(Mandatory Credit: Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
The Miami Heat are entering the 2025-26 trying to correct their offense, which has been a bottom-third unit each of the last three seasons.
That may be difficult without Jimmy Butler, but the Heat are intentionally trying to push the pace and play faster — getting more bites at the apple. It helps they also added guard Norman Powell, a near-20-point per game scorer who fits that bill, coming off the best season of his career with the Los Angeles Clippers.
Though Tyler Herro — who played a career-high 77 games in 2024-25 — sidelined for the first month after undergoing foot surgery last month. Bleacher Report’s Zach Buckley recently detailed why that could be a concern heading into the new campaign.
“Should we add Miami fielding a bottom-third offense to the list of life’s certainties next to death and taxes?” Buckley wrote. “And, remember, this three-year stretch featured three playoff berths and three series wins, because Erik Spoelstra is a mastermind, and Playoff Jimmy was him.
“Even without Jimmy Butler now, Miami could conceivably capitalize on a wide-open East by fielding even an average offense. But how is that supposed to happen? Shot-creation was already a question mark before Tyler Herro had surgery on his left foot in September.
“Bam Adebayo is in a two-year scoring decline. Norman Powell faces plenty of sustainability questions following an age-31 breakout, and he’s a play-finisher, not a creator. Nikola Jović has had trouble staying on the floor (and, at times, in the rotation). Rookie Kasparas Jakučionis may not be ready. So, it might be another round of nightly searches for scoring chances.”
(Mandatory Credit: Jason Miller/GETTY IMAGES)
The Miami Heat’s 3-point shooting is a concern, which limits their ceiling:
The Miami Heat lost their best floor spacer this offseason in Duncan Robinson. There isn’t a single player on this roster who attracts as much attention as a 3-point specialist than Robinson, the greatest shooter in the franchise’s history.
The Heat also don’t have many high volume 3-point shooting outside of Powell and Herro, who primarily operate on-ball. Nikola Jovic and Andrew Wiggins are the closest to that, with both shooting at least 36.0 percent from deep last season on reasonable volume; Davion Mitchell’s 44.7 percent isn’t sustainable.
Bam Adebayo flashed efficient 3-point shooting on moderate volume late in the season, but it’s unclear whether that will immediately carry over in Herro’s absence. Dru Smith and Pelle Larsson are both capable 3-point shooters on moderate volume, but not natural floor spacers (yet).
You need efficient 3-point shooting — as well as good spacing, paint touches, willing-and-efficient playmakers, etc. — to succeed as an offense. Miami’s fast-paced play was a mixed bag in the preseason, and its shooting was porous, leading to suboptimal offensive outputs and far too many leakouts defensively.
We won’t get to see it in regular season form until Wednesday, Oct. 22 against the Orlando Magic!
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