ESPN just gave Heat prime bulletin board material for next season

It's true, the Miami Heat are not one of the teams that jump off the page as a natural championship contender in the Eastern Conference for the 2025-26 NBA season. However, ESPN's latest power rankings are an absolute slap to the face of the Heat's roster. Ranking them 19th in the league, the Heat may have just gotten the chip on their shoulder they needed.

Miami did make the star addition they were hoping for this offseason, but they still managed to get better. The Heat is still returning a talented roster, led by Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo, and was able to add a borderline All-Star talent in Norman Powell.

Even if their young core doesn't take a huge step forward, the overwhelming belief is that they will, at the very least, be improved. Kel'el Ware has sky-high expectations for this season, and Pelle Larsson looked great in summer league. Nikola Jovic could be in line for another breakout year, and the hope is that Jaime Jaquez will bounce back after a sophomore slump.

Who knows what is a fair expectation for Kasparas Jakucionis' rookie season, but he's extremely talented. If nothing else, the opportunity will certainly be there for the Heat to improve.

The fact that ESPN believes, despite all that, that the Heat will be quite possibly worse than they were last year doesn't make a ton of sense. I simply don't buy it, and this franchise shouldn't either.

What is this season for the Heat?

In fairness to ESPN, much of their uncertainty revolving around the Heat exists because it's almost impossible to predict what this season will represent for the team. Is this truly a "gap" year for the Heat? Will they actually lean into their youth more this season? Are they going to emerge as sellers by the time the NBA Trade Deadline rolls around?

Because Miami is not theoretically positioned to be a contender this season, there are so many questions that need to be answered. And without answering those questions, it's impossible to predict how good, or even how bad, this team will be.

But, on the other hand, this franchise is known for being anti-tank. If nothing else, we know the Heat are going to try to win as many games as they possibly can. Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra isn't going to coach to lose.

Neither are the likes of Bam, Herro, and Powell.

Can the Heat win 40+ games?

I think the big question is whether the Heat can get to that 40-win plateau. Last year, in the midst of the Jimmy Butler distraction, the Heat got to 37. On paper, this year's team is better than that - especially considering that Jimmy only played in 25 games before he was essentially shut down.

Even though the top of the East didn't improve all that much, if at all, the second tier of this conference did get better. That includes the likes of the Atlanta Hawks, Orlando Magic, and Milwaukee Bucks. The Detroit Pistons and Philadelphia 76ers should also be improved.

Where the Heat falls in that group is the big question.

But with everyone doubting the Heat, there's no question they should have a huge chip on their shoulder to prove everyone wrong.