Miami Heat has a chance to send a strong message to the Milwaukee Bucks

The Miami Heat can send a strong message to the defending champions in their season opener. 

It seems as if ever since the Miami Heat signed Kyle Lowry, re-signed Duncan Robinson, didn’t trade Tyler Herro and added Markieff Morris and PJ Tucker to round out the roster, analyst after analyst has jumped to shout why this team is set up for failure this season.

Or, at the very least, tells us why the Heat will not be true contenders this season, much less finish as a top 3 seed in the Eastern Conference.

However, as they open its season Thursday night, the Heat will have an opportunity to not only send a strong message to those naysayers but also to the defending champion Milwaukee Bucks.

Miami opens its season against the Bucks and the last time we saw these two teams face each other one was beginning a championship run and one was being run off the court. Ultimately, the Heat’s embarrassing sweep at the hands of the Bucks would lead to a major reshuffling of the roster during the offseason.

On paper, the Heat got tougher, added more firepower, and a little more leadership. After a surprising run to the NBA Finals in the restart bubble, it was somewhat strange to see the Heat go out as they did in last year’s playoffs.

Though, with the moves that they made during the offseason, it’s clear that they don’t plan on that happening again this year.

For the Heat to send a message against the Bucks, it’ll have to start with Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo – two players that looked timid, off, and unrecognizable in the playoffs against the Bucks last season.

They’ll both have to be back on track and in mid-season form in the Heat are going to pull the upset on the defending champs – who, in their own right, looked mightily impressive in their season-opener against the Brooklyn Nets earlier this week.

After that, Lowry, Tucker, and Morris, and the rest of the supporting cast, will have to set the tone. A big reason why the Heat took so much of a step back last season was due to their shrinking supporting cast.

While a lot of that had to do to injury, Miami did about as well as they could’ve to address their non-Jimmy or Bam weapons. One player that is worth keeping an eye on in this game is Tyler Herro, who looked extremely impressive and better during the preseason.

If Herro can emerge as a legit fourth option for this team – behind Jimmy, Bam, and Lowry – this team’s ceiling raises even more. It’s a variable that could potentially make them a legit championship contender – especially with the mess that’s taking place in Brooklyn.

But it all starts Thursday night with a big test in their opener against the defending champs. Can Miami send a strong message to set the tone for the season?