Heat coach Erik Spoelstra defended his move Wednesday to replace veteran starter Udonis Haslem with second-year player Michael Beasley at power forward.

Spoelstra expects Beasley, last year's No. 2 overall draft pick, to bring more balance and offensive punch to the starting lineup. He also believes Haslem would provide leadership and experience to the second unit.

The Heat debuted its new lineup in Wednesday night's season opener against the New York Knicks at AmericanAirlines Arena.

Haslem said Tuesday he was asked to come off the bench for the first time in five seasons. Spoelstra would not confirm the move until Wednesday's shootaround.

``Before you make a move like this, you have to have someone with absolute strength of character,'' Spoelstra said of Haslem, who along with Dwyane Wade were the only remaining starters from the Heat's 2006 championship team.

``Where we want to go -- if we want to make a [competitive] jump -- there is going to have to be difficult and uncomfortable decisions. This was difficult.''

Beasley said he didn't believe he beat out Haslem. Instead, he accepted the change simply as a coaching decision to take the team in a different direction.

``I wasn't really competing with Udonis,'' Beasley said. ``I was Udonis' understudy.''

Haslem said it was tough to accept the decision initially. But he has since compared his situation to other NBA starters who have had to come off the bench recently.

Wade supports the change, but said his trust and bond with Haslem won't be broken.

``It takes more than a good first unit to win,'' Wade said. ``I'm sure there are going to be times I'm out there and will say, `Get Udonis in and sit Michael down.' ''

WOOING WADE

The Wade baiting officially began Wednesday when New York media members asked the Heat guard and 2010 free agent to discuss the potential benefits of playing for the Knicks.

``I really don't think about it,'' Wade said. ``I'll answer it differently every time. It depends on how I feel. Later on, I might give you a different answer.''

• Heat center Jamaal Magloire was not in the arena Wednesday as he started his two-game suspension for his role in an Oct. 5 scuffle with Pistons forward Jonas Jerebko. Magloire also will miss Friday's game at Indiana.

Join the discussion

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. In order to post comments, you must be a registered user of MiamiHerald.com. Your username will show along with the comments you post. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

     Showing: Oldest first Newest first Most-recommended first Least-recommended first

@Nyx.AuthorDisplayName@ wrote on @Nyx.PostedAtTime@:

@Nyx.repliedToText@

@Nyx.replyAnswerText@

Reply to this Comment @Nyx.Recommender@ @Nyx.AbuseReporter@