After the Miami Heat stumbled to their most losses in a decade, team president Pat Riley told reporters there was “no doubt” that change was needed.
So, what happened? Are changes no longer needed, or is this franchise incapable of making them?The NBA free agent market has been on fire, but you’d be hard-pressed to find even traces of smoke in South Florida. The Heat found a steal at the draft and made a smart move to keep Davion Mitchell, but that’s it so far. For all intents and purposes, Miami appears poised to run back a roster it publicly proclaimed to have no desire to keep just a couple of months back.
Failing to deliver on the promise of change is a bad look for the franchise.
Riley’s words weren’t supposed to be just talk. Not after Miami finished each of the last three seasons ranked between seventh and 10th in the Eastern Conference standings. If that isn’t life on the dreaded treadmill of mediocrity, I don’t know what is.The Heat had legitimate roster-reshuffling tools at their disposal, too. They own all of their future first-round picks except for 2027, which has lottery protection that year and no protection in 2028. They have a huge expiring contract tied to Terry Rozier, and perhaps another in Andrew Wiggins, who has a $30.2 million player option for 2026-27, per Spotrac. Speaking of Wiggins, he should have suitors on the trade market.
Miami can offer trade partners young players of both the highly coveted (Kel’el Ware) and reclamation project (Jaime Jaquez Jr.) varieties. If the Heat really wanted to shake things up, they could even consider dangling Tyler Herro, whose extension eligibility could be a headache to handle, or Bam Adebayo, whose offensive output has appeared to plateau.Riley’s coveted whales were out in full force this summer, too. Trade winds swirled around Giannis Antetokounmpo (and haven’t necessarily stopped swirling) and LeBron James. Kevin Durant, Kristaps Porziņģis, Jrue Holiday, Desmond Bane, Jalen Green, Anfernee Simons, Jordan Poole, and CJ McCollum are among the players already traded this offseason.
Difference-makers were up for grabs, and few teams seemed more ready to make a difference to their rosters than Miami. So, how has nothing happened?
This can’t be all about waiting with crossed fingers and sky-high hopes for 2026 free agency, can it? The player pool looks deep now, but a wave or two of big-money extensions could shallow it out in a hurry.Riley’s words should’ve been more than lip service. This roster clearly needed a lift. And there were multiple ways in which Miami could’ve tried to find that spark.
To say big changes are coming and then make none of those changes brings both self-inflicted embarrassment and unnecessary disappointment. Had Riley merely expressed support for and belief in this roster, maybe fans would be less focused on the promises that aren’t being kept and more focused on the promising group set to take over Summer League.
Instead, it sure seems as if the Heat are stuck with a roster they don’t want. The offseason should be a time of unbridled optimism, but it’s fair to wonder whether the pessimism fans are feeling right now is also being felt
