#miami-heat

#miami-heat

All of us really loved it, The guys mentioned after the practice: The battle between [Kasparas Jakucionis] and [Davion Mitchell]. They're both pitbulls. Davion's a more veteran, seasoned NBA pitbull, but Kas has those kind of qualities in him. They were going at it after each other - in a good way. The scrappiness. If you didn't know them, you'd think it's something else. (Jakucionis) lost a couple of battles, but he's putting his nose in there. I love his competitiveness.

Ware started 36 games last year, while Jovic started just 10. The latter was a "scapegoat" at the start of the regular season and was eventually moved to the bench, even though the starting lineup's shortcomings weren't necessarily his undoing. Ware showed flashes, but wasn't consistent. Miami's spacing was poor when he and Adebayo shared the floor together, and that doesn't figure to be much different without Herro.

The Miami Heat needed depth in the frontcourt, and they finally addressed the issue on the eve of the start of NBA Training Camp. After the Heat signed Precious Achiuwa to a one-year deal, there may not be a happier man on the Heat than Bam Adebayo. The move to bring in another big man will certainly take some of the pressure off Bam's shoulders.

Dru Smith has taken another step on his road back from an Achilles injury. He's begun five-on-five work on the eve of the start of Miami Heat training camp, which gets him closer to returning to the floor on a full-time basis. There's still hope that Smith will be ready and cleared for the start of the season. At the very least, the idea is that Smith will be back in the rotation at some point during the early portion of the season.

Of course, neither of these decisions should come as a huge surprise. Ware is coming off a truly strong rookie season and continued to show impressive signs of development during the summer. Much will be expected from Ware as he prepares for his sophomore season, in which he'll almost certainly begin the season as the full-time starting center for the Heat.

There's been some minor speculation that James could return to Miami - though it remains unlikely. However, one of the anonymous 20 voters in ESPN's annual offseason poll claims that James will be in Miami at the start of the 2026-27 season. Five of the panelists said he'd retire, while seven others said he's return to the Lakers. Other teams who received votes were the Cleveland Cavaliers (for the third time), Golden State Warriors and Dallas Mavericks.

The countdown to the start of NBA Training Camp has begun, and there's still a chance the Miami Heat could pursue a former All-Star to add to their roster. With the chance that they could still part ways with Terry Rozier before reporting to camp, according to a recent report, you can't help but wonder if that could push them toward giving Russell Westbrook another look.

This was a common theme especially during the Jimmy Butler era from 2019-2024. Still, that Heat core repeatedly defied all the negative odds and expectations that were thrown their way. That was well documented by the overachieving success of two NBA Finals runs and one Eastern Conference finals run all in a five-year span- as NBA fans around the world started jumping on board with the franchise's infamous "Heat Culture."