The Miami Heat begin training camp in 5 days, play their first preseason game against the Hawks in 11 days, and start the regular season in less than 30 days.

Clearly, we’re approaching the beginning of yet another season, and for the Heat specifically, it should be quite interesting. New faces throughout the roster, new schemes for Coach Erik Spoelstra, and a new mentality after finally going through a true off-season in what feels like a decade.

I’ve gone through the ways players will be used and the evolving skill-sets heading into the season, but now it’s time to evaluate the most important attribute for each guy on the roster. In many of these cases, it’s not going to be the obvious answer since we know what they bring on a nightly basis, but more importantly, the underrated element.

So, let’s hop right into the most essential part of each player’s skill-set…

Jimmy Butler:

Off Ball Comfort

Kyle Lowry being added to this team changes things for the entire squad in a positive manner, and I think it may change things for Jimmy Butler the most.

Defensively, Butler will be in a better position than ever before. Added point of attack defense means that Butler won’t be in the action as frequently, leaving him as the weak-side lurker which is by far his biggest strength in my opinion.

Play-makers added to the starting lineup mean he can take a slight step-back, while overall rim pressure means he finally has his second attacker on the roster. But with Lowry and Butler sharing all of these strengths, it means that Butler won’t have the ball in his hands as much as he once was forced to.

That’s obviously a positive thing, but that means the most important part of Butler’s game will be his immediate production in an off-ball role. It’s not usually the easiest transition for player’s without a consistent three ball, but Butler is pretty much an exception.

Playing off the ball means that he will play off the catch for easy explosions to the rim. And while his weak-side defense is elite, he may end up being a weak-side killer on the offensive end as well. He’s very good at reading rotations to feed the weak-side, and now he will be the one reacting to them.

He’s going to have the ball in his hands a ton which will lead to a ton of good possessions, but the key for him will be his effectiveness when he isn’t on the ball in the Lowry minutes. He’s a master adjuster, which means he should fit in early on. And if that happens, wins will closely follow in the regular season.

Bam Adebayo:

Pure Takeover

Although many of these topics will be under the radar evaluations, others are pretty straight forward.

Bam Adebayo is one of those straight forward sections, due to this one non-physical change in his game making the entire difference. Much like Lowry’s impact for Butler, Adebayo will have things a bit easier. Simple buckets at the rim as a lob threat, less play-making duties, and receiving the ball in his spots in the half-court.

But Lowry isn’t what will maximize Adebayo’s skill.

If that’s going to make yet another leap this season, it’s going to because he chose to turn to pure takeover a bit more. He’s clearly an unselfish player which means he won’t usually turn into that completely, but he must sprinkle it in for the team to win games.

It doesn’t matter if it’s zero hesitance in the mid-range shot, unfazed by contact on the attack, or an unexpected development like a corner three or post-move, trusting his own skill-set enough to think about nothing other than scoring on certain possessions is the game changer.

There’s no doubt in my mind that’s the most important thing for Adebayo, and I believe we see it by mid-season at the latest once the newcomers are totally adjusted.

Kyle Lowry:

Availability

When Lowry is healthy and on the floor on any given night, we know what he’s going to bring. We’ve touched on it unconsciously since the move was made. From plugging in defensively to true point guard mechanics to scoring versatility, he has it all.

But there’s nothing more important than him just being on the floor.

Regular season availability hopefully won’t be in question for the 35 year old, but it’s an inevitable topic. Over the last few seasons, there have been some issues with that, and it feels like that may occur again to a certain degree.

For one, part of me thinks seeing him in a position to sit out games late in the season is a good thing, since that would mean the team is sitting nicely in the East and Lowry can be as fresh as possible by playoff time.

But on the other side of things, if the season was a bit uneven for Miami, you don’t want him burning out by the post-season. Will Miami’s depth be good enough to preserve Lowry? Will they need a late-season push from the stars?

Those are questions that I can’t answer right now, but something I can answer is that early season production will be crucial. This team does not want to be playing catch up again this season, especially with the way this current roster is constructed.

If Lowry is available this season, and the games he ends up sitting out is more of a Heat observation, then this team and Lowry will be in great shape.

