Do the Miami Heat need to make an offseason acquisition to remain competitive in the Eastern Conference?
The Miami Heat are once again living in purgatory.
In the past few years, they have floated along the Play-In Tournament lines while being unable to regain footing atop the Eastern Conference. This season is no different, with the Heat among the lower-tier teams.
It has led to former Heat player Joe Johnson saying they are still one player from becoming a contender again. He spoke about it on the Nightcap podcast with Shannon Sharpe and Chad Johnson.
"Bam [Adebayo] been doing his thing," Johnson said. "I got Miami making some real changes this summer though. It’s good that Herro is playing well because I think he’s going to be a part of it. Y’all need another game changer over there."
Johnson was probably referring to the Heat going after one of the "whales" team president Pat Riley has mentioned often. It appears the Heat are prepared to make another run at Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo this offseason. Miami has yet to land a splash free agent since Jimmy Butler in the summer of 2019.
Despite Butler leading the Heat to the Eastern Conference finals in 2022 and then the NBA Finals a year later, they have been unable to duplicate that success. It has been constant trips to the Play-In Tournament and first-round losses. The past two years were ugly early exits against the Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics.
Johnson could be onto something. What he is saying may not appease Heat fans because the organization has teased them with some success. The bottom line is the team may need more than just Norman Powell, Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo in order to compete with the other heavyweight teams in the league.
The Cavaliers, San Antonio Spurs, Houston Rockets, Oklahoma City Thunder, New York Knicks and Detroit Pistons are among the rising teams in the league. If the Heat want to keep pace, they are going to need another elite player to stay competitive.
The question now is if coach Erik Spoelstra and Riley are willing to accept that an upgrade is needed.
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Shandel Richardson is the publisher of HeatRoundtable. He can be reached at shandelrich@gmail.com