NBA Finals: How the Miami Heat built a roster of underdogs into Eastern Conference champions

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The last time the Miami Heat reached the Finals twice in a four-year span, they did so with one of the most star-studded rosters in NBA history. LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh were all superstars in their prime when they won two championships together in Miami. Signing them was a slam dunk. The moment they arrived in south Florida, the Heat were virtually guaranteed contention.

But Miami’s current roster? Not so much. The Heat are, essentially, a team of underdogs. Their best player attended Tyler Junior College. There are two top-10 picks on the entire roster, and they were both signed in buyout season. They signed their starting power forward based on the recommendation of rapper J. Cole.

The Heat look nothing like their glitzier self, yet here they are, right back in the Finals for the sixth time in the Erik Spoelstra era, but with an entirely different kind of team. Here’s how Miami turned an island of misfit toys into the Eastern Conference champions.

An unlikely recruiter

Dwyane Wade is the sort of franchise icon that should never play for a second team. Yet the Heat, inching toward a rebuild after getting rebuffed by Kevin Durant in free agency, were no longer willing to prioritize Wade in 2016 free agency. They offered their legendary shooting guard a two-year deal worth $20 million. They’d eventually increase their offer, but the damage was done. Wade took a $47 million deal to play for his hometown Chicago Bulls. The relationship between team and star appeared severed forever.

Wade didn’t have much success in Chicago. In his lone season as a Bull, he was knocked out in the first round and publicly squabbled with his younger teammates. But he met a kindred spirit in Chicago named Jimmy Butler. They played together for only a year, but that link would eventually lead Butler to Miami. “I’ve gotta give a shout-out to D-Wade,” Butler said on Wednesday. “He always told me about this culture and how I fit here.”

When the Minnesota Timberwolves looked to trade Butler in 2018, the Heat were widely considered the…

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Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/nba-finals-how-the-miami-heat-built-a-roster-of-underdogs-into-eastern-conference-champions/

Author : Sam Quinn

Publish date : 2023-06-01 17:31:31

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