What will the Heat do next?

July 25th, 2026

If I were Pat Riley, the next move I would make is to fill out the roster. Miami is “hard-capped” below the $209 million first apron and also has an additional $18.1 million to fill in 4 roster spots. It is NOT a lot to work with. A name that comes to mind is Kris Middleton, who is an unrestricted free agent. It just makes sense to team up Giannis Antetokounmpo with his longtime Milwaukee teammate, with whom they won one championship together. It would be an absolute steal to get Middleton on a vet minimum of roughly $3.9 million for the season.

The most obvious thing to do is extend Antetokounmpo ASAP! The only problem is that Heat fans would have to wait until January 6th, 2027, when he becomes extension-eligible. He can pick between a 4-year, $275 million extension only if he opts out of his current deal or a 3-year, $214 million extension if he opts in.

At the end of the day, IN MY OPINION, the Miami Heat AND Pat Riley are the winners of this offseason.

(And we are just getting started)