Duncan Robinson:

Stepping Back to Stepping In

Duncan Robinson’s most important attribute is an interesting discussion. Of course everything revolves around that three-point shot of his, but at this stage, that’s pretty much a given by many. Now it’s more about the expansion from his toe being right behind the arc.

That expansion started last season by going in a different direction. Literally.

He began his offensive sets and simple spot-ups a few feet behind the three point line, right in between the half-court line and left/right wing. With the way he was being treated by defenses on a nightly basis, he was forced to flow away from that line as much as possible.

After pretty much mastering his craft when stepping a few feet back, the current focus is stepping a few feet in.

As I said before this past season, which was a bit unrealistic considering the off-season they got, a pump-fake one dribble pull-up changes the game for Robinson. For one, his pump-fake alone is deadly enough when defenders see him flowing into shooting motion, but he was missing that combo following the bite.

If he finds a way to get to a mid-range pull-up consistently and knock it down, it makes him so much tougher to guard. Not to make any unnecessary comparisons, but just ask players who’ve guarded Klay Thompson once he made that step inside the arc.

PJ Tucker:

Oh, Did Someone Say Corner Threes?

When anybody thinks of the offensive role of PJ Tucker, they immediately shift to the corner three. And well, that one shot may make the difference for this Heat offense to move up to that next tier.

I don’t know if this will be the most important thing for Tucker, but it will be the most essential for the team.

With many of the base offensive sets I expect Miami to run this season with the addition of Lowry, it may ride on the pull the team’s corner spacers have on a defense. A popping Robinson and a rolling Adebayo is a duel threat already, but if you can eliminate full weak-side commitment from that corner shooter, then you’ve essentially won.

If Tucker can take advantage of that open corner three this season, things change dramatically.

Tyler Herro:

Scoring, Scoring, and More Scoring 

Much like the Adebayo topic, certain player’s most important attribute is the most obvious one.

As many have illustrated this off-season, the role for Herro this season is one that he can thrive in. It’s simplified, it’s fitting, and well, it’s a scoring one.

He’s going to have the ball in his hands a ton to create offense and get a bunch of shots up, but a lot of that will come down to the overarching creation that he gets. And it seems like that’s been a major focus this off-season in his behind the scenes training for the season.

Off-ball impact will be huge for him as well, since one of the only parts of his game that saw a decrease last season was catch and shoot threes. If that can be revived to rookie year levels, he will be in good shape.

Scoring, scoring, and more scoring. He’s going to be asked to be the bucket getter off the bench, or better yet, a closing bucket getter once again. And there’s nothing more important for his game this season than taking the reigns of that role from the jump.

Dewayne Dedmon:

Clean Up-Crew

This Heat team will be looking a lot different in the front-court this season. Tucker entering as a primary 4, Markieff Morris being picked up, and Omer Yurtseven being added as a youthful project. Things won’t be familiar in that department early in the season.

But two guys this team will trust down low are Adebayo and Dewayne Dedmon.

Dedmon showed last season that he’s a trustable piece to be utilized in different spots. He’s extremely efficient, doesn’t need to be a spot-light on the offensive end, and shows plenty of things that the Heat organization and coaching staff loves.

Much like Lowry, I do believe that availability will be very important for him after being super fresh for this past playoff series after only playing 16 regular season games.  I don’t expect him to play close to 82, which is where the Yurtseven opportunity arises.

Aside from that, going back to the front-court additions, Dedmon is one of the only rotational pieces other than Adebayo who can be a true rebounding threat. They added size but didn’t add length, which felt like a case where Erik Spoelstra and Pat Riley met in the middle.

Clean-up crew Dedmon will be important for this team, especially being a bench piece. The reason for that is due to predominant bench lineups being about getting shots up: aka Herro, Max Strus, etc. If he can continue to show consistency as an inside threat throughout the regular season, it’ll make the non-Adebayo minutes much easier.

Max Strus:

Balancing Robinson Insertion and Personal Strengths

Max Strus is one of those intriguing story-lines heading into the season. He has slowly bumped up the rotation line in a similar way we’ve seen Robinson, Kendrick Nunn, and others do so.

There are a few things that we still need to evaluate from him, starting with consistency of offensive play at this level. We’ve seen him in solid spot minutes last season and Summer League domination, but consistent rotational minutes are always a bit different.

But in terms of his most important attribute personally, I think it’s about the role given to him. What I mean by that is he might have to do a bit of balancing to begin the season between: filling into Robinson movement sets and just being himself.

