat the Miami Heat's situation.

There were 11 teams in the Eastern Conference that tried to be competitive this season, and that includes the Milwaukee Bucks, who actually didn't at all after the All-Star break, when it was clear that Giannis Antetokounmpo wasn't returning to play and Doc Rivers probably wouldn't be returning to coach, and the the Bucks were bumbling behind the scenes in every way imaginable.

So 10 teams that actually tried.

And the Heat finished 10th among them.

Sure, it wasn't by much, and yes, the 43 wins were a six-win improvement over the prior season, and OK, it was more than Las Vegas projected, and by golly, gee, the young players got experience.

But that's not what the Heat are supposed to be about.

This is an organization that has made the NBA Finals as many times (seven) as it has now missed the playoffs since Pat Riley faxed his resignation to the New York Knicks in 1995, with this being the seventh.

So how do the Heat get closer to the Finals than another postseason rejection?

In honor of the franchise's all-time icon, let's count to three:

1. Get Giannis or Get Moving

The old days of clearing the cap space and flashing the rings to land premium free agents are over. The Heat know this, but it's been challenging to adjust. The new Collective Bargaining Agreements have led to players extending their contracts and asking for trades prior to ever getting to free agency, and that's forced the Heat to be reliant on all sorts of uncontrollable factors -- not just a disgruntled player's preference but the willingness of the player's current team to cooperate with that player and the Heat -- and that's why Damian Lillard, Kevin Durant, Donovan Mitchell and others didn't end up in Miami, even if they had interest in doing so. So here we are again, and again, and again, with Giannis Antetokounmpo, and there's no guarantee that even if the Bucks reportedly considered the Heat's offer over others at the February trade deadline, before choosing to keep him until the summer, that Miami will be in the driver's seat, or even the passenger's seat, this time. They have gained some tradeable assets but lost others, and other teams -- especially West contenders who fall short -- are likely to join the fray. Giannis's fondness for Miami as a city, which he expressed again to point guard-turned-podcaster Goran Dragic, won't hurt. But ultimately, while he can hold his potential extension as a hammer over possible trade destinations he may not prefer, it's not like Miami is the only place he appears willing to go. New York is certainly another. So if the Heat get the sense that this is trending toward Giannis going elsewhere, it must pivot quickly this time to the next target. And get that done.

2. Size Matters

Giannis would certainly help in this regard; the man, even at age 31, shot 65 percent in the paint; no one since prime Shaq has been so dominant there. But whether the Heat secure his services or not, there needs to be a shift away from the smallball that Erik Spoelstra has trended toward even since shifting Chris Bosh to the center spot, with Shane Battier at power forward, in the Big Three era. Yes, sometimes it worked; undersized PJ Tucker and Jae Crowder were playoff-worthy power forwards, Luol Deng was effective for a season when moved up a spot. But it's time to get some positional size. It's not coincidental that the current Heat went 0-9 against Orlando and Toronto, and were especially mauled by the Raptors (average of 19 points per loss), because the Raptors have so much more size and length at every spot. The Raptors didn't have this advantage to this degree over any East contender, which is why they kept losing to all those teams and then thrashing the Heat. No more 6-foot-4 players at small forward, with 6-foot-6 players at power forward, all with a 6-foot point guard, and Bam Adebayo at 6-foot-9 forced to always clean up the mess. Please.

3. Be Bold

The Heat have done some things well in the past three or four years, even if the results haven't been rewarding. They draft better than they ever have, under Adam Simon's stewardship, consistently landing players who should have been chosen higher, and developing them to exceed their projected ceilings. They were correct not to extend an aging Jimmy Butler, even if that decision and his response created chaos; they were right also not to extend Tyler Herro early, considering how he couldn't stay healthy after. And there have been some errors when they have acted, such as the disastrous Terry Rozier trade and the now-sketchy-looking-extension for Nikola Jovic. But overall, the approach should stray from patience and prudence just a bit, and back toward a little more boldness. They need to take more swings, more chances. Because middling isn't enough for a franchise of this stature.

This article was originally published on www.si.com/nba/heat/onsi as The 3 Biggest Adjustments the Miami Heat Must Make This Offseason.

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This story was originally published April 19, 2026 at 8:47 AM.