The last time the Miami Heat stepped on the court for a playoff game, the roster included seven players no longer with the team. Such is the reality of being swept out of the postseason 4-0 by the Milwaukee Bucks.
Even then, there was the buzz of the Heat eventually aligning with Kyle Lowry in free agency and working toward something better than a power rotation that was pummeled by an average rebounding deficit of 65.3 to 49.3 over those four excruciating losses.
Less than 11 months later from that final 120-103 Game 4 loss to the Bucks, the Heat are back at FTX Arena on Sunday with a considerably different playoff look, as they open their best-of-seven first-round series against the Atlanta Hawks at 1 p,m. Sunday.
And based on a regular season that produced the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, it’s not as if Pat Riley, Andy Elisburg and the rest of the Heat front office are lamenting the ones that got away.
As for those who remained, there is a sense of tangible difference.
“We’ve got a lot of new pieces,” Jimmy Butler said, “which I’m very, very happy about.”
What had grown old by the end of that Bucks series feels very new again.
“It doesn’t matter who comes in, who comes out,” captain Udonis Haslem said. “When you get to this point of the season, we’re pretty much family.”
So before the first taste of what the revised roster will produce, a look back at what has been subbed out.
Goran Dragic: Of those cast aside by the Heat in the offseason, none played more than Dragic’s 117 minutes in last season’s playoffs (with only Butler, 154 minutes, and Bam Adebayo, 136, playing more). Dragic, in fact, led the Heat with his 16-point average in that series.
What is left of Dragic, three weeks from his 36th birthday, makes it clear why the Heat felt they had to move on. In Tuesday’s critical play-in over the Cleveland Cavaliers, Dragic was entrusted with only 10 minutes by the Brooklyn Nets, with three points and no assists, playing off the bench behind Patty Mills.
Lowry has proven to be a significant upgrade.
Kendrick Nunn: Nunn started two of last year’s four playoff games, joining Dragic, Adebayo, Butler and Duncan Robinson as the only Heat players to average double-figures in points in that series (10.3).
Since then? Absolutely nothing.
Signed by the Los Angeles Lakers in August to a two-year, $10.3 million free-agent contract, Nunn sat out the entire season with a bone bruise exacerbated by an ankle issue.
“I never saw that coming, where I have to take a whole year to get healthy,” said Nunn, 26, who plans to pick up his $5.6 million player option with the Lakers for next season.
The Heat more than compensated for the loss of Nunn with the continued development of Max Strus and Gabe Vincent, with Nunn’s departure also clearing the runway for Tyler Herro’s breakout season.
Trevor Ariza: Ariza started all four games for the Heat in last season’s playoff series against the Bucks at power forward, third on the Heat to Adebayo (9.3) and Butler (7.5) with his 5.8 rebounding average in that series.
There was little inclination by the Heat for an encore, with Ariza taking a one-year free-agent contract with the Lakers for the $2.6 million veteran minimum.
Injuries ultimately limited the 36-year-old to 24 appearances and 4.0 scoring and 3.4 rebounding averages, his lowest season scoring average and lowest rebounding average since 2007-08.
P.J. Tucker proved to be a dramatic upgrade.
Nemanja Bjelica: The thought in acquiring Bjelica at the 2021 NBA trading deadline was to add the type of floor spacing that would draw the Bucks’ big men to the perimeter. Instead, Bjelica attempted just 11 shots in the series, utilized in only two of the four games.
Finding a system that fit, there has been somewhat of a revival in limited minutes with the Golden State Warriors, after signing a one-year veteran-minimum deal in free agency.
For the Heat, the vacated roster spot created opportunity for Omer Yurtseven.
Andre Iguodala: Having played as an efficient and annoying defensive stopper the previous season in the Heat’s run to the 2020 NBA Finals in the Disney World quarantine bubble, Iguodala very much took on the look of a 37-year-old in his 71 nominally efficient minutes for the Heat in last season’s series against the Bucks.
Back with the Warriors, where he won three NBA titles, Iguodala put together what very much looked like a farewell tour, appearing in just 31 games on his veteran-minimum contract.
