One of the Miami Heat’s loudest skeptics has finally come around.
With the 2026-27 NBA season approaching, Kevin O’Connor said on a recent episode of his podcast that Miami belongs in the Eastern Conference contender conversation after its summer overhaul, led by the addition of Giannis Antetokounmpo.
“After acquiring Giannis Antetokounmpo - Bobby Portis coming in that deal, signing Klay Thompson, Nick Richards, Tim Hardaway Jr - this team is deeper and stronger. They’re no doubt contenders in the Eastern Conference.”
That’s a pretty big shift from where the Heat sat a few months ago. Entering the offseason, Miami was viewed as one of the league’s bigger afterthoughts, with plenty of uncertainty around whether the front office could actually deliver on its ambitions. The franchise has missed on star pursuits before, so skepticism was baked in.
This time, though, the Heat landed the headline move and kept going. The Giannis deal wasn’t the end of the story; it was the start of a full roster reset that brought in Bobby Portis, Klay Thompson, Nick Richards and Tim Hardaway Jr.
For a team that spent much of the summer being picked apart, that’s a real change in perception. Miami will still lean into the idea that nobody believes in it, even after the Giannis addition, but more people are clearly starting to buy in.
There are still questions the Heat will have to answer once the games start. But compared with where they were before the offseason began, they’ve come a long way - enough that even one of their biggest critics is now calling them a legitimate contender.
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