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How the Heat Built Themselves Back Into Eastern Conference Contenders

Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports

At the start of last season, the five players comprising the Heat’s current starting lineup weren’t even ships passing each other in the night of the NBA‘s waters, they were closer to worlds apart. Kendrick Nunn was an undrafted player coming off the bench for the Warriors—the Santa Cruz Warriors of the G League. Jimmy Butler was teaming up with third-stringers in Minnesota trying to engineer his exit from the Timberwolves. Duncan Robinson was a project at the end of Miami’s bench who made the roster largely due to a swath of injuries.