2016-17 Finish: 28-54

Season Highlight:

The Heat have a new GM, Breece! Enthusiastic and ready to work, that's certainly a highlight after years of poor management in Miami. Hopefully Breece has the patience and know how required to right this ship. It may be a long road, but they hopefully have found the right man for the job.

The other highlight was the ability for the team to start being competitive and avoid the embarrassment of finishing right at the bottom without a pick to its name. Even with their best player injured and out for the season, the Heat were able to start winning some games and lift their pick from 1st to 7th. Mainly off the back of the three ball and some impressive shooting from Channing Frye, and some veteran leadership from Richard Jefferson, D.J. Augustin, Devin Harris and P.J. Tucker.

Season Lowlight:

The start to the season was horrible, and without a pick things looked really bad in Miami. Proid made many moves but nothing seemed to work. The professor had appeared to lose his touch, this time unable to bring a rag tag bunch of discards, veterans, free agents and Rudy Gay to even at least be competitive. Then Rudy went down for the season, and things looked even worse. Soon Proids tumultuous time in Miami was over, and it was left to new GM Breece to try and pick up the pieces.

Best Trade:

The Miami Heat send Joakim Noah to the Phoenix Suns. The Miami Heat send Nene Hilario and Rajon Rondo to the Washington Wizards. The Phoenix Suns send Monta Ellis, Alan Anderson and P.J. Tucker to the Miami Heat. The Phoenix Suns send C.J. Wilcox to the Washington Wizards. The Washington Wizards send Marcus Morris and Trey Burke to the Miami Heat. The Washington Wizards send John Lucas and Nick Young to the Phoenix Suns.

The Phoenix Suns trade -3 GM points. The Washington Wizards receive 3 GM points.

This was easily the best trade for Miami. In comes Ellis, Anderson, Tucker, Morris and Burke for Nene, Rondo and Noah. Not only did the Heat get younger and add extra depth / trade chips here, but they also saved about 8 million in salary by moving on the large contracts of Noah and Rondo. A nice parting gift to the franchise by former GM Proid.

Worst Trade:

The Dallas Mavericks send Timofey Mozgov to the Miami Heat. The Miami Heat send JR Smith to the Dallas Mavericks.

This deal was widely criticized and probably rightly so. Mozgov's play has been uninspiring, and when you consider his 16 million price tag, this seems even worse. JR Smith can still shoot and score at will, and is still a good player in this league.

Other Notable Trades:

The Indiana Pacers send Channing Frye to the Miami Heat. The Miami Heat send Darrun Hilliard to the Indiana Pacers.

The Indiana Pacers receive 7 GM points. The Miami Heat trade -7 GM points.

This was a nice move, amongst a bunch of pretty average moves made by the Heat. While the age profile of Frye doesn't appear to fit a rebuilding team, Frye was fantastic upon arrival, averaging 18 points and 7 rebounds in 45 starts. He now has some currency in this league, and can be a nice lure to hopefully net some rebuilding pieces. As for Hilliard, he barely played and was recently renounced by the Pacers.

The Charlotte Hornets send Iman Shumpert to the LA Lakers. The LA Lakers send Tyson Chandler to the Miami Heat.

The Charlotte Hornets trade -7 GM points. The Miami Heat receive 7 GM points.

At the time, this seemed ok. Chandler was coming off a terrific championship season. However, with hindsight we now know the Heat didn't win much, and are now in a rebuilding phase without possibly there 2018 1st (Top 3 protected), otherwise 2019 1st (Unprotected). Both of these picks are likely to be in the lottery.

The Miami Heat send Tyson Chandler and Marcus Morris to the Sacramento Kings. The Sacramento Kings send Devin Harris and Dwight Powell to the Miami Heat.

The Miami Heat receive 18 GM points. The Sacramento Kings trade -18 GM points.

Away goes Chandler, Morris too. In comes a young up and coming big man in Dwight Powell. Not a bad deal for a rebuilding team, but could they have got more?

