Where Do Miami Heat Go From Here?
Now that they’re officially out of the playoffs, an interesting offseason lies ahead for the Miami Heat.
In a year where they were faced with plenty of adversity, the Miami Heat fought through to the bitter end.
All throughout the season, the Heat adapted to the various circumstances they were dealt and handled them swimmingly on the fly.
Circumstances like being without Chris Bosh midway through the season for the second straight year, cycling through role players up until the end of the year and key players going through ups and downs for much of the season.
Despite those challenges, the Heat, led by head coach Erik Spoelstra, powered through and by necessity, they changed how they played dramatically.
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A rejuvenated Joe Johnson, who the Heat brought in shortly after the All-Star break, helped ease the transition of playing a more pace-and-space style and players like Goran Dragic and Luol Deng were arguably the biggest benefits from said change.
Additionally, Justise Winslow and Josh Richardson were awarded with more playing time and their fits in the rotation couldn’t have worked out better for both rookies, respectively.
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Led by Dwyane Wade, the Heat entered this year’s playoffs as a dark horse candidate to face the overwhelming favorite, the Cleveland Cavaliers, in the Eastern Conference Finals.
While that once looked promising, the Heat potentially face a different type of adversity as their playoff run finally came to a close Sunday afternoon after 116-89 Game 7 loss against the Toronto Raptors.
This summer puts the team in yet another unusual spot, given the volume of players who will be free agents.
Those players range from role players like Tyler Johnson (who will be a restricted free agent this summer) as well as Gerald Green to veterans like Udonis Haslem, Amar’e Stoudemire, Johnson, Deng and Wade.
Wade’s future with the team, in particular, is a fascinating one as it was only last summer when both parties had a very public disagreement over Wade’s next contract and his demands for a high salary.
Despite that spat, Wade proved during this season and the playoffs that he was still able to perform at a high level.
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With that said, the Heat very likely won’t be looking to give a legacy type deal, a la Kobe Bryant, to Wade and that could create another possible dispute this summer.
However, that’s far from the biggest free agent question the Heat have to answer this offseason, given the free agency of Hassan Whiteside.
Whiteside’s a polarizing figure around the league and while the Heat took a chance on Whiteside just 18 months ago, are they willing to double down in committing big money to Whiteside as their big man of the future?
There’s plenty of risk involved and with Whiteside likely to have many suitors once free agency begins, the Heat will have to decide between dealing with bigger names and acting fast in order to retain Whiteside.
Where Bosh’s future with the Heat fits into all of this is unknown at this point as his health should come first before his professional career.
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Overall, there’s plenty of decisions the Heat have to tackle this offseason. With the team split between veterans and developing players, the Heat have to find the right balance and whether they achieve that or not this summer will certainly impact them for the foreseeable future.