The Miami Heat concluded their preseason games with a 110-104 defeat to the Rockets in Houston on Friday night. As the regular season is set to begin on October 25th against the Detroit Pistons at Kaseya Center, let’s take a look at what we have learned about the Heat this preseason.
1. Bam Adebayo and Duncan Robinson need to play together as much as possible
During their time in the Bubble, the Miami Heat surprised the rest of the league by using a two-man game between Bam Adebayo and Duncan Robinson. This involved dribble handoffs from Adebayo, a 22-year-old center in his second season, to Robinson, an unknown undrafted 3-point shooter.
Four seasons have passed since then, and the two-man game remains an important part of Miami’s offense. Adebayo and Robinson have developed their chemistry, added new moves, and even switched roles at times. Adebayo, now 26, is now one of the best screen-setters and passing big men in the league. Robinson, on the other hand, has improved his dribbling and passing skills as teams have become more aggressive at chasing him off the line.
During a recent preseason game against the Nets, Adebayo scored 14 points and had three assists in the first half, while Robinson missed five of his six 3-point attempts but had four assists, most of which were to Adebayo as he rolled to the basket. Erik Spoelstra, the Heat’s coach, praised Robinson’s passing skills, saying that he had worked hard to improve them.
Robinson struggled to make shots on a certain night, but he was still able to create a plus-15 impact during the game. This would have been impossible just a few years ago. Together, Adebayo and Robinson have developed a strong partnership that the Miami Heat will continue to rely on.
Last regular season, Robinson only assisted Bam 12 times. This was because he was barely on the court, enduring the worst shooting slump of his career. On most nights, he was benched, while Max Strus and Gabe Vincent earned bigger roles. However, Robinson refound his stroke during Miami’s Finals run and was among the Heat’s brightest contributors in the playoffs. He assisted Adebayo 12 times in the playoffs alone, reclaiming his spot in the rotation.
Now that Robinson is expected to be part of the nightly rotation again this season, the Heat will rely on his partnership with Adebayo even more. They have already developed a strong connection, with Bam dribbling to Duncan, pick-and-rolls, and other types of passes. However, teams are now scheming against Robinson, forcing him to go to the basket more. This has led to new kinds of passes, and the two of them continue to evolve and work on it together.
Spoelstra believes that the two of them are a great weapon for the team. They work on it, communicate about it, watch films together, and drill on it. The league is already taking notice of their action in the shootaround, and they are forcing the league to cover their action.
2. The Heat might have too much depth at forward
Last season, Miami had three forwards who could be part of the rotation: Jimmy Butler, Caleb Martin, and Nikola Jovic. This season, the Heat have added more than twice the number of playable forwards, including Kevin Love, Haywood Highsmith, Jaime Jaqeuz Jr., Jovic, and Jamal Cain, in line with Pat Riley’s desire to add length and versatility to the wing.
However, not all of these players will be able to play. Butler and Martin are guaranteed rotation spots, and Love is likely to start in the power forward position. It will be challenging to find playing time for the others. With Highsmith out for at least two weeks due to a sprained MCL in his left knee, the Heat’s opening night rotation is expected to be limited.
PG: Lowry / Richardson
SG: Herro / Robinson
SF: Butler / Martin
PF: Love / Jovic
C: Adebayo / Bryant
Highsmith’s performance this preseason has shown that he is too good to be left out of the team. However, with Jaquez returning to play after a preseason groin injury, there might not be enough room for both Jovic and Jaquez. This would result in a 10-man rotation, which is quite deep. Spoelstra will have to decide whether to play nine or go for the 10-man rotation. Although these are good problems to have, Spoelstra will need to find a solution as the season progresses.
3. Herro will run the second unit
Although there has been a lot of discussion about who will play as the point guard in the Miami Heat team, it might be more crucial to identify who will run the offense when Butler and Adebayo are off the court. Coach Spoelstra prefers to play Butler and Adebayo together, as it has been Miami’s only way to attain lineups with a high net rating. This implies that he has to establish a unique identity for the second unit when they are taking their rest together.
This is where Tyler Herro comes in. This isn’t a new role for him, as Herro won Sixth Man of the Year two seasons ago when he was coming off the bench. The only difference now is that he’s starting, but Coach Spoelstra can still stagger his minutes so that he can run out with some Herro Cooks lineups.
A lineup comprising of Herro, Josh Richardson, Caleb Martin, Highsmith/Jovic, and Thomas Bryant can establish a clear identity. Herro and Bryant can run pick-and-roll surrounded by quality shooting and defense. The prediction is that we will see a lot of that lineup while Lowry, Butler, Love, and Adebayo are on the bench.
(This also allows Duncan Robinson to replace Herro and play more minutes alongside Adebayo, as we explored in the first section.)
4. Jimmy Butler doesn’t care about the preseason
During training camp, Butler made a joke that he won’t be influenced by the NBA’s 65-game minimum requirement for end-of-season awards. He even said that he would be more likely to play just “10” games. And it seems that he wasn’t kidding. Butler chose to sit out the first preseason game and then spent the rest of the exhibition slate getting his teeth worked on, which was great timing for a little oral procedure. Although it’s just the preseason, what does it really matter, right?
But if we were to read into it, it’s clear that Butler’s priority is staying fresh for the playoffs. Last season, he played 64 games in the regular season, which is just one game short of the new 65-game minimum but still the most he has played in a Heat jersey. Normally, he only plays around 75% of the team’s games or about a 61-game pace.
The question now is if the Heat can find ways to give Butler some rest during the season or if he will ultimately be persuaded to play at least 65 games. Although these are questions for the future Heat to worry about, Butler’s absence in the preseason indicates that he’s saving himself only for games that really matter.
