Miami Heat's Championship Hopes Still Have Legs Going Into Next Season

Miami -- The Miami Heat join 14 other playoff teams that go into the offseason with more questions than answers after falling to the Boston Celtics, 100-96, in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals.

Jimmy Butler was so determined to lead his team to the promised land of the NBA Finals that he played all 48 minutes of Game 7 and put up a team-high 35 points with nine rebounds plus an assist and a steal.

However, it was Butler who also sunk the Heat’s chances of winning the game when he took an ill-advised three-pointer with less than 20 seconds left on the clock in the hopes of grabbing the lead as the Heat were just down by two points.

The narrative would have been changed had Butler been able to make that three, but the fact of the matter is he missed.

They now need to prepare for a whole new season in about five months.

To say that this season was a lost cause for the Heat is understating what they did as the East’s top seed after being looked past by most observers after the Philadelphia 76ers traded for James Harden.

Pushing the Celtics to seven games was one thing, but taking out a revamped Sixers squad was a whole different thing in and of itself as well.

The Heat benefitted greatly from their acquisition of Kyle Lowry from the Toronto Raptors via trade, signing two-way wing player Caleb Martin, and re-signing key players like Max Strus, Gabe Vincent, Duncan Robinson and Dewayne Dedmon–all of which had major contributions to their success.

Miami was poised to take out the Celtics during the Eastern Conference Finals, but a groin strain to the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year in Tyler Herro exposed their lack of depth in the shot creation department.

Lowry himself was also limited in the series because of a left hamstring strain.

Untimely injuries derailed the Heat’s chances of making it back to the NBA Finals two years removed from challenging the Los Angeles Lakers for the title.

The Heat do not need to do anything crazy or wild this offseason as the pieces around them are more than capable of recapturing their success next season.

However, they might want to add a few pieces at the center and wing positions as insurance.

Dedmon is a serviceable big man, but this coming offseason has some big-name centers that could fit the bill while also improving on their floor talent.

Targeting guys like Thomas Bryant, Bismack Biyombo and Montrezl Harrell might be in their best interests.

As for shot creators and wing pieces, they can look towards T.J. Warren, Dennis Schroder, Elfrid Payton and Malik Monk to shore up their positions.

Repeating this season’s success will need the Heat to see a massive improvement from Bam Adebayo, Robinson and Gabe Vincent.

If the Heat play their cards right this offseason and make sensible trades while keeping their team’s identity intact, they could once again compete for a top spot in the Eastern Conference.