Last Updated on May 12, 2026 11:56 am by Mike Passador | Published: May 12, 2026

The Heat fancied themselves as real contenders and continued to add to their Bam Adebayo-Tyler Herro core, making a move to acquire Norman Powell on the cheap. With one of the game’s great coaches, an iron-clad team culture and plenty of continuity in a “weak” Eastern Conference, the Heat were looking to get back on track after Jimmy Butler ruined their 2024-25.

How’d It Go?

The Heat were still somewhat reeling from Jimmy Butler’s departure but had enough players left to consider themselves a playoff team. They traded for Norman Powell and were ready for full seasons of Andrew Wiggins and Davion Mitchell to complement the core of Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro. Erik Spoelstra is one of the best coaches around and the Heat are always the sort of team to drag you down into the muck if you don’t take them seriously enough.

News that Herro would be undergoing offseason ankle surgery cleared some of the theoretical logjam on the wing and the Heat were able to survive his early absence thanks largely to a scorching hot start from Powell. Miami sat 13-7 through the end of November and looked to be on target with consensus — competitive and feisty but not real title threats. That played out as the Heat were basically a .500 team the rest of the way. They dipped to 15-15 at one point and then went on a four-game win streak, staying in that zone for most of the year until a seven-game win streak pushed them to 38-29, though a five-game losing streak right after put Miami right back into the Play-In.

Powell was a godsend early in the year and played well enough to earn an All-Star berth, carrying the Miami offense in Herro’s extended absence. Even when Herro returned from his surgery, toe and rib injuries kept him out of the picture until after the All-Star break. Miami also received strong play from Jaime Jaquez Jr., who ended up being the most consistent wing presence outside of Andrew Wiggins, and a nice little breakout from Pelle Larsson. Although Larsson wasn’t much of a shooter, he found a home in the starting five as a steady wing presence and ended up bumping Nikola Jovic out of the rotation.

Kel’el Ware was one of the most exciting fantasy prospects but could not gain any traction as he failed to meet the on-court standards that Spoelstra demands. You can hardly fault the coach for wanting to use players who help the team win games rather than those who impress in the box score, though it led to one of the more frustrating fantasy subplots of the season.

Herro’s return leveled things out a bit and his relative return to form coincided with Powell’s own batch of injuries and poor plays. The silver lining of Miami constantly missing one of their top scoring options meant that Adebayo had to take on a featured scoring role. He thrived down the stretch, peaking with a ridiculous 83-point performance against the Wizards. You knew we were in for a special night after a brilliant first quarter and the Heat went all-out to get Adebayo into a historic position, feeding him the ball — even against triple-teams — to let him feast on a night that nobody could’ve expected. It was the brightest of bright spots in a year where things never really came together according to plan.

The Heat rarely had a full-strength roster and never had everyone healthy and playing to their maximum capability. While they made a late charge for a playoff spot, the Heat ended up landing at No. 9 and lost their Play-In game to Charlotte after Adebayo got hurt on a dirty play by LaMelo Ball that went unpunished. It was another season of the Heat coming up short of expectations, though they at least had a few positives to cling to in terms of Adebayo’s play as a primary scorer, a great campaign from Wiggins and further development from Mitchell, Jaquez and Larsson.

Coaching

Erik Spoelstra’s credentials are well-known to any basketball fan at this point and he’s an institution in Miami. The job is his as long as he wants it and the organization is going to side with his evaluation over anything else. He hasn’t been given the best rosters to work with in recent seasons, though Jimmy Butler’s tenure erupting overnight put the team in a bind.

Despite a lengthy absence from Tyler Herro the Heat managed an elite offense, finishing behind only Denver in points per game. Spoelstra got them to put crazy points on the board without the benefit of great 3-point shooting and in many ways the Heat outworked their opponents on the way to gaudy totals. They, in fitting with their culture, ranked top-10 in points off turnovers and second-chance points (despite finishing in the bottom half of offensive rebound rate). Miami finished second in fast-break scoring and third in points in the paint. They limited turnovers and led the league in pace. It’s a hard-working profile that requires discipline and effort, which feeds into the program’s demands about conditioning and intangibles. If you don’t meet those, you don’t play. Just ask Nikola Jovic and Kel’el Ware.

The Spoelstra-Ware back and forth was the most interesting part of the coaching situation for fantasy managers. Every year we seem to get one player who would be a fantasy star that is “held back” by their coach, though the coach ends up being justified because the player isn’t actually helping his team on the court. This year Ware was the post child for that whole deal. We’ll get into the numbers more in Ware’s section and while Spoelstra drew the ire of fantasy managers, he was rightfully doing what was best for the team. Beyond the yo-yoing for Ware, Spoelstra generally rode with the guys who were playing well and the Heat got career years from Jaime Jaquez Jr., Pelle Larsson and Davion Mitchell to continue their strong track record of development. There’s not a lot that’s up for question or debate behind the bench in Miami.