As much as he gets the Robinson comparison, he’s not Duncan Robinson. They don’t have the same body structure, they don’t have the same defensive capabilities, and they don’t have the same offensive control.

But yes, they can both shoot.

Will Strus thrive as a guy who never puts the ball on the floor, or will we see that’s how he creates his space with aggressive downhill attacking? It’s an interesting discussion, which is why his early season choices could dictate his play-style for the year.

Markieff Morris:

Efficiency

No surprise here, it all comes down to efficiency for the recently acquired Markieff Morris. With the Lakers this past season, he shot 31% from three through 61 regular season games.

Although the record shows that he’s more efficient as a starter, I would expect him to be in that bench role with developing offensive weapons like Tyler Herro. And in a lot of ways, those are the type of players who can probably benefit him most.

Combining players who dominate the ball with a spot-up guy who is unselfish and willing to locate himself in different places definitely isn’t a bad recipe. With Dedmon’s interior location, that outside shot will be even more crucial for Morris.

Like I noted with Tucker, the corner three is the game changer for this team, but I don’t believe that’s where we see Morris most. He’s a guy that thrived in Horns’ sets because he can pop out to the top of the key with more things at his disposal.

As a play-maker, he always looked best with over the top passes from that spot of the floor, meaning I think we see that translate over this season as well. If he can knock down that shot consistently, the usage of him on this team shifts completely.

Victor Oladipo:

Health

Victor Oladipo is the true definition of an NBA wild card. The projection of him slotting next to all of the team’s primary defenders or lining up next to Herro as a shot creator is clearly something to be happy about from Miami’s perspective.

But as much as that stuff holds high importance, none of it matters if he doesn’t get back out there on the floor at a decent percentage. Nothing matters more than the health of Victor Oladipo, which is why I don’t expect them rushing him back this season even if he pushes it.

The true value of this pick-up is having him as a late-season addition who can be used in a playoff series without a ton of prior film to evaluate from this season. Hence, the phrase wild card coming into play.

If this team ends up showing flashes early in the season before Oladipo returns, that’s when they’ll know they have a shot at something. A slow start may lead to a heavy reliance on Oladipo coming back at a high level, and that’s far from ideal.

Just have him work himself in with a minor workload next to Herro in the back-up back-court, and see where you can go from there.

Gabe Vincent:

Playing Off the Catch

Gabe Vincent’s name seems to be getting talked about less and less as the season approaches, which may lead to him ending up as another surprise

Erik Spoelstra showed a great amount of trust in him last season, even placing him in a role he wasn’t very familiar with. He was essentially asked to run offense and trigger certain sets, while being a point of attack anchor in the 2-2-1 press Miami relied on.

And well, that wasn’t really Vincent’s role in the past. The shooting struggles may have came due to the comfort levels differing. In the past, he was a guy who played off the ball as a spot-up threat from deep, but too much on his plate at the point guard position could have clouded things.

In his predicted minutes early on, I think we see more of him playing off the catch with the ball in Herro or Lowry’s hands. Allow him to play his own game then make an evaluation from there. He’s made huge steps in his game in every major area, except for that shooting stroke that we once saw.

If he can maximize that this season, this team will be in better shape than originally expected before Oladipo returns.

Omer Yurtseven:

Playing Time

Omer Yurtseven, also known as the Summer League fan favorite, really made a name for himself this off-season. A lengthy build with enough versatility to shoot it from deep, play in the post, and protect the rim.

At this point in his young career, there isn’t a specific part of his game that will be more important than others, but the primary component will be playing time.

As I’ve said in the past, he’s going to get minutes this season. Guys like Dedmon don’t seem to be playing 82, while other front-court members are older in age, meaning he will be slotted in at some point in the season.

That’s when he can showcase his full game off at this level. Before working things down to a specific focus in his game, the initial game observation has to come, and I believe it’ll come sooner than some may think.

KZ Okpala:

Behind the Scenes Focus

The current focus of KZ Okpala’s skill-set won’t be coming in NBA minutes. The true time to maximize his offensive skills in question is still going to be behind the scenes.

It’s very clear that spot-up three should be the thing he’s harping on right now. After seeing his willingness to attack, there just isn’t enough touch around the rim and perimeter combos to get downhill to obtain that ability consistently.

