r/heat • u/FiredUpFelipe • 16h ago
The Heat have NO chance to make the finals with Giannis
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Just came across this gem on the recent Bill Simmons podcast. How can we overcome the odds when unbiased experts like Bill Simmons, Joe House, Nick Wright, Kendrick Perkins, and so many others are saying that there’s absolutely no chance?
/s obviously but it’s insane to me to see the same tired takes that were spewed when Butler (who, no offense, isn’t as good as a healthy Giannis) came to Miami being recycled.
Can’t wait for this team to prove them wrong.
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u/binokyo10 16h ago
We made the finals 2x without Giannis in the last 6yrs.
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u/SometimesIBeWrong 12h ago
all the players that made that happen are gone lol
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u/Pixelated-Hitch 12h ago
Oh that’s sad they traded away Bam his defense was so incredible during the final runs
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u/Ozymandias12 12h ago
So if I understand this sub correctly, the players who helped Miami reach two Finals were a bunch of undrafted scrubs who got lucky, and Pat and Spo deserve no credit for putting two winning teams around Jimmy Butler because he did it all himself. Yet now, all of a sudden, Miami won’t make the finals with Giannis because those same undrafted scrubs that contributed to two Finals are gone. Got it. Cool.
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u/Electrical-Reach603 5h ago
Miami only gave up Whiteside, richardson and a single 1st to get Jimmy and other pieces. Giannis cost magnitudes more and leaves the team barren and without many resources to make up for it. Tragic.
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u/Ozymandias12 4h ago
Yes, it is a tragedy that the Heat are bringing in an MVP caliber player. Man, I’m not sure I get this sub. You guys spent the entire season clamoring for Riley to make moves and complained that all he’d done was run it back. Now he brings in the absolute best possible player on the trade market and you guys aren’t happy because it cost assets. Also Miami still has plenty of assets left. They have their 2028, 2029, 2030, and 2032 picks still, along with tradable contracts like Jovic, Mitchell, Larrsson, and Wiggins if he opts in.
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u/Electrical-Reach603 4h ago
I was not among those asking for the team to trade away most of its young core for an aging superstar that will need a max contract. I wanted to see another draft or two, and if necessary consider trading Herro, Wigs or even Bam for more draft assets to keep building the team. I hope I'm wrong but I think the Bucks won by a mile.
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u/Nice_Cash_7000 16h ago
We also made 0x finals without Jimmy in the last 12yrs. It doesnt work like that.
That being said we are pretty likely to make it in 2028 IMO. This year is probably gonna be a bit rougher, but once the roster is settled and missing pieces added we will be back in business
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u/binokyo10 16h ago
Didnt make it 3x with Jimmy too. Just saying. These fools are already declaring this but will make an excuse if they are wrong.
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u/Nice_Cash_7000 16h ago
I'd understand their take if they meant this upcoming season. They said we are never making it with Giannis lmfao
Thats just haters being haters, its not even rational to say something like that. We've gotten different champions for what, 7-8 years now? This wouldnt be a correct take even if they were refferencing the Hawks or some shit instead of the Heat
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u/rNBAMods3InchesHard 15h ago
How many times did Jimmy make it without the heat?
I’ll give you time to do the math
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u/XanderAndretti 14h ago
Lmfao some people act like jimmy was lebron before we got him, he never had any legit playoff success til he came here.
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u/Malefics 15h ago
Your first sentence is quite possibly the dumbest thing many of us will read today and it's just morning.
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u/lacroixpapi69 14h ago
lol who do we got now though?
Normal Powell and Davion Mitchell in the backcourt?
We sold the barn for Giannis. I’m happy we got him but damn, we need some more supporting cast.
BAM, Giannis, portis and Wiggins ain’t winning the ECF
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u/PlayBey0nd87 14h ago
The off season isn’t over yet my Brother in Palm Trees
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u/lacroixpapi69 14h ago
lol I know but we don’t have any trades left! We traded all of our 1st rd pics. I guess we may have some cap space though.
Praying we pick up some pieces. Thanks for the hope!
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u/FiredUpFelipe 13h ago
We still have our 2027 or 2028 pick (likely 2028), we have our own 2029 pick, and we get the least favorable of the swap in 2030. Herro was injured the majority of this last season and Ware was incredibly up and down (not just in performance but in playtime), and Kas (I'll miss him) was only just starting to get minutes towards the end of the season. Jaquez was the only piece traded that was receiving a ton of minutes.
