The Miami Heat were desperately hoping to land LeBron James this offseason, but saw him sign with the Philadelphia 76ers instead. James’ arrival has made the 76ers one of the favorites to win the Eastern Conference, while the Heat have been written off.
Former NBA player Jeff Teague doesn’t quite see things that way, though. Teague claimed on his Club 520 Podcast that the Heat are actually better than the 76ers.
“I got Miami Heat better than Philly,” Teague said.
Co-host Bishop “Bhen” Hendricks said Teague was lying, but he stood by his take. He was then asked if he was taking into account pending moves, but he wasn’t.
“No pending,” Teague said. “… I’m rolling with the Heat. Better season than the Sixers.”
You won’t find too many people outside Miami who would agree with Teague. The Heat just gutted their roster to acquire Giannis Antetokounmpo from the Milwaukee Bucks this offseason and have holes to fill, some of which they had hoped James would fill.
Playmaking is one such issue, which isn’t one for the 76ers anymore. You’re looking now at a formidable starting five of James, Tyrese Maxey, VJ Edgecombe, Jaylen Brown, and Joel Embiid.
Teague, though, thinks the Heat have advantages of their own. For starters, he thinks no one can stop his former teammate Antetokounmpo, who averaged 27.6 points, 9.8 rebounds, 5.4 assists, 0.9 steals, and 0.7 blocks per game for the Bucks in 2025-26.
Teague also believes the Heat have defenders like Andrew Wiggins and Davion Mitchell who can slow down Brown and Maxey, respectively.
“We lock up,” Teague said. “Everybody on that team can guard. We lock up. And we going to be trapping ball screens. We going to do all type of wild s*** that y’all ain’t never even seen… [The Heat] got an easier team to plug and play.”
The Heat’s starting lineup is likely going to be Mitchell, Tim Hardaway Jr., Wiggins, Antetokounmpo, and Bam Adebayo. It’s not nearly as impressive as the 76ers’ on paper. To go with the playmaking issue mentioned earlier, there isn’t enough shooting.
The bench isn’t all that impressive either. The Heat have got the likes of Bobby Portis, Pelle Larsson, and Simone Fontecchio heading that unit right now. This is why an NBA analyst believed the Heat would be a play-in team if they didn’t get James. Now, they will be pivoting to backup options, but no one who moves the needle is out there on the market now.
The Heat roster should look better as we get closer to the season, but it’s not going to be good enough for them to compete for a title. The 76ers, on the other hand, will be in the mix. They might start slow as they try to figure things out with all this star power, but should be fine come the second half of the campaign.
You can’t help but think we’ll be looking back at this offseason as a what-if for the Heat. Sure, they got Antetokounmpo, but if James had chosen them, they’d be a real threat to win it all.
