The Miami Heat may have added scoring, but the bigger question hanging over this roster is still the same one: who is going to create enough offense around Giannis Antetokounmpo?
That was a problem for the Milwaukee Bucks last season, when Antetokounmpo didn’t get enough offensive support. And even with the Heat’s roster looking solid, they still don’t appear to have the kind of creation that makes a star like that truly hum.
Bam Adebayo will score his points - nobody is questioning that. He even put up 83 points in a game last season.
But he’s not the type of player you normally hand the offense to as a lead creator. Antetokounmpo can fill that role, and he’ll have the ball in his hands plenty, but the best version of the Bucks didn’t lean on him alone to carry the whole creation load.
Jrue Holiday, Khris Middleton and even Damian Lillard were the ones taking on that responsibility.
That’s the part Miami still lacks.
The Heat did bring in more scoring around Antetokounmpo and Adebayo, and those additions should help them put points on the board this season. Klay Thompson and Tim Hardaway Jr. can both rack up buckets, especially from three-point range, and that kind of shooting will matter for Miami.
But scoring and creation aren’t the same thing. Thompson and Hardaway are finishers and spacers, not the kind of players who bend a defense by themselves.
The real question sits at point guard. Davion Mitchell has a chance to grow into a much bigger role, and if that happens, some of these concerns could start to fade. If he doesn’t make a meaningful jump, though, Miami may look back and wonder why it didn’t add more offensive creation over the summer.
Antetokounmpo will still drive the action. He’ll get downhill, collapse defenses and kick it out to shooters like Thompson and Hardaway. But the Heat could still use another creator, especially in the backcourt.
That could end up being their biggest need by the time next season’s trade deadline rolls around. For now, it looks like a hole that could show up early and stay with them.
In Other News...
Heat Championship Hopes Suddenly Rest On One Huge Spoelstra Call
The Heat spent the offseason loading up around the margins and then some, adding Giannis Antetokounmpo, Klay Thompson, Tim Hardaway Jr. and drafting Ryan Conwell to a roster that already has pieces Spoelstra can mix and match. Miamis path back into the top tier of the Eastern Conference now looks less like a simple star-driven ascent and more like a coachs puzzle, with lineups that could feature those newcomers alongside returning contributors such as Davion Mitchell and Andrew Wiggins.
For Spoelstra, the real challenge is figuring out which combinations maximize the Heats defensive edge without shortchanging the shooting that is supposed to make the whole thing work. In a conference stuffed with talent, Miamis championship hopes may come down to whether its coach can keep enough spacing around its stars while still preserving the identity that has long made the Heat dangerous in the spring. [Read more 🡒]
Heat Still Have A Roster Question Fans Will Want Answered
The Heat have been busy adding depth through the margins, bringing in players such as Mo Bamba and Bez Mbeng via their G-League affiliate and waiver claims as they continue to round out the roster around a veteran core. It is the kind of low-profile work that can matter later, especially for a team that always has to balance present-tense contention with the need to keep a little younger talent in the pipeline.
One name that now fits that conversation is Johni Broome, the former Auburn standout and 2025 second-round pick who was recently waived by the Clippers. Miami could view him as a possible source of youthful interior help behind its established bigs, but for now the question is simply whether the Heat decide to make room for another developmental piece or keep looking elsewhere for that last bit of frontcourt depth. [Read more 🡒]
Heat Backcourt Gamble Now Comes Down To Davion Mitchell
D'Angelo Russells sudden availability has put another backcourt option on the board for Miami as the Heat continue sorting out how much guard help they still need before the season begins. After being waived by the Memphis Grizzlies, Russell can sign with another team, and his name immediately fits a discussion that has already been hovering around Miamis roster picture: whether the Heat should add another veteran ballhandler or trust the pieces they already have.
For now, the more important question appears to be how the Heat feel about Davion Mitchell and the rest of their current guard group. Miami has not been reported to have any official interest in Russell, but the possibility itself underscores the balancing act in front of the front office, which has to decide whether to keep the backcourt as is or pursue another proven option. However that conversation ends, Mitchells place in it seems central. [Read more 🡒]