Dwyane Wade Assesses Giannis, Heat's Struggles Amid Losing Record, 'They're Not a Team Yet'

The new-look Miami Heat have gotten off to a rough start in the 2026-27 season, starting just 2-5, and franchise legend Dwyane Wade isn't terribly surprised that it's taking the group time to jell.

"When I look at the Heat, when I look at it, it's like, OK, it's early in the year. They're not a team yet," he said on his latest "WY Network by Dwyane Wade" podcast (ht/ Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald). "They're a bunch of individual guys that have not had a lot of uncomfortable conversations yet. They like each other. They're great guys, individually. You got to get to some uncomfortable s--t. You got to get into a couple of little mix-ups. You got to get into a couple like, 'I don't agree with you.' You got to get to that a little bit to know who you are. And so there's a lot that they got to do."

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Wade also spoke about the star duo of Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo and some of the difficulties navigating some similarity in their games.

"Giannis is a guy who's going to have that ball in his hands," he noted. "And so, you talk about Bam, and everyone is talking about Bam's struggles and all the things, and they're there. The struggles are there. You can't run away from the struggles. But what I did watch is, one, Giannis and Bam are playing the same positions, really. So right now, Giannis is all in where Bam is normally comfortable at. So now Bam is on the outskirts. Where he's been [to this point in his career], he's outside of that. So he's become really, really good in the middle area of the floor, being a decision-maker, being a guy who can attack down the middle. Bam didn't get one pick-and-roll. There were no pick-and-roll lobs for Bam. There was no getting in the post, in that mid-post area and just go to work."

The Heat lost their first four games of the season before winning two of the past three, with fans hoping it's the beginning of the team figuring things out. Other dramatically changed rosters have fared a bit better than the Heat thus far (think the Philadelphia 76ers, who are currently 7-1, albeit with more raw talent to fall back on).

The Heat likely don't have the supporting cast needed to be title contenders, though more experience together should help them better navigate some choppy waters thus far. But it's hardly been an ideal start to the Giannis Era in South Beach.