5 Depressing NBA teams with virtually no chance of climbing out of early-season hole

Miami Heat

If you look at the standings, you will see the Miami Heat at 8-8 and make the argument that now is not the time to panic. But I'd argue differently and suggest that this team is cooked. That may not be reflected on the standings just yet but I imagine that will be the case by the end of the season (unless they're able to pull off a big move at some point before the NBA Trade Deadline). On most nights, this team looks uninterested and lifeless. The parts of their roster that are supposed to be the strongest haven't been so far this season.

Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo haven't been consistent enough stars so far this season and it's almost as if their roles constantly change depending on the day of the week. That leads to the inconsistent job that Erik Spoelstra is doing so far this season as the head coach. Tyler Herro has been good and appears to have improved his game from last season. However, if Herro is your best player, you're not winning many games. Plain and simple. That's not Herro's fault; that's the rest of this roster not stepping up and the front office falling short.

The supporting cast, I suppose, is fine but this team did bank on internal improvement heading into the start of this season. The only player who can make the argument to have accomplished that is Herro. Aside from that, it's almost as if every other player on the roster has regressed. That's not ideal and one of the bigger reasons why I believe this team is truly doomed. By the end of the season, or perhaps even before, that's going to be abundantly clear. The only saving grace for the Heat is that the Eastern Conference, aside from The Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics, has been bad.

Sure, the Heat can continue to bet on the East being bad but I'm not sure that's a winning formula in the NBA. And even if that does happen, the Heat would still probably run into the Celtics or Cavs in a first-round series. With the way Miami is playing right now, they'd have virtually no shot at beating either of those teams in a seven-game series. And that's even if the Heat is in a position to make the playoffs at the end of the year. It may not be completely evident just yet but this team is not very good and there's little hope for that changing anytime soon.