The Miami Heat will open their 2026 preseason with a little history attached. Their first exhibition is set for Oct. 3 in Quebec City, where they’ll meet the Toronto Raptors in the NBA’s first-ever preseason game in that city.
That matchup is part of the NBA Canada Games initiative, which has already taken preseason basketball to six Canadian cities. According to the league, 16 teams have played 20 preseason games in front of more than 377,000 fans since the program began, and Quebec City will become the seventh Canadian city to host one.
The game will be played at Videotron Centre, and even with preseason minutes usually coming in controlled doses, there’s plenty to watch. Miami’s group, led by Bam Adebayo and Giannis Antetokounmpo, will get an early test against a Toronto roster headlined by Scottie Barnes and Brandon Ingram. There’s also the possibility of Kawhi Leonard being part of the Raptors’ mix if he remains with the franchise, though his status is unsettled because of the ongoing league investigation.
The broader point goes beyond one exhibition. The NBA continues to push deeper into the Canadian market, and the league’s presence there has only grown as more of its biggest names come from north of the border. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Andrew Wiggins, Jamal Murray, and many more are part of that picture.
After the trip to Quebec City, Miami heads home for its first preseason game at Kaseya Center against the Pelicans. That one should give Erik Spoelstra another chance to sort through lineup combinations and see younger players in extended minutes while the Heat’s frontcourt deals with one of the league’s more athletic young teams. Yves Missi, Zion Williamson, Derik Queen, and Trey Murphy are among the names to keep an eye on for New Orleans.
Another notable test comes when the Timberwolves visit Miami, a game that could bring Anthony Edwards into the building. Edwards has become one of the league’s most explosive scorers, and if he plays, Heat fans will get an early look at one of the Western Conference’s top young stars.
Miami’s fourth preseason game, and its last at Kaseya Center, is against the Nets. Brooklyn’s reworked roster makes that another useful checkpoint as Spoelstra keeps narrowing the rotation and sorting out roles. By then, the starters should be seeing more time as the focus shifts closer to opening night.
The preseason wraps with a road game in Orlando, and that one carries a little extra edge after last season’s results. The Magic swept all five meetings between the teams, so Miami will have a clear target in mind when it faces Paolo Banchero, Desmond Bane, Franz Wagner, Anthony Black and the rest of Orlando’s group.
It’s a five-game preseason slate that starts with a first for Quebec City and ends with a final tune-up against an in-state rival. For Miami, the results won’t count, but the process will. And this will be the beginning of the Giannis Antetokounmpo era.
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