Stan Van Gundy Says Heat Look Like They’re Play-In Bound: ‘That’s Not A Very Good Roster’

October 15, 2024

Stan Van Gundy once coached the Heat. From the sounds of things, he’s glad he doesn’t these days.

Instead, he’s living the high life as a TNT in-game analyst for NBA broadcasts. The Heat, of course, are coached by Erik Spoelstra — one of the most respected men in the game today.

But according to Van Gundy, Spoelstra doesn’t have a whole lot with which to work.

“I really don’t understand what’s going on there,” Van Gundy told reporters, via Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. “They’re really a win-now team, which I respect, and they haven’t given, put a roster around there that has a chance. I think they got lulled into a false sense of security by the run to the Finals two years ago.

“And it was a great run, but they didn’t have a great team, and they didn’t have a great year. That’s not a very good roster. To me, that’s a play-in roster again.”

The Heat boast names such as Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro. They have some solid role players in the likes of Terry Rozier, Kevin Love and perhaps newcomer Alec Burks. They have some up-and-comers such as Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Nikola Jovic.

But what they may not have is hopes of another deep playoff run. Van Gundy doubled down on the idea that the roster just isn’t good enough.

“If you compare them to the top three teams, Boston, New York, Philadelphia, they’re not even in the ballpark roster-wise,” Van Gundy said. “I don’t think their roster is as good as Indiana, Orlando or Cleveland.

“No, their roster just doesn’t stack up. They seem like a team to me that has been reliant on Erik Spoelstra working miracles. You can only do that so much. They can make a deal in season of course, but at this point, it would be foolish to say they’re a contender.”