The Miami Heat send Rudy Gay to the Portland Trail Blazers. The Portland Trail Blazers send Lance Thomas and Maurice Ndour to the Miami Heat.

I wasn't a fan of this one, Rudy Gay was Miami's best trade chip and appears to have been given away for two average at best role players. More patience from the new GM was probably required here.

Best FA Signing:

Joakim Noah - Yes the salary was huge, and Noah's play wasn't, but Noah would eventually be flipped in a deal for a swag of good pieces, making this the best signing for the Heat.

Worst FA Signing:

Anthony Bennett - This guy is just terrible and has no idea about the work ethic required to make it in this league. He continues to disappoint any GM who takes a chance on him.

Star:

Rudy Gay - A huge favorite of GM Proid, Rudy was a stud for the first five weeks of the season, averaging 27 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists on a really bad team. Then disaster struck in the form of a nasty achilles injury, which would end Rudy's season only a quarter of the way through. Despite this injury, Rudy will likely continue to be an absolute machine in this league, possibly at his new home in Portland.

Surprise:

Channing Frye - What a great pickup this guy was. Channing's stretch four style was a perfect fit in the 2K16 engine, and much to the Heat fans delight, he was an absolute gunslinger through 45 games, averaging 18 points, with 143 made three's on 44% shooting. Frye was the major catalyst which saw the Heat finally playing competitive ball towards the end of the season, allowing them to try and salvage something for the fans.

Goat:

GM Proid - I don't like to do this, but it just had to be done. And I would likely have required a re-write had I not.

His deals this season weren't horrendous, for a competing team. But Proid unfortunately underestimated just how tough the East is now, and his team was well short of the talent and chemistry required to compete. The Heat really struggled most of the season, and were looking like the 30th best team for much of the season, worst of all without a pick to their name. So after multiple years of mismanagement, Proid departed leaving an absolute mess for which the next GM would need to clean up.

Draft Report Card:

Unfortunately the Heat's pick 7 was owned by the Pacers who selected Malik Monk, however they were able to scrounge up a late first and second.

#24 – Kyle Kuzma -  Kuzma reminds some of Channing Frye, with his height and ability to hit the outside shot. Hopefully he can have a similar impact and take over from Channing when he departs.

#56 - Alec Peters - Peters is another guy who can really shoot it, and as a late second represents pretty good value as another possible stretch four.

Both of these guys can shoot, but are also similar player types. Perhaps best available was the idea, however I feel like the Heat possibly should have targeted some help in other positions. For that reason I give this draft a C+

Looking to the Future:

I wanted to write about the Heat, as I have been very impressed with the way they have played during the pre-season. This team has been super competitive in most games, winning a few by bombarding their opponents from the three point line. But unfortunately for Miami, if they win too many games this season, and finish above the bottom 3, their first round pick will go to Charlotte. Not what you want when you are trying to rebuild. So this puts new GM Breece in a tough spot. Go for glory and try and make it in a ridiculously tough eastern conference, or tank hard. Falling just short of the playoffs would be a disaster, and with the uncertainty surrounding so many of the up-coming free agents in Miami, I think it's likely that Breece makes the decision early to trade away anything of value and go all in on a serious rebuild.

Upcoming Free Agents:

Monta Ellis – A gifted, however undersized shooting guard. Ellis' status is currently up in the air, the Heat would like him back as a trade piece, however he has yet to indicate if he will even attempt to find a team for next season.

Trey Burke – Burke hasn't showed a lot of improvement since being drafted four years ago, and is in the same undetermined limbo situation as Ellis, where we aren't even sure if he will seek out a team for next season.

P.J Tucker – A strong defender and dirty work guy. Tucker would be a fantastic locker room presence for a rebuilding team, however it appears likely he will seek out other opportunities.

Maurice Ndour – One of two pieces acquired for Rudy Gay, and he may not even be good enough to make a roster next season. Not even Miami's.

Chasson Randle – This guy has youth on his side, and will be fighting for a training camp invite anywhere that will have him.