Heat need more than culture to get out of basketball purgatory

After a series that went pretty much as expected — OK, it did get out of hand at the end — the Miami Heat’s season is over at the hands of the much better, more efficient and more appealing Cleveland Cavaliers.

In fairness, this team never stood a chance. Not really. It fought valiantly through the play-in tournament, and it seems to have found something in Davion Mitchell, but nothing about this team screams high ceiling, especially after trading Jimmy Butler at the deadline — and maybe even before that.

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Despite the eternal presence of #HeatCulture, this team lacks quality and depth to make a real run in the playoffs.

For crying out loud, Swedish guard Pelle Larsson got first-quarter minutes in the deciding Game 4. Skämtar du med mig?!

Miami appears to be stuck in the middle, with very little flexibility moving forward. The Heat don’t have their own pick this year, and while Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro and Andrew Wiggins are rock-solid players, combined they’re unspectacular.

More than ever, the nuclear option is enticing. Well, for anyone but the Heat. We’ll get back to that.

The Heat can ask for the moon for Adebayo and probably get it. Herro would also bring in a fairly significant haul. Wiggins is outproducing his contract, meaning he too is an asset.

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Standing in the way of a full teardown is the culture itself. The Heat are adamant about not tanking and wish to remain competitive until they’re forced into a corner where that’s no longer sustainable.

While many would argue the Heat have painted themselves into a corner, the organization itself isn’t likely to look at it that way, and that’s despite stumbling onto a future building block in rookie big man Kel’el Ware.

So, uh, expect much of the same next season.

2024-2025 record: 37-45

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