The three ball hasn’t been showcased yet either, but that at least has some potential to be useful in the near future. Like I’ve said before, aiming for a 3 & D role is all he needs right now. He has the defensive part, but a decent corner three is what can potentially get him some minutes down the line.

Until then, it’s more about focusing on attributes outside of NBA games.

Udonis Haslem:

Increasing Minutes?

And finally, the guy who has basically been a part of the Miami Heat since I was born: Udonis Haslem.

Discussing the skill-set of Haslem hasn’t seemed necessary up to this point since that’s never what he’s used for. It’s more about off-court leadership or on-court three minute stints before being ejected.

But could this be the year he actually receives more minutes?

Some have argued that he can clearly still play with that sweet baseline jumper and rebounding toughness, but I feel it’ll be harder this year than ever. The reason for that is if there was a season for him to see an increase in minutes, it was last season.

An uneven Covid season without any front-court depth is pretty much the combo that should translate to that. This roster, on the other hand, is filled with front-court depth who are looking for a long-term chance to prove themselves.

But well, you never really know what will happen in this league, especially with the Miami Heat.

We may not know the on-court situation with Udonis Haslem, but we definitely know the off-court situation. He will have his teammates prepared every single night to embody their new team theme.

Why is that? Well, the theme of this team is basically Udonis Haslem.

 

We are slowly approaching the beginning of the 2021-2022 NBA season, and it should be an interesting one for the Miami Heat. New faces, new skill-sets, but the same goal.

In exactly one week, the Heat will be kicking off media day, and in exactly two weeks, the Heat will play the Atlanta Hawks in their first preseason game.

So, as we grow closer and closer to that initial tip-off, I have another edition of answering your guys questions. Roster worries, wild predictions, or pure excitement. Let’s hop right into some of the current focuses surrounding this team…

who on the roster do you predict will have a break-out season & where do you think the Heat will finish in the East?

— Eli (@HeatCFC) September 20, 2021

On a Heat team full of veteran players who have plenty of experience in this league, break-out players won’t be flying out of nowhere. But I do think one guy can end up surprising a lot of people.

Max Strus.

He came as a surprise to many down the stretch of last season, and he’s not done yet. He just came off an incredible Summer League run, where the coaching staff continued to test him to see what he was capable of. They treated him like “the guy,” and he was just that.

Now, heading into a new season, he has a defined role off the bench. And although that bench unit may not be filled with big name guys, he’s somebody that can make a huge impact and really “break-out.”

Although he was used on the ball a lot in Las Vegas, he’s going to be simplified offensively back into a spot-up role. Duncan Robinson exiting the floor while Strus is standing at the scorers table with his warm-ups on the floor beside him will be quite a formula.

To answer your second question, I don’t feel like my take on Miami’s seeding is very bold. This is a squad built for the post-season, but in the mean time, they must get to a decent seed if they want to truly show out on that stage.

With that said, I feel the 3 seed is a reasonable spot. That basically means you have a path to win the first round as the favored team, face a Milwaukee Bucks type 2 seed in an anticipated rematch, before arriving in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Brooklyn Nets.

Of course it’s way too early to be predicting that, but the goal will be to get in that 3 range. And I believe it’s possible if the expected leaps occur across the roster.

You’ve done tremendous articles all off-season and have literally answered every question twice.

2 Questions that might need answered again:

1. Will the zone defense be scrapped?

2. Will the tempo be more fast paced with an increase in fast break opportunities?

— nuthinbutheat (@nuthinbutheat) September 20, 2021

In a lot of ways over the past two seasons, the zone defense was a ” multiple weak defenders are on the floor” wrinkle.

On this new roster, there won’t be a ton of those stretches. Two reasons that it was so effective in the post-season during the bubble run was 1) it surprised teams on a game to game basis and 2) it was mixed in and wasn’t being harped on.

This past season, the 2-3 zone wasn’t just a wrinkle, it became a staple of their defensive scheme. Now that things have changed this season, I believe we see it less through the first 82. But not totally thrown away.

It could be something that is utilized in the Duncan Robinson-Tyler Herro minutes. Both of them got comfortable in that zone since they can rely on positional defending instead of isolation defending. And that’s a perfect recipe for the two of them.

