The Miami Heat remain hungry for a championship after two NBA Finals appearances since 2020.
These postseason runs came with veteran star Jimmy Butler, whose health is seemingly declining, at the helm. He is viewed as responsible for not only thriving in the playoffs but also putting the Heat in a strong regular-season position at age 34.
Bleacher Report predicts the Heat will finish with a 45-37 record this season, one game behind last year's No. 8 seed campaign.
"At this point, we can pretty confidently count on Jimmy Butler missing some chunk of the Miami Heat's season," B/R's Andy Bailey wrote. "That alone makes it tough to predict an easy clearance of the over-under. But there are enough positives here to expect Miami to get to the mid-40s.
Fans should expect to see Butler on the court for a rather high number of games entering his contract year. Regardless of the six-time All-Star's availability, team president Pat Riley and coach Erik Spoelstra are not known for tanking.
This means every matchup is seen as a hopeful victory, but the Eastern Conference's major improvements this offseason put a strong record even further out of reach than before.
"Over the last half decade, when Butler does play, the Heat comfortably win his minutes," Bailey wrote. "He and Bam Adebayo give Miami one of the best defensive foundations in the league. And there's a ton of positionless playmaking around them from [Jaime] Jaquez, Tyler Herro and Terry Rozier."
Butler's health undoubtedly plays a factor in the outcome of Miami's regular season, but a successful playoff campaign should remain his top priority.
