The Miami Heat’s first preseason game arrives Saturday night in Toronto, and the new roster gives this one a little extra juice. Miami is headed to Scotiabank Arena to face the Raptors at 7 p.m. EST, and while Giannis Antetokounmpo will grab the biggest headlines, there are a few quieter roster questions worth watching closely.
One of the clearest ones sits behind Bam Adebayo. The Heat now have two backup center options after adding Bobby Portis in the Antetokounmpo trade and signing Nick Richards to a non-guaranteed contract in August.
Portis is usually thought of as a power forward, but he has plenty of center experience too. Richards, meanwhile, has built his reputation as a reliable rebounder off the bench.
How Erik Spoelstra divides those minutes should be one of the more interesting rotation details to monitor.
There’s also the Jovic angle. Miami gave big money to Jovic before last season, but the year didn’t go the way the team wanted.
Injuries slowed him down, and he never really showed the kind of leap the Heat were hoping for after earning the rookie contract extension. One preseason game won’t tell the whole story, but any sign of progress would matter because he’s heading into what the source describes as a make-or-break season, with a crowd of veterans also battling for playing time.
Then there’s the shooting. Miami spent the offseason trying to build more space around Antetokounmpo, and the additions on the perimeter were a big part of that plan.
Klay Thompson, who was picked up after being waived by the Dallas Mavericks, headlines that group. The Heat also signed Tim Hardaway Jr. to a one-year deal and kept Simone Fontecchio.
That mattered because Miami finished last season 11th in the league in three-point percentage at 36.1 percent, but it also lost some of its better shooters this offseason in Kasparas Jakucionis, Norman Powell and Tyler Herro. Replacing that kind of firepower was always going to fall on the veterans Pat Riley brought in, and Saturday should offer the first look at how that spacing starts to take shape.
In Other News...
Heat Just Gave Fans An Early Answer On Their Biggest Concern
The early returns in Miamis preseason opener were a welcome sight for a team that has spent the offseason trying to answer a familiar question: where does the shooting come from? In the first half against the Raptors, the Heat were 11-for-23 from three-point range, and Andrew Wiggins helped set the tone by going 4-for-6 from deep. Tim Hardaway Jr. also chipped in 11 points on a perfect 3-for-3 from beyond the arc, giving Miami a glimpse of the spacing it has been seeking around its new-look core.
There were still some obvious growing pains as the roster starts to mesh, but the shot profile was encouraging enough to stand out on a night when the Heat wanted clean looks and early rhythm. Even with Klay Thompson going scoreless on 0-for-2 shooting, Miami showed promising shooting around Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo, the kind of combination that could make this group a lot harder to defend if the perimeter touch holds up. [Read more 🡒]
Heat Fans Just Got An Early Look At A Huge NBA Change
The NBA is already showing what its next rules emphasis could look like, and Heat fans got a front-row preview in preseason play against Toronto. Early in the game, Scottie Barnes was whistled for an offensive push-off, a small moment that carried bigger meaning for a league planning stricter enforcement of off-arm contact in the 2026-27 season.
For Miami, it was the kind of preseason call that can shape how games are officiated long before the standings matter. The league wants to cut down on players using an off-arm to create space, which should put a premium on cleaner defense and more precise footwork, and the Heat are now getting an early look at how quickly that standard may become part of the night-to-night reality. [Read more 🡒]
Heat's East Rise Puts One Rival Question Front And Center
Miamis offseason overhaul has changed the conversation around the East, and it starts with Giannis Antetokounmpo joining a roster that already picked up several veterans. The Heat suddenly look like a team built not just to compete, but to pressure the top of the conference from the opening months of the season. For a franchise that has long measured itself by October expectations, the new look gives this team a different kind of weight going into the year.
The problem for Miami is that the rest of the East did not stand still. The Knicks, 76ers and Celtics all made notable moves of their own, and each brings its own blend of established talent and uncertainty to the race ahead. For the Heat, the bigger question is not whether the roster looks formidable on paper, but how it stacks up when the leagues other heavy hitters start testing those additions in real games. [Read more 🡒]