Damian Lillard Or Not, Erik Spolestra Is Confident Miami Heat Can Win This Season

Miami Heat coach Erik Spolestra said he’s excited about the group they have

Despite standing pat at the beginning of the offseason, the Miami Heat ended up making notable moves.

With the this season starting soon, the Heat are confident with the group they are returning. During a recent interview at the Team USA practice with ESPN, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra spoke about the offseason and what to expect for the upcoming season.

After losing to the Denver Nuggets in the NBA Finals last season, the Heat decided to move some pieces around. They traded Victor Oladipo and Max Strus while losing Gabe Vincent in free agency. Then they added Thomas Bryant and Josh Richardson. 

“I’m just immersed here,” Spoelstra said. “We have most of our work done. We’re bringing back the majority of our players & that’s a luxury in this league. Things are so transit, things are moving fast. It seems like it’s faster now than four, five, six years ago. We feel great about our group. We made some nice additions. Josh Richardson, getting another family member back into our program. Thomas Bryant, who we've been a big fan of. And [Jaime] Jaquez as our draft pick, we’re excited. He’s a guy you can plug-and-play right now. He’s a little bit older and has a great deal of experience. So we’re adding those guys to a mix and bringing everybody back. Tyler’s [Herro] healthy. You know, Jimmy [Butler] and Bam [Adebayo], that’s a great core. So we’re excited about it.”

With Portland Trail Blazers’ star Damian Lillard most likely joining the Heat via trade, their championship hopes could increase.

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Cory Nelson is a contributor to Inside The Heat. He attended Northern Virginia Community College. He can be reached at corymckenzienelson@hotmail.com or follow him on Twitter @CKenzyNelson. You can also check out his personal blog HERE.