Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat may have lost to the Philadelphia 76ers in a disappointing finish on Thursday evening in front of their home fans in South Florida, but there’s still plenty of optimism for the team going forward and potentially on another deep playoff run. The Heat have been to at least the Conference Finals in three out of the last four seasons, and spring is usually the time of year in which Butler–with the notable exception of 2021–is known to turn into one of the league’s best players after generally cruising through the regular season.
On Friday, the Heat got another boost when it was announced that shooting guard Tyler Herro would be returning to the lineup for that evening’s game on the road vs the Houston Rockets after missing around a month with an injury sustained vs the New Orleans Pelicans, per Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald.
One person who believes that the Heat are dangerous loomers in the Eastern Conference playoff picture this season is none other than former NBA player Chandler Persons, who recently took to FanDuel’s Run It Back podcast to drop a bold prediction for the Heat come playoff time.
“They’re not just getting an average player, they’re getting arguably their best scorer when healthy,” said Parsons, per Run It Back on X, the social media platform formerly referred to as Twitter. “Tyler Herro is a proven bucket, the guy puts up 20-plus a game. He’s usually rather efficient and he does a little bit of everything… They’re probably going to get the 6-seed and play the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round, and it’s hard not to take the Heat in that series.”
A quick look at the vaunted Eastern Conference standings would reveal that the above scenario is certainly a possibility for the Heat come playoff time, which would be a huge relief after spending most of the season suspended in the dreaded Play-In game position.
Can the Heat do it again?
It’s hard to peg a team that has been to the NBA Finals twice in the last four years as an “underdog,” but that’s exactly where the Heat find themselves once again entering this postseason, as they’re all but assured to fall in the lower half of the Eastern Conference playoff bracket once things get underway.
With the addition of Herro, the Heat will be getting back the NBA’s 2021-22 Sixth Man of the Year, although the former Kentucky Wildcat now starts games for Miami when healthy. The Heat also added some scoring punch at the trade deadline by acquiring talented point guard Terry Rozier from the Charlotte Hornets.
In any case, the Heat on paper do not stack up with teams like the Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks. However, that could also be said last year, and “paper” doesn’t take into account that Butler generally transforms into a completely different player come playoff time. The Heat will next take on the Indiana Pacers on Sunday afternoon on the road.
