There is no credible evidence to support the thesis that the Heat will add an All-Star quality player to the roster prior to the pre-season that begins October 4 or the regular season beginning October 22, rather than entering the 2024 season with much the same cast as last year.
Probably the single most important addition showing up in this year’s roster is the size and versatility of Kel’el Ware, who probably will be assigned to back-up Bam Adebayo early in the season.Joining Bam in starting roles will likely be Terry Rozier, Tyler Herro, Jimmy Butler, and Nikola Jovic, with Jaime Jaquez, Jr. seeing a lot of playing time.
The availability of Kel’el Ware makes this a taller, sturdier team than last year’s edition, but it still lacks depth at the strong forward spot. This deficiency usually is not detected early on, but only after normal fatigue sets in with no one to fill that back-up slot other than Ware.
There has been a ton of media speculation about trading Butler and who the team might acquire in return. That is still a possibility, but my money is on Butler’s remaining with the team and perhaps being available for more games than last year, during which he took several personal days away from the team.
Media attention has also focused on Alec Burks in the shooting guard role.If he lives up to the hype early in the season, he is likely to enable Coach Spoelstra to experiment with various combinations of similarly sized players.
Spo and his mentor, King Riley, often surprise us with moves we never contemplated, so don’t put your stamp of approval on this roster until all the dates for player movement have passed. Whichever way the wind blows around the team structure, it should be an interesting and exciting season.
Photos Courtesy Of The Miami Heat