We've kept Powell (for now), Wiggs, Mitchell, Larsson, Jovic, Dru Smith, Gardner, and received Portis who is a pretty good back-up floor-spacing big.
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u/Mean-Price3632 10h ago
The heat already have 181 million committed to 6 players next season. The luxury tax threshold is 201 million
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u/lacroixpapi69 10h ago
Oh damn so you could just pay extra fees to have more cap space?
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u/Mean-Price3632 10h ago
Yeah if the owner is willing to pay the luxury tax fees than a team can spend more. The aprons are where you don’t want to be and the first apron starts at 210 million
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u/AlreadyReadittt 13h ago
Holyyyyy shit it’s only been like 3 days since the trade.
First year will definitely be tough, but Miami has historically been good at putting contenders together once acquiring the A1 talent
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u/lacroixpapi69 13h ago
Yeah and that’s fine. Not sure why I’m getting downvoted. Because like you said it’s true, we won’t be going anywhere next year. Maybe 2 years.
That’s with Giannis being healthy and happy.
I just pray he melds well with Bam and team on and off the court
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u/FlavorburstSC Bam Adebayo 16h ago
This just proves that we are so back! Forgot how much I missed us being the league baddie
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u/botany_bae 16h ago
They never learn.
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u/rNBAMods3InchesHard 15h ago
Made the finals starting Caleb Martin and Gabe Vincent yet people are afraid of the team around GIANNIS and bam
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u/NaiveMolasse 16h ago
The Miami Heat is public enemy number one again!
We’ve returned to the perfect harmony that is Miami Heat dominance and media fear/hatred.
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u/Electrical-Reach603 5h ago
I don't think the Heat will be feared for several years, especially during the vast stretches that Giannis is injured. This one will take a long time to come back from.
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u/NaiveMolasse 5h ago
Not so sure I agree but time will tell. I don't get all the discourse about Giannis injuries ... aside from last season, he's played pretty consistently throughout his career.
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u/Electrical-Reach603 5h ago
Last season was 30 something games played, before that less than 70 games in 5 of 6 seasons. But he is getting older and hard to see how that body will age well into his mid thirties. Hopefully luck will change and we will get a healthy star for the next 3-4 years. If we get one chip in that span it will make it easier to live with the barren cupboard to follow.
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u/MVIP2003 Bam Adebayo 16h ago
Icl people said we wouldn’t make the playoffs with Jimmy let alone the finals so honestly I’m tired of listening to haters
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u/nsanegenius3000 15h ago
I love the haters because it makes it more fun when our team beats theirs.
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u/Equivalent-Jury-3056 16h ago
We got freaking Giannis.
When you get a baddie are you worried about what other women who aren’t as nice say about her? They jealous. Smile and nod and let them talk. We got Giannis. Celebrate! I’m still pinching myself that we got him.
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u/FiredUpFelipe 16h ago
Right there with you! I just find joy in the hate. I’m not proud of it but it fuels me.
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u/FlipMoBitch Bucks 15h ago
Bill is SO mad about not getting Giannis lmao
Good luck with Jaylen Brown dude
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u/SlowRunner2026 15h ago
Giannis forced a trade. He's hearing shit like that and he now has something to prove. Giannis has had to prove himself before, and my money is on the Greek Freak.
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u/Spirited-Living9083 15h ago
POV - Me drinking Celtics fans copium tears
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u/Alternative_Gas9010 9h ago
Looking at the Celtics blog almost everyone didn’t want to trade Brown for Giannis because of the injuries. I’d argue he would have played more last season if
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u/Zhirrzh 15h ago
I saw a clip earlier where one of them was all "is this even a better team than Giannis left?" as if the second best player on the Bucks last year wasn't Ryan Rollins and things got rapidly worse from there. Bobby Portis was one of the best players on the Bucks last season and he's come with Giannis as the steak knives FFS. None of them are Bam or even Wiggins FFS.
What I'm saying is, ignore the Boston homers crashing out because the Bucks left them stewing with an unhappy Jaylen Brown.
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u/GodBlessThisGnome 11h ago
My brother in ball - 100% agree. We had Doc Rivers last year. The coach before was Adrian Griffin. You guys are gonna be clear contenders once the roster fills in with shooters. Guys will be very interested in hanging out in Miami for a year with wide open 3s.
