That was then, and this is now. And the most relevant question now is: Which franchise is teetering on needing a full rebuild?
The answer may be both.
We now live in a world where the Florida Panthers are set to return to the ice as defending Stanley Cup Champions, Inter Miami has Lionel Messi, and the debate about whether Miami is a football or basketball town come October is all but moot.
So, who's worse off: the Heat or the Dolphins? Is either a contender, or are both pretenders?
Let's break it down.
Miami Heat: Arrow Down
The Miami Heat head into their annual media day a team with low expectations. Unlike in past seasons, nobody expects this Heat roster to scare anyone.Following surprising trips to the NBA Finals in 2021 and 2023, the Heat have underwhelmed as a middle-of-the-pack team.
BetMGM's odds on the team winning the championship in 2025 opened at +3500 and have since deteriorated to +5000 — tied for 15th with the New Orleans Pelicans among NBA squads.
Similarly, in its Future Power Rankings, ESPN ranks the team 17th — ten spots down from last year, when they slotted in at number seven. In large part, that's due to the status of the face of the franchise, Jimmy Butler, who just turned 35 and holds a $52.4 million player option for the 2025-26 campaign.
ESPN's Bobby Marks notes that if Butler were to leave, Miami would regain financial flexibility but face a weak free-agent market, making it difficult to execute an immediate turnaround. If Butler stays, on the other hand, Marks says the Heat will again find themselves as a luxury tax team with little to no draft capital to improve their roster. Notably, Miami has little to look forward to in terms of future draft assets, having traded away picks for the likes of Terry Rozier and owing a protected first-round pick to Oklahoma City.
Heading into Media Day, the Heat seem stuck in NBA no man's land: neither bad enough to tank nor good enough to seriously contend. The hope for a brighter future hinges on the development of young players like Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Nikola Jovic, as well as a potential Rookie of the Year debut from first-round draft pick Kel'el Ware.
Simply put, the Big 3 Era has given way to the Big Hope Era. Starters hope to stay healthy, upstarts hope to become stars, and everyone hopes everything falls their way.
It's not all bad news for the Heat. Miami still has the best coach in the NBA, Erik Spoelstra, who is relatively young and completely capable of turning things around over the next five years. The franchise also has future cap flexibility and the inherent draw of being in Miami. This city can attract superstar free agents and change the franchise's direction overnight.
But for now, the Heat are a middling team with little immediate upside.
Miami Dolphins: A Season in Disarray
Ah, the Miami Dolphins — the Tesla battery fire of NFL teams. Sexy, yet a regret-filled disaster. Don't get close. Much safer to watch the highlights on YouTube.Eyeing a do-or-die Monday Night Football game against the Tennessee Titans, it remains unclear who'll start as quarterback as uncertainty continues to surround Tua Tagovailoa's near-term availability and long-term durability. Suffice to say every option is horrid.
The Dolphins are a poorly constructed team despite carrying one of the highest payrolls in the NFL.
The team brought in veterans like Calais Campbell, Jordan Poyer, Jonnu Smith, and Kendall Fuller to address its shortcomings. The result? Miami entered 2024-25 with the oldest roster in the NFL, averaging 27.3 years old. And predictably, they're already beat up, injured, and on the verge of needing a mass influx of free-agent signings to field a football team.
Undoubtedly, the biggest concern is Tagovailoa's future, which at this point seems closer to retirement than to a Super Bowl appearance. After suffering multiple concussions in the 2023 season, Tua is one big hit away from the Dolphins having to find a new quarterback.
And the team is on the hook for his $200 million contract. This isn't good.
Barring a 180-degree turnaround on the field and in the health of its star quarterback, the Dolphins are staring down the barrel of missing the postseason, then heading into an offseason in which they won't be deciding where to spend money to plug holes but rather where to cut costs to rid themselves of the credit card debt they took on to build a bad team.
Two Franchises Stuck in the Middle
Let's say what we're all thinking: The Miami Heat and the Miami Dolphins are far more pretenders than contenders. These are the facts. They're on precisely no one's championship radar.In fact, it's hard to say which franchise is in a worse position. When it comes to the Heat and the Dolphins, "Kings of Miami" has left the conversation. Both teams are mired in mediocrity, searching for a path back to relevance.