For the second question, I absolutely believe we see a major increase in both pace and fast-break opportunities.

All defensive teams should be highly effective in getting transition buckets, but even when Miami cracked that top 10 in defense last season, fast-break points never rose with it. But well, that team wasn’t as close to being as good on that end of the floor as the new squad, and secondly, that team didn’t have Kyle Lowry.

No matter the age linked to his basketball reference profile, Lowry loves to get out and run in the open floor. He’s known for catching defenses lacking not only off of misses, but also sprinting down the floor off an inbound.

Bam Adebayo is an exceptional transition weapon, but it needs to be seen more. Retreating the ball back out to set up offense time and time again just won’t cut it, especially next to Lowry. We’re going to see a hint of rim running Adebayo back in those scenarios, and that’s exactly what both him and this Heat team need.

Can our depth really be good?

— CableTheGuy™️ (@CableTheGuy) September 20, 2021

The depth of this Heat team is the one thing that seems to be getting harped on throughout the off-season, but it pretty much rides on an inconclusive factor.

Victor Oladipo, as I’ve said throughout the off-season, is the biggest wild card on this Heat team, and possibly one of the biggest across the league. If he can come back at a decent percentage, there won’t be any worries about the bench unit on this team.

But let’s approach this topic as if Oladipo isn’t back, which he won’t be for a portion of the season.

Let me start by saying there won’t be many bench “lineups” this season. We saw it a ton last season because it’s hard to keep one of Jimmy Butler and Adebayo on the floor at all times throughout a regular season. Adding Kyle Lowry to that group makes it a lot easier.

These bench guys may be used a ton, but it’s going to be alongside the top dogs on the team.

Tyler Herro will be getting a bunch of on-ball reps off the bench, which will be the true deciding factor when discussing the depth of this team. If he performs at the level that many know he’s capable of, then these worries wont even be considered.

As I mentioned earlier, Strus will be put in a perfect situation to succeed and I believe he will. But don’t discredit Gabe Vincent completely. I believe people would be a lot higher on him heading into the year if he played in Vegas, but it was much more important to take care of his body in preparation.

Lastly, the veteran back-up front-court of Markieff Morris and Dewayne Dedmon will be something to keep an eye on. Morris is awaiting an opportunity with a defined role, and I believe this scenario is perfect. No front-court player on this team has his identical skill-set, so it’ll all come down to efficiency for him.

As for Dedmon, we know his efficiency and play-ability in that role, but the one question will be availability. If certain stuff breaks down, Omer Yurtseven will be waiting for his name to be called, but either way, they’re deep at that position.

It’s not about evaluating the bench group as a whole, it’s much more about looking at their roles on this team and how they will blend into specific schemes and lineups. And I can already tell a couple of these guys will slot in perfectly.

If oladipo comes back full strength by January, could you see him starting at sg or is Tyler/Duncan combo not doable? If Vic plays great and we resign him long term it’s to be a starter no?

— David Panek (@Dont_Panek) September 20, 2021

The issue with Oladipo starting in that scenario isn’t about a worrisome duo of Robinson and Herro off the bench. The issue is that you’d be replacing the most important part of their offense with that move.

Yes, Robinson may end up averaging the fourth most points among that group this season, but he’s undeniably the most important. If they want to score points, you need the gravity from Robinson to generate rim pressure and the occasional three point bomb.

I also don’t think we should get caught up in “starting lineups” too much. There’s absolutely zero chance Oladipo starts over Robinson at any point this season, but that doesn’t mean Oladipo can’t get more playing time from game to game.

They’re going to be doing a ton of trial and error to find combos that work, but I can comfortably say that Robinson isn’t going to be sitting in a chair when that ball goes up in the air barring he’s healthy.

And I’d bet on there being a clear understanding on Oladipo’s side of things about his role. An ideal bench duo of Dipo/Herro with balancing skill-sets is the formula to competing this season, which relates back to my earlier point about his true wild card status.

Why they will succeed and why they won’t

— The Deep 3 (@Deep3Network) September 20, 2021

If I had to give one predicting element for this team succeeding and one for them tailing off, it definitely requires some thought.

The clear answer for this team potentially not succeeding would be that they added *too* many veterans, and it’s another situation where there’s a revolving door of players. That may be the case with any team, but a constant reliance on inexperienced players may lead to over-playing the main cast, leading to them tailing off late in the season.

