![\"Miami](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Screenshot-9.29-11.00AM-1024x576.jpg\")
(Mandatory Credit: IMAGO \/ ZUMA Press Wire)<\/p>\n(Mandatory Credit: IMAGO \/ ZUMA Press Wire)<\/p>\n
It has finally arrived! The Miami Heat completed media day on Monday and begin training camp in Boca Raton, Fla., at Florida Atlantic University on Tuesday. What are a few of their key storylines heading into the 2025-26 season? Let\u2019s examine!<\/p>\n
Who will be team\u2019s fifth starter?<\/p>\n
At the start of the season, one could presume that Davion Mitchell, Norman Powell, Andrew Wiggins and Bam Adebayo are four of the team\u2019s five starters. That will inevitably change upon Tyler Herro\u2019s return. However, one of the biggest unknowns throughout the summer is who\u2019s the fifth-and-final starter between Nikola Jovic and Kel\u2019el Ware.<\/p>\n
Ware started 36 games last year, while Jovic started just 10. The latter was a \u201cscapegoat\u201d at the start of the regular season and was eventually moved to the bench, even though the starting lineup\u2019s shortcomings weren\u2019t necessarily his undoing. Ware showed flashes, but wasn\u2019t consistent. Miami\u2019s spacing was poor when he and Adebayo shared the floor together, and that doesn\u2019t figure to be much different without Herro. <\/p>\n
Head coach Erik Spoelstra isn\u2019t afraid to mix-and-match. We\u2019ll see who ultimately wins that job \u2014 and if there\u2019s a surprising lineup with a name we aren\u2019t expecting.<\/p>\n
Can Heat find new identity in first year without Jimmy Butler?<\/p>\n
Miami did not have any sort of identity after trading Jimmy Butler last February. They sputtered over the second half of the season, going 12-17 \u2014 with their fatal flaw being the inability to close games. More importantly, the Heat weren\u2019t disruptive defensively and weren\u2019t mentally tough enough to play a consistently good full 48.<\/p>\n
In their first full season without Butler, who helped lead them to three Eastern Conference and two NBA Finals berths, they will need to find their identity. It\u2019s still unknown, and Spoelstra is currently embracing that<\/a>. But what is unknown now won\u2019t be forever, and every team with an uphill trajectory has some sort of identity.<\/p>\n Can the Heat get back to their blueprint as being the toughest, meanest, nastiest team in the NBA? Or will they unlock a different identity with this new-look group? We\u2019ll see!<\/p>\n How will youth movement progress?<\/p>\n After being one of the NBA\u2019s oldest rosters a year ago, they will be rolling out a fairly young roster in 2025-26. That doesn\u2019t mean they will lean completely into their youth. But they have a number of intriguing young players, including Jovic, Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Pelle Larsson and Davion Mitchell, who blossomed in 30 games with the Heat last season.<\/p>\n One way or another, Miami must figure out what it has with this young core. How will they individually \u2014 and collectively \u2014 progress in 2025-26? How they are maximized in this context will be quite important, and it should be very interesting to hear which of those players will earn Spoelstra\u2019s trust early in the season.<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n To check out our other content, click\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Follow Hot Hot Hoops on Twitter\/X\u00a0here<\/a>!<\/p>\n Follow Hot Hot Hoops on Instagram\u00a0here<\/a>!<\/p>\n Subscribe to our YouTube channel\u00a0here<\/a>!<\/p>\n \t\t\t