Injuries have forced the Heat to switch up their starting lineup in recent weeks, but it may have been time for a change anyways, as Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald observes that Miami’s season-opening lineup has the worst net rating of any group that has played at least 90 minutes together this season.
The Heat moved Nikola Jovic to the bench earlier this month and Terry Rozier missed Monday’s game against the Sixers due to a foot injury. That prompted coach Erik Spoelstra to start Duncan Robinson, Tyler Herro, Jimmy Butler, Haywood Highsmith and Bam Adebayo, a lineup that holds some serious intrigue for continued use, Chiang writes.
“If you look at the core four and then you add [Highsmith] — he’s been with us since the post-COVID year — those are our most experienced guys in our program,” Spoelstra said. “So they understand exactly what we’re trying to get to. Even though we’ve made some adjustments, they know what our core tenets are.”
While those five players have been playing together for several seasons, that specific lineup had only played two minutes this season until Monday. They didn’t play together at all last year, as several members of Miami’s core dealt with injuries. Despite not having much time on the court together, being around each other during the offseason and practices over the years adds up.
“I mean, there’s a lot of continuity there,” Robinson said. “I guess you say we’ve only played together for [a few] minutes. But I’ve logged a lot of hours with JB, I’ve logged a lot of hours with Bam, H, Tyler. We’ve just been on the court a bunch together — practice, games, walkthroughs, everything. So there’s a lot of familiarity there, regardless of the fact that we’ve only played [a few minutes together]. It doesn’t mean that we don’t have that continuity and that connection.”
The Heat may replace Robinson with Rozier when the latter returns from injury but – pending the results of more time spent on the court for this group – they could also opt to move Rozier to the bench. Miami traded a first round pick and Kyle Lowry for Rozier last season.
We have more from the Southeast Division:
- The two-man duo of Herro and Robinson has been one of the more impressive units for Miami, Chiang writes in the same piece. Herro is shooting 45.2% from three on 9.7 attempts per game while Robinson is shooting 36.6% on 6.8 attempts. Lineups featuring the duo boast an offensive rating of 124.3, which would rank first in the NBA. “I think at this point, they both understand how they can confuse defenses and they’re finding a sense of joy in playing off each other,” Spoelstra said. “… I think they’ve really embraced that. They’ve both grown with their skill set, both grown with their ability to do it as a screener or as a ball-handler or just moving constantly.” Robinson holds an early termination option worth $19.89MM after this season while Herro is under contract for two more seasons after this one.
- The Heat are on track to pay $26.9MM in tax penalties if they don’t trim their payroll before the end of the season, Chiang writes in a separate story. Eric Woolworth, the president of business operations for Miami, recently offered thoughts on the team’s situation on Chris O’Gorman’s “Questions for Cancer Research” podcast (YouTube link). “Nobody wants to pay a luxury tax,” Woolworth said. “Increasingly, it’s super punitive. … Certain teams never pay the tax; they just won’t. I respect that. It’s harder to win if you have that mentality, but I understand either because of market size or philosophy. There are certain teams who don’t seem to mind paying it and are consistently above the tax level and some of those teams have won a lot. And there are teams like us who are sort of opportunistic. … It’s a strategic strike kind of mentality and that’s the way we’ve approached it, and pretty successfully, with three championships and seven Finals appearances. If that’s what it takes to win at any given time, we will go for it. If we can get out [of the tax] and still compete for championships, that’s even better.” Chiang’s sources indicate the Heat are open to making trades at or before the deadline if they can improve the roster.
- Alec Burks, Kevin Love and Dru Smith have been among the players leading the charge for Miami’s defensive improvement in the early part of the season, James Jackson of The Athletic writes. Smith, on a two-way deal, has played strong defense without fouling, while Love’s rebounding has helped the Heat improve in that category.
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