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pgasia Hurricane Milton put pause on things, but Heat’s ‘intentional’ preseason work set to resume
Hurricane Milton put a pause on the Miami Heat’s preseasonpgasia, but the work will soon resume.
After falling 111-108 to the Charlotte Hornets on Tuesday at Spectrum Center to open its five-game preseason schedule, the Heat returned to Miami and took Wednesday and Thursday off as the storm passed through Florida. The Heat’s second preseason game was originally scheduled for Thursday against the Atlanta Hawks at Kaseya Center before that contest was postponed until next week because of the then-approaching Hurricane Milton.
Read Next Miami Heat Netflix series reveals pain and grief that Heat’s Jimmy Butler endured off court last season October 09, 2024 9:52 AMBut the Heat will return to the practice court Friday in preparation for its next preseason game (the second of Miami’s five exhibitions) on Sunday against the New Orleans Pelicans at Kaseya Center.
“We just want to be intentional with the work that we’re putting in,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said this week when asked about the team’s approach to this year’s preseason. “I do want to accomplish a few things. I want to be able to play some of the main rotation players or at least the anticipated group. But I also want to continue to look at the young guys.”
The Heat accomplished both things in Tuesday’s preseason opener despite missing three potential rotation pieces because of injuries — Tyler Herro (strained right groin), Jaime Jaquez Jr. (strained left groin) and Josh Richardson (rehab from right shoulder surgery). Herro and Jaquez are considered to be locks for the Heat’s rotation when healthy, and Richardson will compete for consistent minutes this season.
Herro and Jaquez are expected back soon from their injuries and have been labeled by the team as day-to-day. Richardson’s rehab continues and there’s no clear timetable on his return.
Even without those three players available, the first preseason game offered a glimpse at what the Heat’s rotation could look like for its Oct. 23 regular-season opener against the Orlando Magic at Kaseya Center.
The Heat began the preseason with a starting lineup of Terry Rozier, Alec Burks, Jimmy Butler, Nikola Jovic and Bam Adebayo that posted an impressive plus/minus of plus-12 in 15:35 together in Charlotte. With Herro also expected to start but out Tuesday because of his injury, Burks appeared to be the placeholder for Herro in the preseason opener.
This has the combination of Rozier, Herro, Butler, Jovic and Adebayo as the favorite to open the regular season as the Heat’s starting lineup.
“He didn’t do anything to not at least have us look at that,” Spoelstra said of Jovic beginning the preseason as the Heat’s starting power forward after closing last season in that role. “His best basketball was at the end of the year and into the playoffs. That was really important for him.”
The five off the Heat’s bench on Tuesday were Duncan Robinson, Haywood Highsmith, Pelle Larsson, Dru Smith and Kevin Love.
Love was the first big used off the Heat’s bench when Adebayo was not in the game, which is noteworthy considering the Heat used its first-round pick this year on 7-footer Kel’el Ware.
Larsson (drafted in the second round this year) and Smith (on a two-way contract) played early minutes on Tuesday, but they could be pushed out of the rotation when Herro, Jaquez and Richardson return.
This could leave the Heat going with a rotation that includes a starting lineup of Rozier, Herro, Butler, Jovic and Adebayo and a bench unit of Robinson, Highsmith, Love, Jaquez and either Burks or Richardson to begin the season if they’re all healthy and available.
The only available players on guaranteed standard contracts who did not enter the preseason opener until the second half were centers Thomas Bryant and Ware.
“It was good to get that game conditioning in,” Spoelstra said after the Heat played its first preseason game. “It always feels a little bit different no matter how many years you’ve played. Our guys have been working extremely hard, but it was good to face somebody else. I thought all three units at various times did some good things.”
For a Heat team that set a new franchise record with 35 different starting lineups used last season amid its crippling injury issues, building some continuity among different combinations is one of the coaching staff’s biggest priorities over the next two weeks before the start of the regular season. That work will come in front of fans during preseason games and also behind closed doors during preseason practices.
With the Heat’s roster currently at the NBA’s 21-player preseason maximum, rosters around the league must be cut to a maximum total of 18 players (15 on standard contracts and three on two-way contracts) by the start of the regular season. Those cuts need to be made by Saturday, Oct. 19 at 5 p.m.
“Go out there and just put a couple five-men lineups together and see what we can do out there,” Rozier said of the Heat’s goal this preseason. “It’s going to be a lot of fun. Obviously, how we ended the season last year, we got some things that we want to get done this year. It starts now.”
ROSTER MOVEOn Thursday night, the Heat announced it waived guard Caleb Daniels from his Exhibit 10 contract to make room to sign center Warren Washington to an Exhibit 10 deal. Both Daniels and Washington are expected to transition to the Heat’s G League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce, this season.
Washington, who went undrafted this year out of Texas Tech, played for the Heat’s summer league team this past offseason. He finished his collegiate career with 1,084 points, 755 rebounds and 150 blocks.
The Heat’s roster remains at the NBA’s 21-player preseason maximum.
This story was originally published October 10pgasia, 2024, 11:25 AM.
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