Everything went downhill after that miraculous 8th seed run in 2023.
I still remember how hopeful we were after that run. We even had a chance to land Dame since he wanted to come here.
The problem was the Blazers didn’t want to budge on the trade because they weren’t satisfied with JJJ and the rest of the package.
Because of that Heat run, the Celtics decided to completely rebuild their roster to counter Miami’s zone defense, which led to them adding Pingus Tingus. That eventually helped them win the championship in 2024.
Meanwhile, the Blazers, the same team we battled with in trade talks, now have promising young stars to rebuild around and are already competing in the playoffs.
Now the Heat feel stuck living in the past. Too mediocre to tank, but not good enough to truly contend.
A lot of our former players are thriving on other teams and finding success, while the Heat got left behind.
Spo is still a great coach, but people are definitely gonna question his legacy since most of his rings came with LeBron.