The Miami Heat over the last four seasons have been wildly successful as a franchise. They’ve made three Eastern Conference Finals and 2 NBA Finals over that span, as there’s no denying that the Jimmy Butler era has been a success. Now, they’re just missing a title as the cherry on top.

There was hype all summer regarding the Damian Lillard trade rumors, as it appeared that he was forcing himself to become a member of the Heat. Here we are on October 21st, and obviously, Lillard is not on the Heat.

The Celtics and Bucks improved. People aren’t considering the Heat contenders anymore. This is like clockwork; people sleep on the Heat, and they surprise everybody. It happens quite often. This year could feasibly just be more of the same, as this is still a very quality team.

It starts with Jimmy Butler, of course. He’s a top 10 player in the league to me, and he obviously elevates his game to another level in the postseason. He’s led the Heat to two NBA Finals, so there is no denying that he can be the best player on a championship team.Then you get to Bam Adebayo, one of the league’s absolute premier defenders who somehow remains underrated on that offensive end. Very quietly, he has been the second best player on two Finals teams, and it’s criminal that nobody gives him the recognition that he deserves.

And Tyler Herro survives another summer of trade rumors. He is still here, and the preseason’s leading scorer at 26.0 points per game is looking to prove himself and assert why Miami keeping him is the right move. He has looked incredible this preseason, so the hope for Miami is that Herro can take another step in his game to be an All-Star caliber player.

Let’s remind ourselves that the Heat made the Finals last postseason without Herro too. There is clearly other parts of this team that are rather good. Sure, Miami lost Gabe Vincent and Max Strus, but to me, the pickup of Josh Richardson has completely thrown under the radar; he’s a better defender than either of the two, and he still brings some really solid offensive juice.

Let’s not forget Caleb Martin. Remember how good he was in the Eastern Conference Finals? Let’s not forget the expected growth of Haywood Highsmith that he has shown in the preseason. Let’s not forget the expected growth of Nikola Jovic and the legitimate possibility that Jaime Jaquez Jr. could be an impactful player day one. Let’s not forget Kevin Love’s leadership or about the upgrade at backup center with Thomas Bryant coming in.

Let’s not forget about the Miami Heat.

Charlie Spungin , NBA Analyst

- Digits Hoop Twitter