The Miami Heat are no longer kings of the NBA Play-In Tournament, and that’s why they’re no longer part of the playoffs for the first time in six years.
Perhaps this time, Heat president Pat Riley—The Godfather, but lately better known as “Standing Pat” because of his reluctance to shake up the roster—will finally make moves to bring South Beach back to NBA prominence.
Before this ill-fated season, the Heat made the playoffs throughout the Jimmy Butler era, albeit most of those appearances came through the backdoor—aka the Play-In.
“Buckets” gave the Heat the leader they desperately needed after the departures of Dwyane Wade and LeBron James, the latter doing a Benedict Arnold by returning to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
With the tough-as-nails Butler on board, the fifth-seeded Heat advanced to the NBA Finals in 2020, only to lose to LeBron and the Lakers in six games—and that was with Miami’s leading playoff scorer Goran Dragić and then-rookie sensation Tyler Herro sidelined (Bam Adebayo was also injured, but who’s really counting?).
In 2021, the Heat were swept in the first round by Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks, who eventually ended a 50-year title drought for the Cream City.
Miami then battled the hated Boston Celtics to seven games in the Eastern Conference finals before losing in 2022.
In 2023, the Heat made their first Play-In run and made some sort of history as just the second No. 8 seed to reach the NBA Finals, before falling to the Denver Nuggets, 1-4.
In 2024 and 2025, our kababayan Miami head coach Erik Spoelstra and his team ruled the Play-In once more to backdoor their way into the playoffs. But unlike in 2023, they were met with heartbreak, losing to the Celtics and the Cleveland Cavaliers in embarrassing fashion.
The Heat were gentlemanly swept by Beantown, 1-4, in 2024, and the Cavs wiped the floor with Miami, 0-4, in 2025 in the opening round.
There were excuses in the past two years though. In 2025, the enigmatic Butler was injured against the leprechaun lovers, and in 2024, Buckets wasn’t with the Heat at all after “losing his joy” following stalled extension talks with Riley.
It seemed like the 2026 season would all be sunshine and roses, as the Heat entered the post-Butler era with a surprising 14-7 start—and that was without first-time NBA All-Star from the season ago Tyler Herro.
Without their Wonder Boy, the Heat relied on Norman Powell, who, to Riley’s credit, Miami practically stole from the Los Angeles Clippers for a song (more like Kevin Love and Kyle Anderson). With Powell building on last season’s success (Powell made his first NBA All-Star Game). and fellow UCLA alum Jaime Jaquez Jr. enjoying a bounce-back campaign, the Heat looked poised to avoid the Play-In.
But what happened next was as disappointing as it gets. Herro returned and somewhat disrupted the chemistry as the early-season magic faded.
Then he got injured again. Adebayo also struggled with his shooting early, compounded by the shaky play of young bigs Kel’el Ware and Nikola Jović.
Ware could be Victor Wembanyama-lite one game and Hasheem Thabeet the next, while Jović still appeared unsettled in his role. Is he a 6’11” power forward or a 6’11” guard? Now he’s pouting and appears to be on his way out of Miami.
Both Ware and Jović were in and out of Spoelstra’s doghouse all season.
Another cloud hanging over the Heat’s season was the status of point guard Terry Rozier. He never saw action for Miami the entire season after being embroiled in a gambling scandal, and with that, Miami’s investment—a first-round pick and Kyle Lowry—went out the window. The supposed upgrade at point guard became dead weight.
The only silver lining in an otherwise nightmarish season was Adebayo’s otherworldly 83-point game against the Washington Wizards (or was it the Generals?) on March 10.
Even that was mired in controversy, as both teams seemed to move heaven and earth either to help or prevent Edrice from breaking Kobe Bryant’s 81-point mark (second only to Wilt Chamberlain’s 101 as the highest individual point total in NBA history).
So, what’s next for the Heat?
My answer—if I could tweak Mad King Aerys Targaryen’s last words—“Trade them all!”
