This story was originally published July 7, 2026 at 4:47 PM.<\/p>\n
A six-pack of Heat notes on a Tuesday:<\/p>\n
\u25aa Much brain power has been spent on worrying about the Heat\u2019s three-point shooting; the roster has four of the top 38 highest percentage three-point shooters from last season, but also might be one great shooter short of being good enough for a potentially long playoff run.<\/p>\n
But here\u2019s something nobody talks about: the opposite of distance shooting. We\u2019re talking about the Heat\u2019s accuracy at the rim, an area that must improve.<\/p>\n
The Heat wasn\u2019t very good in the basket area last season. Giannis Antetokounmpo \u2014 as destructive at the rim as any player in the game \u2014 will help a lot. But it\u2019s still a moderate area of concern.<\/p>\n
The good news: Antetokounmpo shot 80% from 0 for 3 feet last season, far better than the league average of 70%. He\u2019s a runaway freight train when he gets to the basket in transition and can finish at a high percentage at the rim in halfcourt sets.<\/p>\n
Pelle Larsson is also a polished finisher; he shot 72.9% from that distance.<\/p>\n
But the Heat lost its second-, third- and fourth-best finishers (percentage wise) at the rim in the trade \u2013 Jaime Jaquez Jr. at 71.8, Kel\u2019el Ware at 71.3 and Tyler Herro at 70.2 \u2013 and every remaining heavy-usage veteran player was below average at the rim last season:<\/p>\n
Bam Adebayo at 68.5%, Andrew Wiggins at 67.9, Simone Fontecchio at 63.4, Nikola Jovic and Davion Mitchell at 63.3 and Dru Smith at 59.5.<\/p>\n
Among the other veteran newcomers, Bobby Portis was about average at 69.8% and Tim Hardaway Jr. below average at 67.2%.<\/p>\n
\u25aa Chris Haynes, the veteran NBA insider, said LeBron James won\u2019t meet with teams he\u2019s considering and instead will rely on information gathered by agent Rich Paul. The Heat hasn\u2019t been told if it\u2019s getting James.<\/p>\n
ESPN\u2019s Brian Windhorst said Tuesday that nobody knows what James will do.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou talk to these teams who are interested in signing LeBron and there\u2019s a dearth of information,\u201d Windhorst said. \u201cIt\u2019s all one-way information. This is how his previous free agencies have operated. Nobody has known.<\/p>\n
\u201cDwyane Wade and Chris Bosh got about 12 hour heads up when he came to Miami.<\/p>\n
\u201cDwyane Wade got roughly that, maybe a little less, when LeBron left to go to Cleveland. He keeps a very tight circle, and when it comes to announcing his free agency, he does a very good job of keeping a secret.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of people out there who are basing things on vibe… and that may end up being correct. There is a circle kept very tight. This has a lot of the NBA on edge right now.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u25aa ESPN announcer and former guard Danny Green, on the No Fouls podcast, predicted the Heat will be \u201ctrash\u201d this season:<\/p>\n
\u201cBoth these teams [Heat and Bucks] are going to be in the play-in. The [Heat] are one calf strain away from being in the lottery. Go over their roster. I don\u2019t think they\u2019re going to be good enough.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s not much talent outside of Bam and Giannis. Outside of that where\u2019s the rest of the talent? Just because Giannis is in Miami… they\u2019re not going to be good. They don\u2019t have enough other people around him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u25aa Beyond Ryan Conwell\u2019s knack for scoring (21.6 ppg in summer league), the Heat also has been impressed with his defensive aptitude.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe competes,\u201d Heat summer league coach Wayne Ellington said. \u201cHe can slide his feet. He stays in front of people. He can rebound as well defensively.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked if he ever thinks about what his role could be on the team this upcoming season, Conwell said \u201cmaybe sometimes at night, I\u2019ll think about it here and there. It\u2019s hard to [not think about] the superstars we have on our team.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u25aa Summer league quick stuff:<\/p>\n
Former Louisville forward Je\u2019Vonne Hadley, the only player besides Conwell to start all three preseason games, has thoroughly impressed the coaching staff. \u201cHe plays very hard, plays the right way,\u201d Ellington said. \u201cHe\u2019s a big-time connector out there, does all the little things.\u201d<\/p>\n
Though he hasn\u2019t played much, Ellington also praised ex-South Carolina guard Meechie Johnson, who\u2019s a friend of LeBron James\u2026.<\/p>\n
Ellington was noncommittal about whether Myron Gardner (who\u2019s on a standard contract) will miss the Las Vegas portion of summer league because of an ankle sprain sustained in Miami\u2019s opening game in San Francisco:<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not exactly sure what it\u2019s going to look like going forward,\u201d Ellington said. \u201cI know he\u2019s been getting treatment.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u25aa Besides waiting for James, the Heat continues to wait patiently to see if another shooter or scorer shakes free. They had initial conversations with Bradley Beal but haven\u2019t been aggressive in their pursuit, per a source. They hadn\u2019t contacted Demar DeRozan as of Monday, though that could change.<\/p>\n
DeRozan, who isn\u2019t a three-point shooter, would seem to make even more sense if Miami doesn\u2019t land James.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s our Tuesday piece<\/a> on Tyler Herro strange\u2019s final week with the Heat.<\/p>\n This story was originally published July 7, 2026 at 4:47 PM.<\/p>\n
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