The Players

Bam Adebayo

C, Miami Heat

ADP: 32.2 / 27.6 (Yahoo/ESPN) | Total Value: 36/26 (8/9-cat) | Per-Game Value: 54/37 (8/9-cat)

Adebayo is Miami’s best player and the guy they hope to build around going forward. He has become a tricky player to evaluate for fantasy purposes, however, and while Adebayo has the talent to make things work he is basically choosing the hardest possible path from a fantasy perspective. The Heat are piling a lot of work on Adebayo offensively — injuries to Miami’s other top scorers throughout the season only compounded the problem — which has forced him to thread the needle in the box score. On the positive side, Adebayo produced increases in points, rebounds, 3-pointers and FT% from last season, with his 1.7 triples marking a new career-high. On the other hand, he shot just .318 from deep on over five attempts per game, resulting in a career-low .442 mark from the field that puts Adebayo significantly behind his positional peers at a spot where it’s very hard to gain ground. A volume-based surge in 3-pointers is nothing too special in this ecosystem and certainly not worth the FG% erosion. Last year’s .485 mark was a career-low at the time but Adebayo was far worse this year as the Heat offense pushed him into way too many shots away from the rim. More time focused on scoring also limits Adebayo’s output defensively, which is the real determining factor of his fantasy ceiling.

Adebayo has been reliable in terms of health so managers were able to escape in terms of total value, but the improvement in points and 3-pointers was not enough for him to meet his ADP on a per-game basis. As for the extent of his improvement as a bucket-getter, we have gone too far without mentioning that Adebayo put his name in the history books with an 83-point game vs. the Wizards that likely shifted the landscape in head-to-head leagues since it happened during the fantasy playoffs. He was able to make a big jump up the board down the stretch with top-30/15 value after the All-Star break (he was top-60 before) thanks to an increase of five points per game (an extra assist and 0.5 steals per game helped too), taking charge of the Heat offense as Tyler Herro was ramping back up and Norman Powell struggled. Adebayo can be the scoring force that Miami wants him to be, but the question from us is whether that’s the optimal way to make use of Adebayo’s obvious talent. So far the answer is “no” but the fact that it’s even close is a testament to his ability given the recipe we’re seeing.

Tyler Herro

SG, Miami Heat

ADP: 71.6 / 69.1 (Yahoo/ESPN) | Total Value: 227/228 (8/9-cat) | Per-Game Value: 56/46 (8/9-cat)

Herro was outstanding in 2024-25 with career-highs across almost the entire box score and a sparkling 77 games played. The availability was the most surprising aspect of Herro’s ascension but he lost all that ground and then some in a 2025-26 season defined by injuries. Offseason ankle surgery caused Herro to miss the first 17 games of the year, but that was only the beginning of his troubles. He later sustained right toe and rib injuries that kept him from getting on the court with any consistency until after the All-Star break, and at the end of the day Herro played in just 11 of Miami’s first 56 contests. If there was a silver lining it was that Herro didn’t face any real minutes restrictions upon returning, but the bulk of his missed time was just too much to overcome for fantasy purposes. Herro shot the ball well and the only notable dip in the box score came in assists, so his per-game numbers ended up being solid.

Ultimately, those who budgeted for Herro’s ankle problems were on target with the ADP, but you couldn’t predict the other random injuries that sunk him in fantasy. After a year of absurdly good health and a season of bad breaks, perhaps next year will see Herro settle in between those two extremes. At this point you have to like what he does on a per-game basis.

Norman Powell

SG, Miami Heat

ADP: 88.7 / 87.5 (Yahoo/ESPN) | Total Value: 99/97 (8/9-cat) | Per-Game Value: 76/75 (8/9-cat)

There was a clear delineation between the good and bad halves of Powell’s season for the second straight year. His ADP rose steadily throughout draft season as we got continuous updates on Tyler Herro, and it peaked when we heard that Herro would not be ready for opening night. Powell dropped 28 points on opening night in his Heat debut to put everyone on notice. He got off to a great start and rode that to a well-deserved All-Star selection, posting top-55 value in the first half as Miami’s top scoring option. Powell was dynamite up through the All-Star break, averaging 23.0 points, 3.6 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.2 steals and 2.9 3-pointers on .474 shooting in 30.6 mpg. Unfortunately that led into a very bumpy finish.

While the return of Herro naturally took some minutes and shots from Powell, the real culprit of his late-year decline was injuries. He played in only 13 of Miami’s 27 games after the All-Star break (he also missed five of seven leading into the break) and was only a top-250 value in that span as his points, 3-pointers, steals and FG% all dipped. Powell’s late, extended swoon will leave a sour taste for a lot of fantasy managers who were otherwise looking at a smashing success of a season. In the end, Powell ended up delivering on his ADP but fell off pretty hard and left managers in the lurch at a bad time. Like a movie with a bad third-act twist, Powell was on track for something special before careening off course. He heads into unrestricted free agency and should secure a pretty big bag from someone even with a lackluster finishing kick for Miami.

Andrew Wiggins

SF, Miami Heat

ADP: 108.9 / 81.1 (Yahoo/ESPN) | Total Value: 62/52 (8/9-cat) | Per-Game Value: 75/61 (8/9-cat)

This is just a sneak peek of the Season Wrap. The entire roster is covered, as well as the Fantasy Star, Letdown, One to Watch and One Burning Question for this team. You’ll need to have an Ethos 360, All-Sport or NBA FantasyPass membership. Click here to learn more and sign up! Premium Access Required

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Mike Passador

Mike graduated from Boston University’s Dual Degree Program with a BA in Economics and a BS in Business with Concentrations in Marketing and Operations Management. He is a faithful supporter of Toronto sports and the Detroit Lions and is always ready to be let down. Tweet to him @Mike_Pandador, but if you badmouth Jose Calderon you might get blocked.

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