MIAMI — The door swung open, the media cameras and tape recorders entered the gym and Jimmy Butler already stood against one wall at the end of Tuesday’s practice, ready to fulfill an obligation by talking about the new season, his fifth with the Miami Heat. As he did, the Heat power brokers stood from their courtside seats down the way and quietly left through a side door. If you’re a fan of symbolism, there it was: Pat Riley, Andy Elisburg and the Arisons, father and son, ceding their odd, stage to Butler with the season officially starting.
This is actually just the daily ritual as practice ends for the Heat, just as it’s been for decades, this constancy of major characters being the anchor to this franchise’s success, year after year. Two NBA Finals in the past four years. Three NBA titles in the past two decades. And the annual plan for more. “You think I play to lose?” Butler said with a snap when asked if he can envision challenging for a title from the start of Wednesday’s opener.
That’s perfect, too. The raised tone. The petulant question. This franchise’s hope centers on Angry Jimmy more than ever after anoffseason offseason defined more by who the Heat didn’t get than who they did. The Heat went after star guard Bradley Beal, who ended up in Phoenix. They went harder for Damian Lillard. It not only missed after a two-month holding pattern but saw Lillard go to rival Milwaukee and co-rival Boston get the residual addition of Jrue Holiday.
Most franchises would feel a bit staggered by all this, coupled with idea of Tyler Herro being trade bait and the loss of two starters, Max Strus and Gabe Vincent. Maybe the Heat needs to find its foundational footing early this season, too. We’ll see. But the message doesn’t get downgraded. “Find a way,” as Butler said. The democratic way, as Riley recently floated this week, is for Butler, Herro and Bam Adebayo to have career seasons. The full-roster way, as Adebayo says, is to uncover surprises like Vincent or Strus back, “when y’all didn’t know their names.” Who’s this year’s surprise?
They can lose Herro, as they did early in last spring’s grand run to the NBA Finals. They can have Adebayo be neutralized some nights, as he has been in big games. But if Butler doesn’t star all the other plans go kaput. When Butler shines, the full team can, too. When Butler carries this team, this larger season has a chance. If he doesn’t, well, then what? It’s an odd place for last season’s Eastern Conference champions to be: The same disheveled place they were at the start of last year. Everyone’s picking Milwaukee and Boston because they have more top-end talent in a league where that talent wins.
