5 Takeaways about Miami Heat Restart from Erik Spoelstra, Goran Dragic

With the NBA and the Miami Heat restart set to return on July 30th, Erik Spoelstra and Goran Dragic hopped on a call today to discuss the team’s approach.

Here’s the five most important things discussed…

1.

The money quote from Spoelstra: "We're bringing all 17 guys for a reason, because we think everyone is healthy and ready. We think our depth is going to be one of our biggest strengths. We can really go 3 deep at every position."

— Five Reasons Sports Network (@5ReasonsSports) July 1, 2020

The depth of this Miami Heat team has been one of the biggest questions come playoff time. We know they’re deep, but the question was if Coach Eric Spoelstra would go this deep into the bench in a playoff game. This seems to answer it with the quote, “We can go 3 deep at every position.” Be ready for some of Miami’s key role players to be huge sparks for the Heat off of the bench.

2.

Spoelstra on @JimmyButler: "I think competition and coming together and leading a group brings out the best in him. When you go into an uncertain situation like this, you want guys like Jimmy Butler leading your team."

— Five Reasons Sports Network (@5ReasonsSports) July 1, 2020

Jimmy Butler is obviously one of the best leaders to have on your team in a format like this on and off the court. The young guys have somebody to keep them in line and focused off of the court. But also he’s a guy that will be physically and mentally ready for any match-up they face. Coach Spoelstra has the utmost confidence in Jimmy, and Heat fans should too.

3.

Spoelstra says no one other than Derrick Jones Jr. tested positive.

Jones is quarantined but working out on Zoom.

— Five Reasons Sports Network (@5ReasonsSports) July 1, 2020

Less than a week ago, it was released that Derrick Jones Jr tested positive for the corona virus. The good news is that he is doing fine and still working out with the team over zoom. Also, no other Heat player has tested positive for Covid-19, which hopefully stays that way heading into the bubble for the Miami Heat restart.

4. 

Goran Dragic says he's played plenty of games in Europe in front of no fans. So have some of the former G-League guys. Another reason I think the Heat adjust to this.

— Five Reasons Sports Network (@5ReasonsSports) July 1, 2020

Due to the fact that this type of format will be pretty close to a Summer League game, it gives a lot of the Heat’s young players an advantage for the Miami Heat restart. It also gives Goran Dragic an advantage since he’s played in these types of games in Europe many times. And as stated above, will help Miami adjust to these types of games very quickly.

5. 

Goran Dragic acknowledges it was difficult to speak out on social justice:

"As a white male, we have white privilege…. Hopefully, when we will be in the bubble, we can use this platform together and try to make changes."

— Five Reasons Sports Network (@5ReasonsSports) July 1, 2020

Both Spoelstra and Dragic discussed the changes to be made about the social injustice in the world today. Coach Spoelstra talked about the use of their platform to the best of their abilities. He also states that all of the coaches in the NBA are working with the Obama Foundation on race related initiatives.