The role vacated by Iguodala has allowed Caleb Martin to flourish.
Precious Achiuwa: It became apparent almost from the outset that the 2020 first-round pick did not have the confidence of the staff when it came to last season’s series against the Bucks, utilized for only 12 minutes, 16 seconds in the series, just about all in mop-up duty.
But allowed to take his game to the perimeter by the Toronto Raptors, who acquired him as part of the sign-and-trade for Lowry, Achiuwa has thrived as a floor-spacing big man, 56 of 156 on 3-pointers for the Raptors after 0 for 1 in his season with the Heat.
If Achiuwa turns out to be a hybrid power forward he could stand as one that got away, as Tucker ages out, with nothing similar at the moment in the Heat pipeline.
KZ Okpala: The only member of the departed seven from last season’s playoff roster who was brought back for at least part of this season, Okpala played 5:47 without a point, assist or rebound in two games of mop-up duty in blowout losses during last season’s playoff series against the Bucks.
He then was dealt to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Feb. 9 for a 2026 second-round pick, released two days later, out of the league since.
The trade allowed the Heat to convert Martin to a standard contract while staying out of the luxury tax, and create a developmental roster spot to sign Haywood Highsmith.
In the end, it is difficult to argue with casting aside the swept seven for roster renewal that proved so invigorating.
IN THE LANE
FOOLISH PRIDE: After the Bucks maneuvered (manipulated?) their way into the No. 3 seed in the East and a first-round series against the wobbled Chicago Bulls, the Boston Celtics are extolling the merits of taking the high road, even with their No. 2 seed ultimately leaving them with the challenge of Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and the Nets in the first round. “We weren’t running from anybody,” coach Ime Udoka said. “We were looking at ourselves the whole time. To each his own. In order to win, you have to win against really good teams at some point, so that was our approach to it. We didn’t want to get involved in trying to manipulate matchups or standings or anything like that.” Nah, still believe all four of the leading East seeds (Heat, Celtics, Bucks, Philadelphia 76ers) would have preferred avoiding the Nets.
PARALLEL VIEW: Having mentored the Heat’s Herro for parts of two seasons, Iguodala says he sees similarities with Warriors breakout scorer Jordan Poole. “I don’t think people knew quite how good of a passer Tyler was,” Iguodala said. “We call both of them ‘wonder boys’ because they are both from Milwaukee and they both have that flair and flash to their game. They both can score at a high clip and that can sometimes take away from the other parts of their game that they are pretty good at. They both have really good left hands, they both make those cross-court passes with one hand.”
REUNION TIME: Having shared in LeBron James’ championship success with the Heat, there is speculation that former Heat forward and assistant coach Juwan Howard might be coaxed from Michigan to help resurrect James’ Lakers. As is typical with such speculation, it then got complicated considering Howard has two sons he is coaching with the Wolverines, Jace, who will be a junior, and Jett, who will be a freshman. Howard’s wife, Jenine, then took to Twitter, asking the media to “stop making it about ‘his sons,’” noting a commitment to the entire roster. Howard left the Heat as an assistant coach in 2019 to take over the Wolverines program, which he led to this season’s Sweet 16. James was among those who lobbied for Howard to get the Michigan job, with the Lakers’ having also considered Howard before the now-dismissed Frank Vogel was hired in 2019.
UNIQUE PATH: At 36, former Heat forward Gerald Green decided to begin his coaching career, taking a player-development role at the start of this season with the Houston Rockets. At midseason, he decided he wanted to play again, joining the Rockets’ G League affiliate, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. On Thursday night, he became a G League champion, scoring six points in a 131-114 victory over the Delaware Blue Coats. Green, who appeared in 69 games for the Heat in 2015-16, played 21 games in the G League this season, averaging 16.6 points.
NUMBER
2. Times over the last 20 seasons that at least four Eastern Conference teams finished with 50 or more wins, with the Heat, Celtics, Bucks and 76ers doing it this season, after the Bulls, Heat, Celtics and Magic did it in 2011-12.
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