The Miami Heat Likely Starting Lineup Expected To Put Little Fear In Opponents

Most basketball analysts have the Miami Heat pegged in the lower middle of the NBA, in just about everything.

So it's not a surprise that Bleacher Report has ranked their projected starting lineup -- Bam Adebayo, Kel'el Ware, Andrew Wiggins, Norman Powell and Tyler Herro -- as the 19th best of 30 in the league.

The Miami Heat projected starting five, much like the roster overall, looks like a solid-yet-uninspiring group, even in the Eastern Conference. Powell was terrific last season for the Los Angeles Clippers (career-high 21.8 points, 41.8 percent from three) and will inject some much-needed life into this offense. Adebayo is coming off a down year and Ware needs to continue to build off a strong rookie season. There's reason for optimism here, but not having an offensive alpha is going to plague this starting five.
Greg Swartz, Bleacher Report

All of that seems fair, on the surface.

We haven't seen Powell play with Herro yet -- they could blend perfectly, or could clash. Wiggins had some big games after coming to Miami in the trade for Jimmy Butler, but he also flopped in the playoffs. Adebayo and Ware are an offensive-work-in-progress; Heat coach Erik Spoelstra wasn't thrilled with Ware's motor in summer league, and it's possible Nikola Jovic, who has excelled in EuroBasket warmups, could retake the starting spot he had to start the 2024-25 season.

Still, the lineup looks a little cleaner than the one to start last season, when Butler was in it, but wasn't engaged offensively as he sought a way out of Miami. And that initial lineup included Terry Rozier, who was so terrible that he eventuall y lost not only his starting spot, but also his rotation spot. Rozier is still on the roster, but wouldn't be if the Heat could trade him.

Defensively, the lineup's success will be determined by whether Wiggins can handle wings as well as he often did with the Warriors, and whether Powell's metrics improve from where they were with the Clippers last season; he was a better defender earlier in his career with the Toronto Raptors.

It says something that the Boston Celtics (18th) and Indiana Pacers (17th) are ranked higher than the Heat, even though both teams will be without their primary star, Jayson Tatum and Tyrese Halliburton, due to Achilles' injuries. So there's much proving for the Heat starters to do, from the start.

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