With a revamped roster following the Giannis Antetokounmpo blockbuster, which Miami Heat players look to potentially break out this upcoming season?
The Miami Heat's offseason seems just about wrapped up. There are a few roster spots to fill out, presumably with veteran talent looking to hunt for a championship. Some names floating around are Klay Thompson, DeMar DeRozan and Bradley Beal. However, the Heat still has a decent crop of young talent despite parting with a lot of pieces in the blockbuster Giannis Antetokounmpo deal earlier in the offseason. Miami sent Tyler Herro, Kel'el Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Kasparas Jakucionis for Antetokounmpo and Bobby Portis. All of those players dealt to Milwaukee are under or at the age of 26. That leaves three candidates on the roster in terms of players who can take a big leap.
The first player is none other than Pelle Larsson. The argument can actually be made that his breakout campaign already happened last season as he is expected to be an integral piece of the Heat rotation this upcoming season and for the foreseeable future. Larsson, 25, was the team's second-round pick in 2024. He was a contributor out the gate but saw real shooting improvements this past season, shooting 49.6 percent from the field and averaging 11.4 points. The Heat's backcourt over the past two seasons was a bright spot despite a pretty damaging situation involving Terry Rozier, where he missed the entire 2025-26 season due to his involvement in a sports gambling fraud case. With Rozier out of the rotation along with Herro missing a decent amount of time due to injury, Larsson saw a massive uptick in playing time and started 54 games. He could even break out more this season as he may be the starting shooting guard come October.
Another player is Nikola Jovic, who signed a four-year rookie contract extension last October worth $62.5 million. Pat Riley really liked what he had to offer for the foreseeable future. However, it seems the team is already regretting that contract decision as Jovic was basically a non-factor down the stretch of the regular season, only appearing in eight games post-January. Jovic is still quite young at 23 years old and still has loads of potential despite multiple injury setbacks. Erik Spoelstra has unlocked some younger pieces' potential and Jovic could be the beneficiary of more playing time.
Davion Mitchell is the final breakout candidate. He has turned into a real contributor for this team after being an afterthought of a trade acquisition at the 2025 deadline. He may have reached his ceiling in terms of his production but there is a world where he can improve upon his numbers from last season with increased playing time.
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