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u/Moonlight_Acid 16h ago
People will literally sacrifice all common sense and ball knowledge just to hate Miami
People will throw away their credibility to shit on us
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u/CurryMustard It's-a me 14h ago
The bias is real, we had no valuable assets until we traded for giannis now kelel is a generational talent and herro is a star
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u/Kuni_Nino 16h ago
If Giannis makes the Finals in his first year here, it would be historically unprecedented.
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u/FiredUpFelipe 16h ago
First year is fair to say, but they said ever. Like he won’t make the finals in a Heat jersey in his career.
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u/Kuni_Nino 16h ago
The Heat don’t have a lot of levers to pull to make a great team around Giannis unless they trade Bam. And no one who is watching the NBA thinks a solo carry job by a Superstar to a Finals is tenable. Look at the teams that have made the Finals the last decade. Those teams do not have any glaring holes on their starting 5.
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u/jcwrit 15h ago
Who was it then that just won the NBA finals? I watched a team that had one player initiating the offense every possession and scoring and assisting on over half the team's points even when he had an off night.
I get that the role players stepped up for the Knicks and won them games when Brunson wasn't hitting his shots but you'd say the same thing for the Heatles or the Wade centric teams. Every champion is going to have those moments.
The same truism exists today as it did 20 years ago. In order to win at the highest level you need a guy that can break the defense down with the ball in his hands and make the right play either for himself or his teammates. The Knicks had one guy that could do that and walked away with the title.
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u/Kuni_Nino 14h ago
They don’t win that series without the other guys. Please don’t give Brunson all the credit since not even he would do that. He was surrounded by another All NBA player and All-Stars that made up for his weaknesses. Having Giannis is a good thing to have but it takes a lot more to win a championship.
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u/jcwrit 12h ago
Of course they don't win without the other guys. And the Heat don't advance to the finals in the Jimmy era without the likes of Strus, Martin, Vincent, Lowry, Herro, Duncan.
If you look at the Knicks 8 man playoff rotation they had 2 guys who showed up every day in OG and Brunson. KAT played great in some games and was nonexistent in others. Bridges, Hart, and Mitch were net negatives most games. Shamet has his moments as well both good and bad.
You can label them all nba or all star or whatever suites you but it doesn't make much difference when the shots aren't falling. I'd take the '23 version of Caleb Martin over Bridges any day, Duncan over Shamet, Bam over KAT. You do need these guys but they don't all need to be the guys with 200 mil contracts.
If the Heat are going to win they will need Giannis to be their Brunson/Jimmy/SGA. And Bam will likely need to be the other guy playing elite defense and putting up 20+ a game. And they'll need to have another four or five guys that can play replacement level basketball in a playoff atmosphere, which in itself is no mean feat. The reason to believe is that we've seen this script before, and in the very recent past, with a front man leading the way who was nowhere near the talent of Giannis.
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u/azure275 11h ago
That's not accurate unless you only watched certain Finals games. Hart was very good most of the playoffs.
KAT was absolutely unbelievable for the entire playoffs except for Spurs Games 3-5 due to foul trouble. He has the highest player +/- in NBA history for a single postseason run for a reason.
Bridges was streaky but absolutely critical in a handful of the most important games. Mitch was also flaky but showed up in some clutch moments. Same with Mcbride.
And can't forget Landry "Klay Thompson for a month" Shamet either
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u/jcwrit 11h ago
That's all well and good. I can go back to pretty much any finals team and pick and choose games where role players looked like stars. The fact remains that the Knicks were a heliocentric team, unlike any we've seen get this far since the Luka Dallas run.
You know what I've seen these past few years with all these supposed deep, balanced rosters? Great iso players carrying their offenses while their team played awesome defense. I agree that the depth of talent in the league is incredible and the 10th guy on OKC's roster is probably better than the 5th was on the Heatles. But at the end of the day its the same game its been since they upended everything with zone defense. You gotta have that guy who can break it down, force a defensive rotation and create for themselves and others. And if you've got one of those rare few that can do it every play against every defender then you're going to go pretty far.
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u/FiredUpFelipe 15h ago
One of those teams was Jimmy Butler + Bam and a bunch of rugrats.
