Miami Heat: Will the summer of muscle work out for the Heat?

The Miami Heat made it a priority to add muscle this offseason. 

After an embarrassing loss to the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round of the NBA Playoffs last season, it was clear that change was needed in some form or fashion for the Miami Heat this offseason. They elected muscle to be that change.

Thus, the summer of 2021 will be remembered as the summer of muscle for the Heat.

The Heat opened the offseason by adding muscle via free agency in the way of Kyle Lowry, Markieff Morris, and PJ Tucker – three of the more imposing defensive players in the league, even at this point in their careers.

Miami clearly had one thing in mind this offseason and that was getting tough on the perimeter. In part, they accomplished that with muscle.

But, at the same rate, at least two players have come out saying that the goal of the offseason was to add muscle – Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo. It’s unknown if this plan will work out for the Heat as a whole, but there’s no question that both Herro and Bam thought it was a necessary change for their individual games.

https://twitter.com/HeatvsHaters/status/1435621940736274438

Herro also gave voice that it was his goal to add 10 pounds of muscle this offseason. At least from the looks of it, it appears that Herro has indeed added some bulk. Of course, we’ll have to wait until we see him on the basketball court.

Herro is coming off somewhat of a disappointing sophomore season (considering the expectations he entered the year with) but could be in line for a big bounce-back season with some of the pressure off as the Heat added Lowry for that very reason.

Bam also made it a priority to add muscle during the offseason and says he’s up 15 pounds of muscle.

"[via Miami Herald]“I just added muscle. I came in last year at like 245 and now I’m at 260. So I put on a lot of muscle.”"

While Bam has been a standout player for the Heat since he broke out during his first year as a full-time starter, one critique of his has been his lack of paint presence on the defensive end and offensively.

I’m not sure if adding muscle is the answer to those concerns, but they should help him be able to bang a little more with some of the bigger centers in the league – especially when Erik Spoelstra wants to play him at that position.

Miami went all-in on adding muscle this offseason, whether that is physically or via free-agent acquisition. It remains to be seen if that philosophy will work in the end for the team.