Winners and Losers from the Miami Heat's offseason activity so far

The Miami Heat have had an outstanding offseason so far. There is no argument that they have put together a spectacular summer to rejoin the elite teams of the Eastern Conference. The revamped team has given forth multiple people that are the "winners" of the moves and several "losers" of the moves.

Winner: Pat Riley

Pat Riley has had an illustrious career. He has nothing left to prove to most that follow the NBA closely, but after a few failed attempts to land another star, some started to talk about his legacy. Riley has been the focal point of fans anger for not landing a star.

Though he is not the sole decision maker for the Heat, he is still the face of the franchise. He is given credit for the misses, so we will give him credit for the hits. His critics had gotten loud. He shut them off with the trade for Giannis Antetokounmpo and no one can doubt his greatness anymore.

Loser: Norman Powell

Norman Powell played one year for the Heat and was the catalyst for their hot start to the year. He played at a career best level and earned himself his first career All-Star appearance. Despite these things, Powell was not re-signed.

Powell ultimately signed with the Chicago Bulls. He did get paid, but what stings is that he wanted to return to Miami. The addition of Antetokounmpo would have been a perfect fit for Powell. Unfortunately for him the Heat went in another direction and could not afford to pay him what he wanted.

Winner: Bam Adebayo

The addition of Antetokounmpo benefits everyone, but maybe none greater than Adebayo. Adebayo finally gets his elite front court partner that he has dreamed of. Many were hoping Kel'el Ware would be that piece but even in the most optimistic projections he was not going to reach Antetokounmpo levels.

This front court helps make Adebayo's life much easier. He will have someone who can also guard 1-5 on defense and is willing to do a lot of the dirty work that Adebayo has had to shoulder for so long.

Adebayo will also benefit greatly from the addition of Tim Hardaway Jr., who signed as a free agent. Hardaway Jr. is an elite shooter and throughout Adebayo's career he has paired extremely well with elite shooters. Adebayo's passing and screening ability pair beautifully with a 3 point threat. Pair this addition with the attention that Antetokounmpo will demand, and Adebayo could have one of the better offensive seasons he has had.

Loser: Boston Celtics

The Giannis Antetokounmpo sweepstakes was considered a two team race, Miami and the Boston Celtics. As it played out the Heat landed Antetokounmpo and Boston not only had to find other plans but ended up trading their Finals MVP.

The Celtics looked to trade Jaylen Brown for Antetokounmpo but were unsuccessful. So instead, they traded Brown for Paul George and 2 first round picks.

As far as name recognition goes, this is not bad, but George was widely considered one of the worst contracts in the league, if not the absolute worst. The Celtics watched their rivals land a top 3 player then also failed to counter.

Today's best reads

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• Miami Heat Officially Complete Blockbuster Giannis Antetokounmpo Trade

This article was originally published on www.si.com/nba/heat/onsi as Winners and Losers from the Miami Heat's offseason activity so far.

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This story was originally published July 12, 2026 at 7:40 AM.