Five New Year’s resolutions for the Miami Heat entering 2025
After making deep playoff runs in 2022 and 2023, the Miami Heat’s 2024 didn’t include a long playoff run. Instead, the Heat was quickly eliminated by the eventual NBA champion Boston Celtics in the first round of the 2024 playoffs.
While the Heat begins 2025 in seventh place in the Eastern Conference, it’s just one long winning streak away from moving up to fourth place in the tightly-packed East.
“I want guys to understand what a great place we’re in even though we’re not where we want to be,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “We have a lot to be grateful for. This locker room and who we have, there’s a lot to be grateful for that we’re all here together for a reason. And we have an opportunity ahead of us.”
The Heat opens 2025 with a back-to-back set that begins Wednesday against the New Orleans Pelicans at Kaseya Center. The Heat then completes the back-to-back on Thursday against the Indiana Pacers in Miami.
“I think we haven’t played bad basketball,” Heat guard Tyler Herro said when asked what he wants for the team moving forward. “... We keep continuing to show glimpses of good offense and good defense in different sections of the game. So I would just say focus on consistency and sustaining our game and our identity throughout a full 48 minutes, which we’ll continue to grow on and continue to get better at.”
Here are five New Year’s resolutions for the Heat for 2025 ...
Resolve the Jimmy Butler situation: ESPN’s Shams Charania reported last week that Butler prefers to be traded out of Miami. In the wake of that report, Heat president Pat Riley issued a strong statement to say “we are not trading Jimmy Butler.” After Tuesday’s practice, Butler was asked if he wants to be with the Heat. “That’s a good question,” Butler responded. “Who knows? I don’t. Right now, I’m here and I’m going to make the most of it.” This is an unresolved situation that seems to be getting a little messier by the day, as league sources have indicated that Butler has been disappointed with the Heat primarily because the team declined to give him a max extension this past summer. The Heat could still offer Butler that extension until June 30, but Miami has given no indication that it will. Butler has a $52.4 million player option in his contract for next season, and his intention is to decline that option to become a free agent this upcoming offseason. Until the Heat trades Butler or Butler signs a new contract with the Heat or elsewhere, this situation will remain looming over Butler and the team. The NBA’s trade deadline is Feb. 6.
If Butler stays, get the leading trio of Bam Adebayo-Butler-Herro on the court as much as possible: There’s uncertainty around this one because there’s uncertainty surrounding Butler’s future with the Heat. But if Butler is still in Miami past the February trade deadline, the Heat needs Adebayo, Butler and Herro on the court together as much as possible. This trio has been really good so far this season, as the Heat has outscored opponents by 6.7 points per 100 possessions the 397 minutes they have played together. That’s a net rating that would rank sixth-best in the NBA among teams this season. The problem is Adebayo, Butler and Herro have only been able to play together in 20 of the Heat’s first 30 games because Butler has missed 10 games. Last season, Adebayo, Butler and Herro were only on the court together for 27 of the Heat’s 82 regular-season games because of the team’s injury issues. To maximize this roster, the Heat needs its best three players playing a lot of minutes together.
Win more close games: The Heat entered Wednesday as one of seven NBA teams that hold a top-12 offensive rating and top-12 defensive rating this season, but still continues to hover around .500. Why? One of the big reasons is the fact that the Heat has lost a bunch of close games this season. After posting an 8-4 record in games decided by three points or less last regular season, the Heat is just 2-6 in those games so far this season. The Heat is tied with the Toronto Raptors and Sacramento Kings for the most losses this season by three points or fewer.
Figure out a way to get Adebayo and Kel’el Ware on the court together: This essentially hasn’t happened yet and it might not happen for a while, but the eventual goal is for Adebayo and Ware to play meaningful minutes together. Adebayo and Ware have played just one minute together so far this season, with Adebayo locked in as the Heat’s starting center and Ware just recently earning a consistent spot in the Heat’s rotation as the backup center after logging double-digit minutes in just two of the Heat’s first 25 games this season. Spoelstra has usually opted to play smaller players like Jae Crowder, PJ Tucker, Caleb Martin and Haywood Highsmith alongside Adebayo in the front court, but Ware’s combination of length as a 7-footer, athleticism and potential to become a floor-spacing three-point shooting big unlocks the intriguing possibility of an Adebayo-Ware frontcourt. How soon that possibility is explored will likely be determined by the development of Ware’s game in the coming months.
Recoup some tradeable draft capital: The Heat still owes first-round picks stemming from its moves to land Butler during the 2019 offseason and Terry Rozier midway through last season. With NBA teams only allowed to trade picks up to seven drafts into the future, the only unprotected first-round selection that the Heat has available to deal away is its 2030 or 2031 pick — not both because of league rules prohibiting teams from being without future first-round picks in back-to-back years. Why does this matter? With fewer stars hitting free agency because of the financial incentive for them to sign extensions or re-sign with their current teams, the most common way to acquire All-Star-caliber talent in the NBA these days is through a trade. To make such a deal happen, draft capital is important. It’s worth noting that after the 2025 NBA Draft, more Heat first-round picks will become available to trade. If Miami doesn’t deal away any picks between now and then, it will have two unprotected first-round selections to trade in 2030 and 2032 following the 2025 draft.