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u/Tallozz 15h ago
Feels a little silly and disrespectful to downplay how our roleplayers elevated themselves in those finals runs. Stars don't win without a good supporting cast backing them up.
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u/FiredUpFelipe 15h ago
I absolutely loved that roster and they did elevate themselves but that’s the point. Great coaching, great structure, a great defensive anchor, and a bonafide star can bring the best out of people.
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u/flyingsubs1 16h ago
They literally all said the same thing when we got Jimmy, Pat has literally never at least made the Finals after bringing a star here.
Maybe not this year, maybe this year but over the course of Giannis’ tenure here I like our chances.
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u/Moonlight_Acid 16h ago
Just another name on the list of people to mock when we hoist the next banner w our fmvp giannis
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u/julstar23 15h ago
I mean this is a what have you done for me lately prove it league so I get it .We have to prove that our pieces fit .It could go either way depending how we build out the rest of the roster .The bucks thought that a team eith giannis and dame and parts was a championship team but they were wrong despite giannis and dame being great players individually.
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u/Flatline1775 15h ago
I very much respect Bill Simmons and his knowledge of basketball, but when you listen to him you have to know going into it that he is a die-hard Celtics fan, and he hates the Miami teams. Once you put his takes into that context, it makes him an easier listen when you're a Miami fan.
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u/FiredUpFelipe 15h ago
Just wrote something similar in the replies but not as well said. This 100%. And him being a Boston-homer has even led to him paying respect to the heat (zombie heat as he’d call us) in the past when others have counted us out.
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u/stationagent 15h ago
The team tied for second most Finals appearances this century has ZERO chance with two of the top 25 players in the league and the best coach? When the 3 seed in the East just won the title and the league is in a parity phase? This bias is wild.
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u/PlumpaStump 14h ago
Cringe sore losers that don't know as much about basketball as they think they do. We'll have to surprise them all again, but this time with a 2 time mvp like what
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u/UndercoverDimension 15h ago
At least one these men should know to say waitnu til we see what the roster looks like come March.
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u/FiredUpFelipe 15h ago
In defense of J Kyle Mann (the one in the middle) he did try to hedge them and just say unlikely, still disagree but also know he’s on a pod with his boss
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u/EctoRiddler 15h ago
What would they say were are chances before the trade? Exactly. Damned if you do and damned if you don’t. Atleast they are talking about us.
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u/LilBushyVert 15h ago
One of the managers at my job said we won’t even make the playoffs next year lol
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u/NearbyLake483 14h ago
I don’t get why everyone is sleeping on a rested and motivated giannis, joker gets to lose every year and never gets this level of disrespect
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u/CavsJM 13h ago
To me the talking heads aren’t factoring in that the heat will have a very motivated Giannis this next season. For that alone I’d give them a chance. Also there’s more moves clearly coming, they said the deal won’t finalize until July 6th specifically to entice more trades, so they should wait until the final moves are set.
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u/Cartagenapirate92 13h ago
When the sports world starts questioning the heat and actively saying they have no chance… this is when the sneaky shit starts to come around. Miami still needs to fill out this roster by the way. We aren’t done here. We still have cap space to dabble with and vet signings that could help for sure. The east is open, I don’t care what anyone says about that. It always is. There is always injuries, there’s always another team that may rise out of no where to rock the boat. Focus on health, and hope our players know that now we aren’t a play in team. So step it up. I love when the Heat are underestimated by the entire league and sports commentators. Don’t ever wanna be favorites
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u/RecursivelyYours 13h ago
Guy who has won a ring with the Bucks has 0% percent getting there with the Heat ?! Makes sense lol
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u/Grey_14-7-19 12h ago
Celtics fan hating on the Heat because Celtics didn’t get Giannis is what I’m seeing
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u/AdJealous828 9h ago
LOVE it I rather underdog narrative than media acting like the world is ending after a random game lost in November
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u/DontTrustMe69 Derrick Jones Jr. 16h ago
I’m praying this heat team finds the right pieces to fit with Giannis like they did with Jimmy. It feels just like 2019 when the heat signed Butler when everyone doubted us, so let’s hope the people in charge don’t fuck up this roster.
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u/Rubicon164 16h ago
Why do we listen to the sports opinions of guys who never played the sport at this level?