If they get the injury bug and end up in a 5-6 seed once again, it’s going to be very tough to see them getting out of that spot.

But on a more positive note, I’d say the most ideal situation for them succeeding is a clear leap from young players. Seeing that development come to fruition from Adebayo, Herro, and Robinson specifically would do wonders.

Adebayo becoming the leader in shot attempts, Herro growing his offensive bag in isolation, and Robinson adding a one-dribble pull-up into a mid-range is my best case scenario.

Of course this is all speculation, but if a couple of those things actually pan out, then this team will be in very good shape this season.

 

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Plenty of things can be debated about this updated Heat roster. Are they missing total scoring production off the bench until Victor Oladipo returns? Will the newest front-court additions make the difference? What level will Kyle Lowry be playing at during the regular season?

While there is some truth to a lot of those questions, one thing is universal when evaluating this team: Erik Spoelstra has way more weapons on both ends of the floor. And well, that is more important than anything else heading into the season.

To that point, they will have a lot more flexibility with specific lineups. Of course we know what the starting lineup or closing lineup will look like, but how about the creative lineups that fulfill a specific skill on the roster?

That’s what I’ll be diving into here, so let’s hop right into some lineups that may be intriguing as potential sparks throughout the season…

1) Maximizing Offensive Actions with Creativity

Lowry /Robinson /Strus /Adebayo /Yurtseven

When I went through this exercise of thinking about truly creative lineups, this is the first one that came to mind. I’ve gone over a bunch of offensive sets that Miami will be running this season, and it’s clear they will be looking for certain lineups that truly plug every hole in that type of utilization.

The Heat’s offense rides off total movement off the ball on the weak-side to trigger specific actions within the set. That would be the Duncan Robinson and Max Strus role here, since they can start them on the same side, and run them off a baseline screen to flow into the weak-side. That’s the type of pull that makes a Miami Heat offense run.

Obviously Kyle Lowry would need to be the head of the snake in these lineups, since his passing is so dynamic that he can put the ball into the spots of his teammates to make a play, while possessing a deep ball threat to keep his defender honest from totally going for the double.

And of course, the Bam Adebayo and Omer Yurtseven factor. Yurtseven won’t be a part of the rotation in any way, but as I’ve reiterated many times this off-season, he’s going to get plenty of minutes. And I believe a lot of them will be next to Adebayo.

The reason that front-court combo is needed here is to truly maximize Robinson and Strus’ shooting abilities. Using Yurtseven as a potential popper and Adebayo as a roller makes things work much more smoothly. Horn sets with Lowry at the top, and Robinson/Strus in corners can be so effective with the bigs at the elbow.

We’re going to look into some other lineups that are much simpler and probably more likely, but this one specifically feels like an Erik Spoelstra wrinkle.

2) Importance of Non-Butler/Lowry Minutes

Oladipo /Herro /Robinson /Tucker /Adebayo

This lineup is one that will hold high importance late in the regular season for Miami. How much will Lowry and Jimmy Butler be used before the return of Oladipo? Well, that’s a question I don’t have an answer to.

They want to find ways to preserve those two guys as much as possible due to the fact this is a team built for the post-season. Miami just has to find a way to get there at a decent spot in the East to make that late push.

These five guys together is intriguing for a couple reasons: 1) there’s enough of a mixture between offense and defense and 2) there are two combos within the lineup that can be the difference makers for the Heat this season.

On paper, Oladipo and Tyler Herro as a back-up back-court can be deadly. Herro gets a partner in crime who takes pride in the defensive end and puts pressure on the rim, while Oladipo gets a floor spacer who will have the ball in his hands a ton. If these two can develop a rhythm, it makes the lives of Lowry and Butler so much easier.

The other combination that I’ve discussed is Herro and Robinson. With those two guys being the only weak defenders on the team following the departures of Goran Dragic and Kendrick Nunn, the two can be used together more often. And the expectation that some sort of offensive leap will occur from each of them makes this even more intriguing.

This lineup may explain the projection of this Heat team. Can Adebayo step up as the guy in the non-Butler/Lowry minutes? What level of play will Oladipo be at? Can Herro create offense enough to allow Robinson to work next to him for long stretches? If a couple of those questions end up being a yes, then I have Miami a lot higher on my season board than previously.

