With huge moves happening around the Eastern Conference such as the Milwaukee Bucks acquiring Damian Lillard and the Boston Celtics adding Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday, the Miami Heat haven't made a big splash.
Among their acquisitions, the Heat brought back Josh Richardson and signed Thomas Bryant, but they also lost contributors such as Gabe Vincent and Max Strus to free agency. For the most part, Miami will be running it back with Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro at the helm.
With how the league is shaping heading into the season, the Heat are once again the underdogs to win the East. With the talk of the Bucks and Celtics being the favorites, is the chip on Miami's shoulder bigger than it ever was before?
Or…is it business as usual?
For Bam Adebayo, he told ClutchPoints that everyone has their individual motivations coming into the season.
“I wouldn't say it's business as usual, I feel like a lot of the guys have their own individual motivations,” Adebayo said. “Take the 15 of us times the coaching staff. Plus Pat [Riley] having his little exchanges in his office. So I mean you have a lot of motivation going into the season.”
The Miami big man also said during his media availability that he wanted to work on being a leader and someone that the team can look up to. This especially relates when it comes to helping the younger players like the relationship he had with Udonis Haslem.
Miami’s roster has promising young players such as recent first-round pick Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Nikola Jovic.
Big Tyler Herro season coming?
Another key storyline heading into the season is the production of Heat guard Tyler Herro, who had to overcome hurdles after suffering a broken hand and being a part of trade talks.
If Herro takes another step this season, it could prove wonders for the Heat in the hopes of making another unexpected run.
Going into his fifth season, he’s coming off of a year when he averaged 20.1 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 4.2 assists per game. On the first day of training camp at FAU Arena, Herro said that he’s glad he can work out with the players again.
“It's another season. This was a long, long season,” Herro said to ClutchPoints. “Today was day one of training camp and it was just good to get out there and go up and down with the guys and get a good sweat in with the new guys and continue to get better as a unit.”
In terms of what he wants to work on before the season starts, he expressed that the mental aspect is key.
“I think just my mindset mentally with a different mindset than I've been in the past,” Herro explained. “I’m just continuing to get stronger, get better, more efficient, and work on certain things that I know I need to work on.”
Herro, Adebayo, and others will get to work on their game throughout the week at FAU up until their first preseason game against the Charlotte Hornets on Tuesday, Oct. 10.
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