WGM: Heat Season Preview with Andrew Barnett of @HeatSubCulture
It's winning time in the 305. We had a great off-season. It's time to get our superstar.
No more preseason pace. No more G-League endings. No more stars in street clothes. The scrimmages are over — it’s officially time for Miami Heat basketball.
Every October, the story starts the same: Erik Spoelstra experiments, the roster tightens, and a few fringe players get sent to Sioux Falls. But this year feels different. This isn’t about who makes the team — it’s about who deserves to lead it.
Opening night in Orlando will tell us plenty. Spo won’t reveal his lineup until thirty minutes before tip (because, of course, he won’t), but all signs point to Davion Mitchell, Norman Powell, Andrew Wiggins, Nikola Jović, and Bam Adebayo starting things off. That group has the defensive backbone to hang with anyone, and just enough shooting to make it interesting.
Behind them, the second unit brings energy and upside: Kel’el Ware and Pelle Larsson will run together, Jaime Jaquez Jr. looks ready for a breakout, and Dru Smith will quietly steady things when the ball starts to slip. The Heat may not have a superstar right now, but they do have something just as rare: options.
The Miami Heat have quietly won the offseason—not through flashy trades or viral headlines, but by tightening their core, adding depth, and doubling down on the culture that’s made them perennial contenders. Every move feels calculated, every addition purposeful. Yet, despite the smart signings and promising development of young talent, the city waits with bated breath for the one piece that could turn strategy into destiny. That prized possession—the missing superstar, the game-changer who completes the puzzle—still lingers out of reach. Until then, Miami’s victory remains strategic, not cinematic. The foundation is built; the final flourish is still to come.
For much less than the cost of your morning matcha, subscribe to get full access to the intel that matters. Cement your status as an insider and support your community. We love you Miami.
PS. You can write off your subscription, it’s a cost of doing business in the MIA.
THE REAL QUESTION
This season isn’t about who cracks the rotation — it’s about who belongs in the future.
Because if we’re being honest, the Miami Heat have reached a crossroads. The organization has to decide what it wants to be: a playoff participant or a title contender. The days of overachieving with grit alone are gone. The league’s too talented, too deep, too modern for that.
It’s not about loyalty anymore. It’s about alignment. The identity of the next great Heat team will be built around Bam’s leadership, Ware’s & Nikola’s potential, and cagey vets like Powell and Mitchell, not maybes.
So the real question this year isn’t whether this group can make the playoffs. It’s whether they can convince Pat Riley they’re worth building around.
Because in Miami, good isn’t good enough.
THE HARD TRUTH
We’ll never be a contender if Tyler Herro is our best player or if we wait for Andrew Wiggins to become someone he isn’t. Miami’s culture is built on accountability, not potential.
It’s time to make a move. Package Wiggins and Herro for a real superstar someone who can shift the energy, command the double team, and let Bam finally play free.
No more “next year.” No more waiting for someone to show up. This is Miami 2025, its the city of the future and we want the best coach in the league to have one of the best teams in the league to work with.
HOT TAKE METER
Record Prediction: 47–35
Seed: 5th in the East
Breakout Star: Kel’el Ware
Most Likely to Get Traded: Tyler Herro & Andrew Wiggins
Midseason Headline: “Heat Finally Pull the Trigger.”
The team has depth, culture, and heart. What it needs now is gravity — that one player who bends defenses and belief. Until then, we’ll keep grinding, keep guarding, and keep waiting for the trade that makes Miami dangerous again.
For much less than the cost of your morning matcha, subscribe to get full access to the intel that matters. Cement your status as an insider and support your community. We love you Miami.
PS. You can write off your subscription, it’s a cost of doing business in the MIA.
AND NOW AN INTERVIEW WITH ANDREW BARNETT OF HEATSUBCULTURE
Miami Heat basketball isn’t just a sport here—it’s a lifestyle, a mood, and sometimes, a full-blown personality trait. To kick off the season, we sat down with Andrew Barnett, founder of Heat Subculture, local culture connoisseur, and fellow dadbod about town, to break down what’s really happening with the team this year. From roster realities to locker room energy, and what it all says about Miami itself, this conversation goes beyond basketball—it’s about the city’s rhythm, resilience, and relentless drive to prove the doubters wrong.
What is your name and what do you do?
My name is Andrew Barnett, by day I am the chief marketing officer and partner of Drill America, by night I am this brand marketer idea person that tries to think of dad jokes for sports essentially.
How long have you lived in Miami?
I moved here for kindergarten in 1986.
Where do you live?
Biscayne Park a little village adjacent to Miami Shores.
What’s your morning routine?
My wife is a teacher at my kids school so everyone wakes up at like 6:00, I try to get up with them when I can and do breakfast while my wife gets them dressed. They leave around 7 and then I go back to sleep from 7-7:45. Then I drink coffee, make breakfast, walk the dog and head to work.
How do you take your coffee?
Black and cold.
What’s a hidden gem in Miami that more people should know about?
Carne en Vara and its just like juicy chunks of steak lightly salted and grilled and Panya Thai.
What do you love most about Miami?
I don’t know if this is as true as it once was, I always felt that in Miami there is all this warehouse districts and other parts of town, if you wanna get three friends and make that your rehearsal space for your band or do odd ball art shows there, that you can really build and develop a thing.
How do you share your creativity?
Heat SubCulture. I put it on t-shirts.
What personal experience has shaped your creative journey the most?
The Pepsi license to chill campaign, when I was in elementary school.
What’s one piece of advice you’d give your younger self?
Don’t give people such a hard time if they don’t want to work as hard as you.
How do you define your success?
That my kids still want my attention like that’s success and that my wife wants to be around me, and to have this healthy relationship with your family and parents. Being able to feed everybody and be in a house that is semi-comfortable.
If you could collaborate with any artist, entrepreneur, or creative, who would it be and why?
Pee Wee Herman and seeing that documentary solidified it even more. He was so wacky but respectful, and would make things that were designed for the kids to have joy and learn.
What do you believe?
Good will prevail.
What’s your happy place?
Being on the couch w my wife and kids.
Do you have a favorite quote?
“This is the true joy in life, being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one. Being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances, complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy. I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community and as long as I live, it is my privilege to do for it what I can. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work, the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no brief candle to me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for the moment and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.” - George Bernard Shaw
CLOSING ARGUMENTS
At the end of the day, the Heat are more than a basketball team—they’re a mirror of Miami itself. Scrappy, defiant, stylish, and never afraid to bet on belief. This season isn’t about perfection; it’s about clarity—figuring out who the real core is and cutting the noise around it.
If we can lock in on our top six—Kelel Ware, Bam Adebayo, Norman Powell, Nikola Jović, Jaime Jaquez Jr., and Davion Mitchell—and make the tough decision to move off Herro and Wiggins for a true star, we’ll finally be contenders again.
No more preseason energy. No more “wait and see.” It’s time for Miami basketball to play like Miami lives—with conviction, confidence, and a chip on our shoulder.
Keep your SPF high and your standards higher.
See you at the beach.
Follow On: Instagram + Tik Tok + YouTube
Created by: THE MARKETING DEPARTMENT
For much less than the cost of your morning matcha, subscribe to get full access to the intel that matters. Cement your status as an insider and support your community. We love you Miami.
PS. You can write off your subscription, it’s a cost of doing business in the MIA.