Miami Heat Should Consider No One Untouchable Following Playoff Debacle

The Miami Heat lost their first-round playoff series to the Cleveland Cavaliers so resoundingly that it's made it impossible to buy that they're a few tweaks away.

Maybe if the kids blossom as "Heat Culture" rubs off on them...

and Andrew Wiggins is healthy and has a training camp under his belt...and Tyler Herro works on his defense...

Nope, save it.

138-83 to finish off a sweep.

Consider it a gift.

A blessing.

Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra said after Game 4 that the Cavs were so good that it hammered home the point that they're nowhere close.

"These last two games were embarrassing," Spoelstra said.

"We were as irrational as we usually are, thinking that we have a chance to win the series and they showed us why we weren't ready for that." Cleveland's motto all season has been "let 'em know," and Miami should be thankful that they brought that approach into these playoffs.

The Cavs outscored the Heat by 122 points, the largest gap ever in a playoff series.

Miami became the first team in NBA history to lose back-to-back playoff games by 30 or more points.

A Pelle Larsson 3-point make on the final shot taken in Game 4 saved his team from matching the worst postseason loss ever.

If the Heat wants to be taken seriously, a roster overhaul may be necessary.

President Pat Riley, in charge for 30 years, might need to step aside.

Nothing can be dismissed as too drastic.

"There's going to be a lot of changes this summer," captain Bam Adebayo said.

"Just from my point of view, understanding how the guy with the silver hair works So, just be prepared for that." In the same way that most would be stunned if Riley indeed calls it a career, or Spoelstra is re-assigned to a front office role, everything should be on the table for a proud organization when they're humiliated like the Heat have been.

That includes moving Adebayo if the right deal comes along.

Everyone around Miami loves Bam.

He's a great guy, a tireless worker.

He's the perfect leader for what this organization wants to be going forward.

He's been raised by Udonis Haslem, counseled by Dwyane Wade, and anointed as the right guy to carry the torch.

None of this is debatable, but after you're beaten as soundly as the Heat just were, you have to question everything.

Adebayo fought on every possession, but Cleveland's bigs suffocated him.

He's unquestionably a top-10 defender in the NBA, but that's precisely why it may be time to move on from him.

He's still valuable, and in this league, you have to give up something to get something.

Adebayo is right that a lot of changes are coming.

When he uttered that sentence, hopefully he counted his own potential departure as a possibility.

In that same vein, Herro was an All-Star in 2025.

He followed up "we're not going out 4-0" by shooting 1-for-10, scoring a single point after the game's opening minute.

He's now averaging 8.6 points on 29.2 percent shooting in career elimination games.

Everything should be on the table.

No player should feel safe, including Adebayo.

Same goes for the coaching staff.

Cleveland let Miami know just how irrational it is to carry on with a natural progression.

Tony Mejia is a contributor to Miami Heat On SI.

He can be reached at [email protected].

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