Can the Miami Heat Remain Championship Contenders?

Throughout his tenure with the Miami Heat, coach Erik Spoelstra has offered the same response when asked about making trades and additions during free agency. 

Spoelstra's answer each time: "We've got enough." 

It appears the Heat are taking that approach entering this season. After losing to the Boston Celtics in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals, the feel is they still have "enough" to remain championship contenders. 

"We were one shot away from the Finals," Heat guard Kyle Lowry said recently. "If you know me, you know what I do. I don't talk about it. I just go out there and operate. We'll get to that time, when the time comes."

Oddsmakers like the Heat's chances of at least challenging for a third straight trip to the conference finals. They're a hefty -190 favorite to win the Southeast Division title at FanDuel Sportsbook, and are +700 to return to the NBA Finals – tied with Philadelphia and Brooklyn for the third-best odds in the East.

Barring a last-minute trade, the Heat will enter this season with almost the same lineup as a year ago. The only key loss was forward P.J. Tucker, who signed with the Philadelphia 76ers.  

“Look at the history of how we’ve done things since [team president Pat Riley and owner Micky Arison] have created this culture,” Spoelstra said. "Anytime we’re close and have banged on the door, even if it ended in a disappointing loss, our history has shown that we usually bring the majority of the group back, the core back, and we take another shot at it.”

This summer, the Heat were linked with Kevin Durant, Donovan Mitchell, Kyrie Irving and many others. This was mostly because the notion of Riley's ability to make the slickest of moves in the offseason. 

It happened with acquiring Shaquille O'Neal in the summer of 2004 that eventually led to the first championship in franchise history. It happened with signing LeBron James and Chris Bosh to team with Dwyane Wade in 2010 that produced two titles in four straight NBA Finals appearances. 

Riley also pulled off a midseason deal for Goran Dragic at the trade deadline in 2015, a move derailed only by Bosh missing the second half of the season because of blood clots. Riley's last major move was trading for Jimmy Butler in 2019, which has already led to one Finals appearance (2020) and kept the Heat prominent in the East. 

Heat showed interest in Durant

When Durant requested a trade from the Brooklyn Nets in June and Mitchell expressed his unhappiness with the Utah Jazz, it was only natural for Riley's presence to put the Heat in the discussion. 

Despite mutual interest, the deals were mostly speculation. The Heat are limited in terms of assets, so the chances of adding to the roster keep growing slimmer the closer they get to training camp. 

The Heat are using last year's near-miss to say they remain on par with the rest of the Eastern teams, including the Milwaukee Bucks, Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers. 

During a recent , Heat guard Tyler Herro sounded confident in being able to compete for a championship. 

"I would run it back," Herro said. "I think that's what we're doing. We brought everyone back. We were one game away from the Finals so I'd run it back."

The question is this: Are the Heat good enough as is while their competition improved during the offseason? The Bucks added forward Joe Ingles from the Jazz and will have back a healthy All-Star Khris Middleton, who was sidelined in their second-round loss to the Celtics. 

The Celtics kept their core intact while acquiring Indiana Pacers guard Malcolm Brogdon, who gives them another playmaker and strong defender. The Sixers addition of Tucker provides championship experience to a team lacking veteran leadership. All three teams made the necessary tweaks to better their chances. 

Butler, role players are the key

Still, the Heat feel they are ready to prove earning last year's No. 1 seed was no fluke. They dealt with injuries to Herro and Lowry in the conference finals and are hoping another year of growth by center Bam Adebayo can take some of the pressure off forward Jimmy Butler. 

Butler is a year older and already has lots of miles dating to his days with the Chicago Bulls. The Heat cannot expect him to carry them like he did in the playoffs, especially the conference finals. They need more from Herro and especially Adebayo. 

Another advantage for the Heat is the continuity among the core of role players. Forward Caleb Martin, center Dewayne Dedmon and guards Max Strus and Gabe Vincent have played together for most of the last three seasons.  

“It’s just good to have a feeling like we can run it back and do something different this year, having Caleb back, having Dewayne, having Victor, guys who know our system," Adebayo said.  "And then just everybody falling in line."

Added Riley, "I like the team that we have. I like the core."

Time is running out on Riley, 77, whose window is closing. Even though he says he no plans of slowing down, the Heat eventually at some point have to think about moving forward. 

Riley just wants to be around to finish what he started and perhaps add to his already sterling resume. 

"I definitely feel an obligation to finish this build," Riley said. "And so if we're three years into this build—then I don't want to do another three years of just building this team. I think we're in that window of internal improvement."

Are the Heat "enough" in 2022-23?

If keeping the current roster fails, it will mean the Heat have gone without a championship since the LeBron James era ended in 2014. The is not an organization that lives on `what ifs' and `could'ves.' 

In the past 20 years, Miami has proven it deserves mention with the likes of the San Antonio Spurs, Los Angeles Lakers, Boston Celtics, Chicago Bulls as marquee winning teams of the league. 

It's just a matter of if last year's roster is "enough" for the Heat to keep up with the rest.  

“We feel like we came up short,” Adebayo said. “So I feel like that’s a mandatory, to get back to where we were and have a different result. It haunts you, because you get that close to something and one shot away. If you look at the game, there were so many moments where we could have taken advantage of the game.”