The Miami Heat made their loudest move of the offseason by landing Giannis Antetokounmpo, then built around him with a roster that suddenly looks deeper and far more dangerous on paper. But when Bleacher Report rolled out its top 99 players in the NBA, the Heat didn’t show up nearly as often as the summer buzz might suggest.
Only two Miami players made the cut: Antetokounmpo at No. 7 and Bam Adebayo at No. 34.
That means a roster loaded with new faces and familiar names alike still features just a pair of players viewed as top-99 talents leaguewide. Antetokounmpo, 31, arrives in Miami after a long run in Milwaukee that included two MVP awards, a 2021 championship and Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2020. Drafted out of Greece in 2013, he went from raw prospect to one of the NBA’s safest elite bets, and the Heat clearly paid the price to get him.
Adebayo’s place on the list is hardly a surprise either. At 29, he’s heading into the first season of the three-year, $160 million extension he signed, and he remains one of the league’s most respected defenders.
Miami has leaned on him since taking him at No. 14 in the 2017 draft, even if scoring has never been his defining trait. Still, he’s got one of the strangest box scores in league memory on his résumé after dropping 83 points against the Washington Wizards in March, the second-highest scoring game by an individual player.
The rest of the Heat’s reshaped rotation didn’t get that kind of recognition. Klay Thompson, Tim Hardaway Jr., Bobby Portis, Andrew Wiggins, Pelle Larsson and Davion Mitchell all sit outside the list, even though each brings something useful to the mix. Wiggins has carved out a reputation as a steady three-and-D wing, Thompson’s shooting remains a real weapon despite his age, and Larsson has been labeled a possible breakout player after recently signing his rookie contract extension.
For now, though, the ranking makes Miami’s star picture pretty clear: Antetokounmpo and Adebayo are the only Heat players on the national radar as top-tier NBA talent. If this group performs the way it’s expected to, that number could climb before long.
In Other News...
Heat Fans May Not Realize What Just Changed For Jaime Jaquez Jr
Jaime Jaquez Jr. arrived in Miami with plenty of polish, and the Heat quickly saw why after taking him 18th overall in the 2023 NBA draft out of UCLA. He gave the team a productive rookie season, then spent the next two years riding the usual ups and downs of a young player trying to carve out a bigger role, before putting together a career-best third season.
Now the part many Heat fans may still be catching up to is how suddenly that chapter closed. In early July 2026, Jaquez was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks as part of the package for Giannis Antetokounmpo, a move that reshapes the franchise in a major way while also sending one of its recent homegrown success stories out the door. For Miami, it is another reminder of how quickly the roster can change when a deal of that size comes together. [Read more 🡒]
Giannis Already Sounds Sold On One Heat Teammates Fit
Giannis Antetokounmpos first run in a Heat uniform gave Miami plenty to like, even before the game itself started to tilt in the right direction. In the preseason win over the Brooklyn Nets, he filled the box score with 20 points, 15 rebounds and 9 assists, and afterward he made it clear that the setting mattered too, saying he felt the first-game jitters playing in front of Miami fans for the first time.
The early chemistry angle may matter just as much as the numbers. Giannis singled out Davion Mitchells pace as a fit he already appreciates, while Mitchell has returned the admiration and confidence in his new teammates future with the Heat. For a team trying to sort out how its new-look pieces can complement each other, that kind of immediate buy-in is a promising start, even if the bigger picture is still coming into focus. [Read more 🡒]
Giannis Is Already Showing Heat Fans What This New Era Could Feel Like
Giannis Antetokounmpos recent interview offered a glimpse of the routines and boundaries that have helped him keep life feeling grounded even as his profile keeps rising. He talked about wanting to hold onto everyday habits with his family, the social connections that matter to him, and the personal freedom that comes from carving out a normal life away from the spotlight. For Heat fans, it was another reminder that Miami is getting a player who still thinks carefully about the balance between superstardom and ordinary living.
He also spoke about the adjustments that come with his move to the Heat, and not all of them are basketball-related. Among the new details in his day-to-day life are encounters with local wildlife, a small but telling sign of how much has changed since arriving in South Florida. For a team trying to build its next chapter, those kinds of details can say as much about the transition as any on-court introduction. [Read more 🡒]