After a relatively quiet trade deadline where the Miami Heat failed to upgrade, they are finally doing so now. The buyout market is the follow-up to the trade deadline, and teams such as the Heat can really clean up by signing players who were just bought out.
They have done just that with their recent signings of former All-Star big man Kevin Love as well as Cody Zeller. Both players are respected veterans who could bolster their bench and make them incrementally better. Better is good, but the Heat will face a dogfight in the playoffs with an improved Eastern Conference.
Fortunately for them, Brooklyn’s sudden midseason trades of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving make the path back to the NBA Finals a bit easier, and hopefully, the acquisitions of Love and Zeller will help too. Now, here is a look at the team’s updated depth chart.
Updated Miami Heat depth chart
Starting lineup: Kyle Lowry, Tyler Herro, Jimmy Buttler, Caleb Martin, and Bam Adebayo.
Point guard: Lowry, Gabe Vincent
Shooting guard: Herro, Victor Oladipo, Max Strus
Small forward: Butler, Haywood Highsmith, and Duncan Robinson
Power forward: Martin, Kevin Love, Nikola Jović
Center: Adebayo, Cody Zeller, Omer Yurtseven, and Udonis Haslem
Miami’s starting five is a good one, though the Heat tried (and failed) to upgrade at point guard by trading Lowry. The team then flirted with signing Russell Westbrook but opted against it in favor of signing Love and Zeller.
Love probably isn’t a power forward at this point but the Heat are fairly thin at the four and can use him there to bolster the frontcourt. Meanwhile, Zeller has had a lot of injury issues over his career, but when healthy, he could prove to be a capable backup to Adebayo.
Overall, despite a quiet trade deadline, Miami managed to get better on paper. Better yet, with fewer than 30 games remaining, the Heat should have plenty of time to get their new additions acclimated and ready for the playoffs.