The Miami Heat weren't hopeless entering the 2025-26 NBA season, but their hopes were all tied to the future: future star pursuits, future prospect emergences, future splashes on the trade market. Multiple months into this campaign, things are pretty much still the same.
They're still scanning the trade market for difference-makers, but the ones they want aren't available, and they don't want the ones that are. Their young core, meanwhile, has shown worrisomely little growth and in some cases alarming signs of regression. Even with this team treading water, you'd hope to have seen some more splashes by now.