How the Miami Heat is continuing to downsize and options available. And an Oladipo update
Wings?
The Heat has plenty of those, much like you would find on the menu at a sports bar.
But natural, traditional big men?
Not so much.
The imbalance in the Heat’s roster — partly a byproduct of teams downsizing in today’s NBA game and partly a byproduct of roster moves last week — has left Miami in a delicate situation, without a clear-cut traditional starting power forward and without insurance if Bam Adebayo is sidelined by injury or foul trouble.
The issue is twofold:
▪ Issue 1: Determining how often to play a natural power forward (specifically, Nemanja Bjelica) alongside Adebayo and how much to play traditional small forwards in that spot (specifically, new starter Trevor Ariza, who’s 6-8, and the 6-6 Andre Iguodala). A lot of that will depend on matchups and who’s playing well on a particular night.
▪ Issue 2: Determining whether to continue to use Precious Achiuwa during the 10 to 12 minutes per game that Adebayo is on the bench or instead sign a veteran free agent to fill that role.
Excluding relics Tyson Chandler (38) and Pau Gasol (40 and now playing in Spain), the most accomplished centers who remain unsigned are: DeMarcus Cousins (lateral movement defensively was limited in his time with the Rockets this season) and four players who haven’t played in a regular-season game in 2020-21: Dewayne Dedmon (a former Heat summer leaguer who was a decent rebounder in Atlanta and Sacramento), Thon Maker, John Henson and Ian Mahinmi.
The Heat, which is required to sign a 14th player by April 8, could wait to see who else becomes available on the buyout market. Bleacher Report speculated Tuesday said that the Lakers and veteran center Marc Gasol might agree to a buyout, but The Athletic reported that’s unlikely to happen. In 36 appearances, Gasol has averaged 4.8 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.0 assists and shot 35.5 percent on threes in 19.8 minutes per game this season.
Regardless, Achiuwa cannot afford many repeats of Tuesday’s two-point, three-rebound, five-foul, nine-minute stint against the Knicks. That continued an uneven stretch for the rookie; the Heat has been outscored by 50 points through his past 12 appearances, covering 116 minutes.
“One thing I like about Precious, he retains information,” Adebayo said. “He does not stop working. He’s one of those kids that wants to be in the gym; he wants to be reliable for coach.”
With Chris Silva and Kelly Olynyk and injured Meyers Leonard all traded last week, the big-man options when Adebayo is resting are limited largely to Achiuwa, Bjelica (a power forward who isn’t known for rim-deterrence) and Udonis Haslem, who hasn’t played a minute all season.
As for the issue of who to play alongside Adebayo, it looks like an erstwhile small forward (Ariza or Iguodala) will get the majority of minutes at that spot. Small forward Jimmy Butler likely will play some power forward too, when the Heat chooses to close games with Butler, Adebayo and two among Tyler Herro, Duncan Robinson, Goran Dragic and newcomer Victor Oladipo.
Bjelica logged only five scoreless minutes in his Heat debut Monday and didn’t play in the second half. KZ Okpala, a 6-8 wing who has been a power forward during his brief NBA career, remains sidelined by the NBA’s health and safety protocols, as does Haslem.
Ariza, who hadn’t played in a year, has started the past three games and averaged 8.3 points, 6.0 rebounds and 29 minutes in those games, while shooting 34.6 percent from the field (9 for 26) and 23 percent on three-pointers (3 for 13). Players defended by Ariza are shooting just 42.6 percent, which is a strong number defensively.
In Monday’s win against the Knicks, neither Ariza nor Bjelica played in the fourth quarter; Erik Spoelstra instead opted for Iguodala, who has been a small forward or shooting guard for most of his career but is now needed at power forward.
Iguodala logged all 12 fourth-quarter minutes and went scoreless but had two rebounds, two assists and two steals. His value transcended the box score, as NBA coaches would say.
In the Heat’s three most-used lineups this season that feature Iguodala as the power forward, Miami has outscored teams by 13 points during those minutes but shot just 31.8 percent on three-pointers.
Iguodala is shooting just 33.3 percent on threes this season but is limiting the player he’s defending to just 40.8 percent shooting, which is best on the Heat.
OLADIPO UPDATE
Oladipo, acquired from Houston last Thursday, will not make his Heat debut in Wednesday’s game against the Indiana Pacers. He remains back in South Florida with a cold. Kendrick Nunn (ankle) is questionable.
ROBINSON, HERRO PLEASED
Robinson and Herro were pleased that Pat Riley said late Thursday night that both players have the ability to become great and that he had no interest in trading either.
“It’s very humbling coming from a guy who just has a wealth of basketball knowledge and has seen so much in this league and has an eye for evaluating talent,” Robinson said. “It just encourages me and motivates me, truthfully, to live up to that and surpass it.... The goal is to make those comments a reality.”
Herro said Riley’s comments are “obviously a blessing and it feels good to know that the GM of the team and the president of the team is OK with what I’m doing right now, and the rest of our young guys. I just gotta continue to keep working and continue to get better every single day.”
This story was originally published March 30, 2021 at 5:29 PM.