3) Death Lineup

Lowry /Oladipo /Robinson /Butler /Adebayo

It’s always necessary to address the death lineup that can be used heading into a season. When people debated this entering the bubble, there was an expectation that the Heat’s death lineup would be Butler at the 4 with offensive weapons surrounding him.

But as we quickly found out, Jae Crowder was the full-time “death lineup” 4. And as much as I feel Erik Spoelstra will develop that confidence in PJ Tucker in a similar fashion, the team’s deadliest lineup this year would be Butler at the 4 depending on the match-up.

Many are excited about the defensive lineup that Miami can use with Tucker instead of Robinson, but that all depends on Oladipo’s offensive production when he returns. If he’s that same shot creator that he was previously, then that defensive five can be a problem. If that isn’t the case, I don’t believe there’s enough offense within that group.

But throwing Lowry, Oladipo, Butler, and Adebayo on the floor late in playoff games with Robinson as the spacer seems like the inevitable move. Obviously Robinson hasn’t been much of a closer over the years, either due to foul trouble, defensive worries, or just scouting reports eliminating him by that point of the game, but that should 100% change this season.

I believe he closes a bunch of games this year and not just because he’s getting paid like a closer. For those defensive lineups to work, Robinson must be on the floor, since frankly, he’s what makes this five a “death lineup.”

4) Front-Court Size, But No Front-Court Length

Lowry /Herro /Butler /Morris /Tucker

There’s no doubt in my mind that Tucker will be the starting 4 for Miami this season and Morris will be filling in for him off the bench. But will they end up seeing the floor together?

Some have brought up the point about Morris playing the 3 next to Tucker at the 4 at times, but once again, I just don’t see that as an offensive possibility. Well, unless one of Tucker or Morris have a Jae Crowder bubble run in the regular season.

To that point, I can see Spoelstra trying some stuff with Tucker at the 5 and Morris at the 4, but definitely not for long stretches. It all depends on match-ups, but it’ll be interesting to see some stuff that can be ran in a five out offensive with some extra versatility.

With a roster that has Adebayo, Dedmon, and Yurtseven, you may be wondering why they would want to go that small. And honestly, I would agree with that point. There aren’t many opposing lineups that will enhance Tucker at the 5, but it’s all about finding small wrinkles that can be adjusted to potentially.

This is what I mean by extra weapons. Maybe Miami had more offensive weapons previously when subbing in similar back-court players like Nunn and Dragic, but now the Heat have roster diversity and flexibility. And that was needed after the Heat flamed out in the post-season.

5) The Rebounding/Rim Protection Go-To

(Insert Backcourt of Choice) /Yurtseven /Dedmon

There’s a common theme when going through this exercise and I bet a lot of people caught it. Bringing up names like Nunn and Dragic showed they had more back-court depth last season, but one thing they didn’t possess was front-court depth.

They took late-season chances on two guys that didn’t play for over a year, in Trevor Ariza and Dewayne Dedmon, which definitely worked out to a certain degree. Now the team has 5 strong front-court players, and another guy that Miami has hoped would be one soon, in KZ Okpala.

With this many guys in that department and a previous rebounding struggle, why wouldn’t the Heat use the exact opposite of that last lineup discussed? You can use whichever back-court combination you’d like next to Dedmon and Yurtseven, since the whole point of it would be to throw out some size and rebound the basketball at a high level.

Possibly a Pat Riley regular season request.

Now, I’m not totally sold on Yurtseven’s rebounding ability yet, especially since he hasn’t gotten any run at the next level, but his size and length alone makes this possible.

The mold of this team is clear, and it makes things much simpler for the coaching staff. You don’t want total inconsistency at the guard position, and that’s exactly what they had before. By playoff time, they will have their strong 4 of Lowry, Robinson, Oladipo, and Herro which means they won’t have to stray off.

But the position they can stray off from is the coveted power forward/center spot next to Adebayo. There’s enough flexibility in that area that doesn’t ruin game flow when constantly interchanging, leading to the overarching point that the team’s off-season roster construction was a success.

Some of these lineups may look better on paper, but it’s a trial and error thing. And it’s very obvious that Coach Spoelstra will do a ton of trial and error with this group.

 

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