The Miami Heat made it all the way to the NBA Finals last season, yet no one seems to believe in them — again.
They beat the odds and the best teams in the Eastern Conference, all while having their second-best scorer out with an injury and an evident shortage of talent.
None of that seems to be enough for them to get the nod in the offseason.
ESPN analyst Malika Andrews still believes the Milwaukee Bucks and Boston Celtics are a tier above the Heat in terms of contenders, as shared by Twitter user Dru Star.
“When we look at all the moves in the East. We look at Miami as the team that was able to represent the East last year in the Finals. When we talk about the conference as a whole, we still look at who?— The Milwaukee Bucks & Boston Celtics as that upper echelon”- @malika_andrews pic.twitter.com/YiAsxtmmKn
— Dru (@dru_star) July 25, 2023
It’s a fact that both the Bucks and the Celtics have more talent than the Heat, at least as things stand now.
But the Bucks will have a new coach in Adrian Griffin, and Khris Middleton’s health could continue to be a concern moving forward, as he’s not getting any younger.
As for the Celtics, they lost two of their leaders in Marcus Smart and Grant Williams.
Kristpas Porzingis has a long history of injuries, and coach Joe Mazzulla looked way over his head multiple times in his debut season.
That locker room needs leaders, and they’ve crumbled under pressure over and over, even with the ones they had in the past.
The Heat have arguably the best coach in the Eastern Conference, two legit DPOY candidates like Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo, and they could add Damian Lillard to that mix, all after making it to the NBA Finals twice in the past four seasons.
Maybe, it’s time we start giving the Heat some credit, as it doesn’t seem like a fluke anymore.
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