If the Heat are able to stay hot next playoffs, we could see a different outcome for the South Floridian franchise. Why the team failed to reach the Finals was in part due to its three-point shooting abandoning it, as Miami hit just 31.3 percent of its threes in the postseason. Miami should excel again in both after leading the NBA in three-point accuracy last season ( 37.9 percent) and ranking fourth in defensive rating ( 108.4). * Shooting and defense will be strengths again… Two of the most important areas for championship contenders to thrive in is with their outside shooting and with their ability to get stops on the other end. A lot of those players may overlap positionally, making a trade for another frontcourt piece by the Heat plausible, but there’s no question Miami has nine guys they can count on any given night. Even Caleb Martin is coming off of a breakout campaign. We can’t forget the two backcourt bulldogs Miami has in Gabe Vincent and Victor Oladipo, either, both two-way players who can get hot as scorers, too. Then there’s reigning Sixth Man of the Year, Tyler Herro, and two more sharpshooting experts, Max Strus and Duncan Robinson. But even after Butler, the Heat boast another All-Star, All-Defensive Team-level player in Bam Adebayo, one of the league’s most unique and skillful two-way bigs, as well as Kyle Lowry, who looks to be heading into 2022-23 in much better shape than he was in last year. * The team has strong depth around Butler… The loss of Tucker was a stinging one for Miami, especially to lose him to a potential playoff foe in Philadelphia. But he can get you close as he has proven in two of the last three seasons. Can Butler be the best player on a team that wins a championship? Maybe, maybe not. Lest we forget Butler just posted a 27.4-point, 7.4-rebound, 4.6-assist, 2.1-steal playoff run over 17 games. So even without a reliable three-pointer, Butler’s scoring, playmaking and defending make him a two-way force, one that elevates his game to an even higher level in the playoffs. And Value Over Replacement Player? Butler is seventh there out of all players. Change that to BPM and Butler still sits in the Top 10. * Jimmy Butler has been one of the best players in the league since joining and is showing no signs of slowing down… Don’t believe us? How’s this: Since joining the Heat in 2019-20, Butler ranks fifth league-wide in total Win Shares ( 27.5), trailing only two perennial MVP contenders in Giannis Antetokounmpo and Nikola Jokic, Rudy Gobert and James Harden.
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