By: Carlos Sierra
The members of the 2020 Miami Heat roster were not supposed to be as great as they were this season. Typically, we don’t see an organization take advantage of young players like the Heat did this season. Experts predicted this team to be a first-round elimination. Many didn’t believe Jimmy Butler could take this team as far as he did. In fact, they didn’t think he could take this team anywhere due to his past antics. He was criticized about his decision, many claiming he signed with the Heat for the money.
With the help of draft picks, confidence, an underdog mentality as well as the surrounding winning culture in Miami, the Heat’s future seems bright. Their rosters key players consist of late lottery round picks such as Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo and undrafted players such as Kendrick Nunn and Duncan Robinson who have been crucial to the success of this team.
Right before the tradeline the Heat made some power moves trading for both Andre Iguodala and Jae Crowder. Crowder and Iguodala are a huge driving force on defense which took them from the 12th best defensive team to the 4th. This move opened up more opportunities in offense as Crowder was knocking down 43.1% of his threes. Iguodala brings playoffs and finals experience as he has been in the last 6 finals winning 3 of them and even securing a finals MVP in one. It is no doubt these acquisitions helped the Heat get to where they are now
Jimmy Butlers alpha mentality and great leadership, despite his past and previous altercations in teams such as the Bulls and Timberwolves, gave these players the confidence they needed. He believed in them, he encouraged them, and he took these young guys under his wing. When one of the best players in the league sees something in you it gives you a huge confidence boost and Jimmy knew this. He didn’t care about scoring all the points and being the main driving, he wanted to win, and to win he knew he had to get these young guys to step to the plate.
It’s safe to say his presence worked. Bam Adebayo came of a 15.9 points per game followed by 10.2 rebounds and 5.1 assists. To add to this, he got his first all-star appearance alongside jimmy. Bam was the driving force to win many games this playoff run. He had crazy plays such as the game winning block against Jayson Tatum in game 1 and he put up insane numbers throughout various games.
Tyler Herro came of his rookie year averaging 13 points and gaining recognition around the heat for his shooting abilities. He managed to drop 37 points on the Celtics in game 4 which prevented the Celtics from tying the series and allowing the heat to gup 3-1. He earned himself a starting role in the finals and did not disappoint.
The Heats lethal three-point shooter Duncan Robinson was incredible for them and helped bring this teams three-point percentage up greatly. The heat finished 8th in three-point shooting and most of the credit goes to him.
This heat team played amazing in the playoffs going 12-3. A fifth seed team managed to eliminate the first seed Milwaukee Bucks, who have the MVP from the past two season in just 5 games, as well as the third seed Boston Celtics who are a great team. Despite not being able to close up and win the finals against the Lakers, with no doubt this team is special, and it is one of the best young teams we have seen in forever. Miami is proud of them and we believe in them. We know for years to come we are going to be competing for that a new finals trophy to add to our other three trophies.
The Watchdog 