Heat’s young players stepping up: ‘You can’t put price tag on the things that are manifesting’
When a team is getting what it wants in the moment while also building toward the future, it’s a sign that positive things are happening.
That’s where the Miami Heat stands, as it continues to find ways to win without injured stars Bam Adebayo, Jimmy Butler and others. Young developmental players, who began the season out of the rotation, have stepped up in their place.
With only 10 players available for the fourth straight game, Heat guard Gabe Vincent, forward KZ Okpala and rookie center Omer Yurtseven each played more than 20 minutes in the Heat’s 125-96 blowout home win over the Indiana Pacers on Tuesday. It marked Miami’s fifth win in the past seven games, all without Adebayo and Butler.
Vincent, Okpala and Yurtseven were not consistent members of the rotation at the start of the season, and forward Max Strus made his first career NBA start in Tuesday’s victory.
“You can’t put a price tag on the things that are manifesting for KZ and O,” team captain Udonis Haslem said, with the Heat continuing its homestand on Thursday against the Detroit Pistons (7:30 p.m., Bally Sports Sun). “Even though Gabe and Max have had experience, you still see the growth of getting consistent minutes and actually digging into the details in the shootaround. They always dug into the details, but now they’re in the first group. So now the expectation is for them to be more locked in. They stepped up to the plate.
“I know it’s a tough time of the season right now. We got a lot of injuries, but we’re banking a lot of equity right now with our younger guys getting experience. I think when we get back healthy, it’s only going to help us.”
The Heat was without three starters on Tuesday in Adebayo (thumb surgery), Butler, (tail bone contusion) and P.J. Tucker (lower left leg nerve inflammation), and also didn’t have Caleb Martin (COVID-19 protocols), Markieff Morris (whiplash) and Victor Oladipo (right knee injury recovery). All six players have been ruled out for Thursday’s game against the Pistons, too.
Veteran point guard Kyle Lowry finished two points short of a triple-double, and rotation fixtures Tyler Herro and Duncan Robinson combined for 52 points on 11-of-18 shooting on threes in the Heat’s win over the Pacers. But Okpala, Strus, Vincent and Yurtseven have helped solidify the rotation by consistently providing quality minutes while both Adebayo and Butler have been out for much of the last three weeks.
“Ultimately, you trust what you see. You trust what you feel. You trust what has been earned during meaningful minutes and meaningful moments,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said when asked about the team’s young players. “That’s what we’ve had.”
The Heat traded three second-round picks to acquire Okpala on draft night in 2019, but Strus, Vincent and Yurtseven were all undrafted signings who have improved in the team’s player development program.
Okpala, 22, finished Tuesday’s win with a season-high 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the field and 2-of-3 shooting on threes in 23 minutes off the bench. He has appeared in 11 of the Heat’s past 12 games because of the team’s injuries after receiving 10 DNP-CDs (did not play, coach’s decision) in the team’s first 20 games.
Okpala has averaged 5.2 points while shooting 46.8 percent from the field and 7 of 17 (41.2 percent) on threes in those 11 appearances. The Heat has outscored its opponent by 31 points while he has been on the court during this stretch.
“He has been infused with a lot of confidence and life from the coaching staff, in particular [assistant coaches Caron Butler, Malik Allen and Anthony Carter],” Spoelstra said of Okpala. “They’ve really been working with him, but really Caron has been a great mentor to him and then he has been ready when his number was finally called. He has been able to produce.”
Strus and Vincent, who spent last season as two-way contract players for the Heat, are in the middle of the best stretch of their NBA careers.
Strus, 25, has averaged 24.7 points while shooting 54.3 percent from the field and 47.1 percent on 11.3 three-point attempts per game, six rebounds and two assists over the last three games. He scored a career-high 32 points in Friday’s win over the Orlando Magic.
Vincent, 25, has averaged 16.8 points while shooting 44.8 percent from the field and 41.5 percent on 8.2 three-point attempts per game, 2.6 rebounds and 3.6 assists over the last five games. He recorded a career-high 27 points in Friday’s victory over the Magic.
“That’s going to be huge for us,” Heat guard Kyle Lowry said of the trust the team’s young players have earned. “These guys have really facilitated very well and have come along. It gives us trust where you know you can go out there and I can play only 32 minutes and Gabe can hold it down, or JB and Bam don’t have to play as many minutes. We’re building something for the long term and experience is one thing you can’t teach, you got to go out there and do it.”
Yurtseven, 23, is in his first full season with the Heat and is already showing signs of improvement. He has totaled a team-high 37 rebounds, including 12 offensive rebounds, over the past three games.
“He has a knack for it and it’s about really developing that skill set with an NBA size and physicality,” Spoelstra said of Yurtseven’s rebounding. “That has been his adjustment. Malik and UD have really, they’ve both been pouring in their time really trying to develop that. UD works for him every single day with the physicality part. UD is just hitting him and crushing him and barking at him, working on his technique, how to rebound in traffic with guys swiping and hitting you and all that stuff and you’re not going to get a call but you still have to come up with it. He’s starting to grow with that.”
Two-way contract guard Marcus Garrett has also received an opportunity recently. He rejoined the Heat on Dec. 10 from the G League as part of his two-way contract and has played in five of the past six games.
“It’s part of the challenge of this year,” Robinson said of playing short-handed. “But a huge thing for us has been no excuses. Whatever we got is enough and it has been kind of day to day on who’s going to be in and who’s going to be out or what it’s going to look like. I think we’ve done a pretty good job of like, ‘Look, this is who we have available. Let’s lock in and do what we can to try to get a win.’”
For Haslem, the mentality is simple without multiple starters and rotation players available: Next man up.
“That’s what we’ve been preaching and I think the guys have done an unbelievable job of really taking that to heart and really putting forth that effort,” Haslem said. “I think every game we go out there with seven, eight, nine, 10 or whatever guys we got, those guys battle and those guys compete.”
▪ The Heat announced the signing of forward Zylan Cheatham on Wednesday. Cheatham was signed to a 10-day contract as a COVID-19 replacement for Martin.
This story was originally published December 22, 2021 at 11:36 AM.
