In the midst of preparing for their first full season without Jimmy Butler, every player on the Miami Heat has a chip on their shoulder to return to the NBA Finals. The opportunity was wide open next season, but unfortunately, they joined the Boston Celtics and Indiana Pacers as teams without their star on opening night, as Tyler Herro recently underwent surgery on his ankle.
Furthermore, Miami fans appear to be moving stress-free to finish the offseason with all of their dependence on Norman Powell to succeed. He seems to be the perfect wing to trust in a situation like this, and his dominance will be felt with Bam Adebayo and Kel'el Ware running the paint.
However, Spoelstra and his staff will be the first to realize that Powell will need time the Heat do not have to get acclimated to a new team, with plenty of adjusting, and being the first option with Herro out for roughly the first eight weeks.
Norman Powell begins his tenure with the Heat after an underwhelming playoff run with the Clippers
Similarly, Tyler Herro will be out for several weeks to begin the season, just as Kawhi Leonard was for the LA Clippers in 2024-25. Thus, this is an eventful plot that Norman Powell was just a part of less than a year ago.
Moreover, Leonard's time off was beneficial to Powell's stock, and this is why the Miami Heat have not broken a sweat after hearing Herro will be in recovery mode. In fact, Erik Spoelstra has a system built on maximizing role players, like Max Strus, so fans are instantly imagining great things will happen with the star veteran as the primary scorer.
On the contrary, the Heat could be in a difficult-to-get-out-of maze with Powell, as he will be navigating his way to success by attempting high-quality shots, but this will be taking place after the most disappointing playoff run of his career.
He had several underwhelming games versus the Denver Nuggets in the first round of 2025, and averaged a total of 16.0 points, shooting 47.2% from the floor and 35.0% from three-point land, with 1.7 turnovers.
That said, the Heat may have to be patient with Powell. He will end his first season in Miami with exceptional averages; it will just require a brief hold. During this time, Bam Adebayo and Andrew Wiggins must score at a higher level than ever before.