Miami Heat
After making the NBA Finals last season, losing to the Los Angeles Lakers 4-2 in the series, the Miami Heat entered the 2020-21 NBA season returning everybody but Jae Crowder and Derrick Jones Jr. This team had high expectations entering the year, but they were one of the more disappointing teams during the first-half of the season.
At one point before the All-Star break, Miami was 11-17 and they were seeing their playoff hopes slowly start to disappear, but then they quickly turned things around and entered the All-Star break at 18-18. Now, the Heat are 26-24 and have won four straight games.
Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo are finally healthy and after just acquiring Victor Oladipo at the trade deadline at the expense of Kelly Olynyk and Avery Bradley, the Heat are primed to potentially make another deep postseason run.
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The Heat have been led by Jimmy Butler all season long and have depended on him for his production on both ends of the court, which is why they have really struggled when he has been out of the lineup. Butler is their All-Star and while Bam Adebayo is also a high-level talent, he is still growing into a great player, which is why this team really needed to make a move to bring in a player like Victor Oladipo.
Not only can he be their third All-Star like talent, but he can easily be their second-best scoring option and facilitator next to Jimmy Butler on the court. He can play both guard positions and was once one of the better two-way guards in the league, which is why Victor Oladipo fits the Heat’s system so well.
Miami was able to strike a deal to acquire Oladipo during the last few minutes before the trade deadline this season and he is going to have an enormous impact with this team. They are currently the 8-seed in the Eastern Conference, but there is no reason the Miami Heat can’t finish with a Top-4 record in the East.
They are only a couple games back from being the 4-seed in the East and with the firepower they now have on the offensive-end of the court, in addition to what they can do already defensively, the Miami Heat are definitely a sleeper team that could go on a run once again and have another shot at winning a title.