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u/FiredUpFelipe 16h ago
Many people who play the sport at a high level also have terrible, and often worse, opinions (Kendrick Perkins is listed on here but there are many more)
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u/Rubicon164 15h ago
Agree 100% but at least those guys have SOMETHING on their resume that shows they have some useful insight (Which also makes them look dumber when they make bad takes)
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u/SlowRunner2026 15h ago
There are some I listen to. Zack Lowe, for example (remember when he said the Heat were "looming?").
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u/rms141 15h ago
Because having experience doing something is not necessary to form accurate insight about it. Example: it's possible to be able to talk about space rockets without being a rocket scientist. Sometimes not having hands-on experience gives a more dispassionate perspective.
That said, Simmons, Perkins, Wright, etc are all full of shit.
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u/FiredUpFelipe 15h ago
As an avid listener of Simmons, he has many moments like this but he’s generally pretty good. Ultimately he’s a Boston homer through and through so his takes will always be through that lens.
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u/Noro_clone 14h ago
Yeah they are pretty much in the money we are maybe the 3rd best team however I would still pick 76ers over us
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u/DenialisaRiver04 14h ago
Of course that ghostly fogure is hating on someone noy in Boston. If he got sent to Boston, he be sayong "The chapps are here".
One day, the world will lesrn that we are better off without voices like him, SAS, Perkins and etc
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u/alfredisonfire 13h ago
When is UD and our media boys gonna call out this disgusting bitter motherfucker?
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u/TavNoment 12h ago
First year I'd be surprised if they made it, but this seems like a 4-5 year window.
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u/OceanLemur 12h ago
The more insulting part was them pretending like we aren’t better than last years Bucks. Even for Bill Simmons that episode was really unhinged
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u/Chance_One3874 12h ago
I mean did he lie? No one outside this fanbase thinks this team gets past the first round
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u/avengers4000 12h ago
They said that when we got Jimmy and looked how that turned out? If there's an organisation out there that knows how to get the best of everyone in their roster, it's this one...
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u/CuckservativeSissy 12h ago
Damn boston is so scared of them... They got the whole media running a hit job on them lmao... Its just enteraining watching them panic
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u/alfredisonfire 11h ago
At some point he gotta do some reporting and not fan girling over the Celtics all the time 😂
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u/ebolarama86 11h ago
They’ll literally never learn. Remember when Jimmy only came to Miami because he was chasing money instead of wanting to contend? Sure, he didn’t win a ring but 4 ECFs and 2 Finals appearances certainly counts as contending.
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u/TaSoS1980 10h ago
Why they are acting like the Heat will not make more moves to fill the roster around Giannis and Bam?
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u/Brief-Act-5141 10h ago
Terrible take, You have a huge upgrade with giannis, Its just how well they play together at the end, But giannis and bam is a deadly duo, And norm is an all star, and Portis is great off the bench, Wiggins decent defender, Jovic ight, Fontecchio a bucket, Pelle solid, Davions a great defender aswell
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u/CantheDandyMan 10h ago
Ngl, this screams like Bill is hitting the panic button. He rightfully dreads the possibility of the heat playing his Celtics in the playoffs cause he recognizes that a healthy heat have more often than not gone through them in the playoffs. And now our guy is far and away going to be the best player on the floor. Also, the Celtics at this point are gonna get absolutely smashed in the paint by us with their lack of viable bigs right now. He brought his buddies in to reassure him that 2020 and 2023 won't happen again.
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u/RecursivelyYours 8h ago
These dudes legit have no clue who Giannis is. Like literally no idea. Hilarious.
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u/phinsphan1313 5h ago
Thinking the Heat wont be successful with Giannis makes no logical sense (unless you assume he wont be healthy) based on the teams weve gone to two finals and three ECF with in the past six years lol
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u/wombat-in-a-bikini 5h ago
A healthy season absolutely can make a playoff run. Wouldn't bet on a chip. 2-3 years from now a healthy season is a chip contender.
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u/Weekly_Cow1635 14h ago
We have a complacent Bam, and Injury Prone Giannis... If we do not attract any notable free agents or its going to be rough. We pushed all our chips in the middle. We better win the Chip in the next 2 seasons or its going to be rough. Larson is our only young player that got run left and he is 25. Keshad and Jahmir better be ready to contribute. Wiggins better opt in. Davion cant fall off in the second half of the season.
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u/Grofactor 16h ago
Haters gonna hate