MIAMI — For the sport of the moment it is all about the depth chart, NFL and NCAA teams delineating a definitive hierarchy. In the NBA, such depth charts are merely guesstimates, available nowhere other than, say, a personnel board in the general manager’s office. If even there.
For the Miami Heat, just shy of a month from training camp , the notion of a depth chart is nebulous, at best, at the moment. Backup center? At least an outline. Backup power forward? Only a smallball option.
Backup small forward? Sure, unless that same player is the backup shooting guard. Backup shooting guard? The options seemingly are only 30-somethings or the unproven. Backup point guard? Is there one? Of course, in a league where only five play at a time, depth also can be overrated.
Consider what the Boston Celtics fielded during their dominant run to last season’s NBA championship. For starters, there was the elite quintet of Jayson Tatum (pre-Olympic version), Jaylen Brown, Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis and Derrick White — each with an All-Star case last season and each likely with one again this season. But then also consider a bench, with all due respect, of Al Horford, Payton Pritchard, Sam Hauser, Xavier Tillman and Luke Kornet.
Yes, a bench and a depth chart can matter. But a starting lineup matters more. Still, based on the lack of a player viewed on the superstar spectrum, depth will have to matter for what Erik Spoelstra fields this season.
Which means the Heat depth chart will matter. Which raises as many questions as it answers. Center Starter: Bam Adebayo.
And then what?: Likely, in order, Kevin Love, Kel’el Ware and Thomas Bryant. Love did not re-sign this offseason to return in some sort of Udonis Haslem-like emeritus role. Among the reasons he requested his buyout from the Cleveland Cavaliers in February 2023 was to remain an active NBA presence.
Ware certainly showed NBA-level chops during summer league, but the Heat’s way under Spoelstra has been to earn one’s way into the rotation. The No. 15 pick out of Indiana will play this season, but it likely could be a ride that starts outside of the primary rotation.
Bryant is back as much because of salary machinations as a definitive need this deep in the rotation. He saved the Heat some luxury-tax space by opting out and re-signing. Still, on nights Adebayo can’t go, Bryant could serve as an emergency starter, with Spoelstra preferring not to alter his rotation in response to the absence of a starter.
Power forward Starter: Nikola Jovic. And then what?: But also put Jovic down in pencil rather than pen, simply because his skill set meshed best with those the Heat otherwise had to start last postseason amid injuries. From there, unless Spolestra goes with Adebayo-Ware or Adebayo-Love combinations, big-big pairings he has been reluctant to utilize in recent years, it would seem that Haywood Highsmith, all 6 feet 5 of him, would be the only remaining backup option outside of two-way player Keshad Johnson, who is listed by the Heat at 6-6.
Small forward Starter: Jimmy Butler. And then what?: This starting slot goes in pen, in indelible marker. Correspondingly, Jaime Jaquez Jr.
would line up as the logical backup here, with a similar offensive profile, one that arguably works best in place of Butler rather than alongside. From there, there are the options of Duncan Robinson and Alec Burks further down the depth chart. While Robinson often has positionally been listed at shooting guard, it’s not as if his defensive skill set works best against smaller, faster, quicker.
Shooting guard Starter: Tyler Herro. And then what?: For all the talk of previous sixth-man success, Herro has done nothing to warrant a shift to the bench. This Heat roster only works if the Heat finally can find a way to make Herro-Butler-Adebayo work.
From there, the Heat basically are looking at a pair of 30-somethings for support at shooting guard, be it 33-year-old Burks or soon-to-be 31-year-old Josh Richardson. Yes, there is veteran depth at the position. But quality depth? Perhaps this is where Josh Christopher makes a follow-up statement to his summer-league success.
Eventually, second-round pick Pelle Larsson potentially could work his way into this mix. Or Jaquez could play as the backup two. Point guard Starter: Terry Rozier.
And then what?: As with Herro, speculation of Rozier to the bench remains just that. You don’t give up a future, potentially unprotected first-round pick for a player you then would utilize in reserve. The issue is the lack of depth at the position, let alone a true point guard, with, at the moment, neophytes Dru Smith, Isaiah Stevens and Zyon Pullin the remaining backup options.
If this were the NFL, with its evolving depth charts, a case could be made for the Heat eventually seeing what becomes available following the Oct. 21 NBA cut-down day. But this is the NBA, where the Heat are locked into 14 guarantee contracts, without the luxury-tax wherewithal at the moment to add a 15th.
Yes, there is depth. But quality depth? SWING VOTE: In his recent interview with Forbes , Heat guard Tyler Herro said one goal is paramount this season, “As for adding to my strengths,” he said, “I really want to sharpen up my efficiency to maximize my abilities as a scorer.” It is an approach that could prove to be a double-edged sword.
On one hand, a more complete game, including better finishing at the rim would make Herro even more of an offensive threat. But on the other hand, with mid-range scorers such as Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo already in the starting lineup, more catch-and-shoot play arguably would better suit the team. Herro, seemingly grudgingly, did take a small step in that direction last season.
Next it will be telling to see where he intends to “maximize.” FITTING TRIBUTE: Ahead of Goran Dragic ‘s retirement game this weekend in Slovenia, Basketball Federation of Slovenia, KZS, officially retired No. 3 from the country’s senior national team.
“Words and actions are not enough to express gratitude and respect for such a great player as Goran Dragic,” KZS President Matej Erjavec said, according to EuroHoops , of the former Heat guard. “His extraordinary career, his approach to wearing the jersey of the Slovenian national team, and his success on the court speak for themselves. Goran Dragic deserves to be honored for everything he has done for Slovenian basketball.
Retiring the jersey number three is a gesture for the Basketball Federation of Slovenia to show our deep respect for him.” By contrast, Dragic’s Heat No. 7 remains in play, worn following his departure first by Kyle Lowry and now by 2024 first-round pick Kel’el Ware .
Dragic, 38, lifted Slovenia to the 2017 EuroBasket championship while a member of the Heat. OUTSIDE CHANCE: While it assuredly is the road less traveled to NBA success, G League tryouts, such as the one announced this past week by the Heat, have had their success stories over the years. Among those who have made the NBA from such opportunities have been Jonathon Simmons, Alfonzo McKinnie and Juan Toscano-Anderson .
The Heat’s Miami tryouts for the Sioux Falls Skyforce will be Sept. 29 at Kaseya Center, the day before the Heat’s annual media day ahead of training camp. The tryouts will be from 9 a.
m. to 4 p.m.
that Sunday, with a 9 a.m. check in.
The registration deadline is Sept. 28. Per the Heat, “Applicants for this year’s local tryout must be eligible to play in the NBA G League and are required to pre-register by submitting the registration, release, and health information authorization forms along with a $200 nonrefundable fee.
” Details are available at sfskyforce.com/3yI5Ctc. 76ERS, TOO: As the Heat have done three times prior and will again this year in October at the Baha Mar resort, the Philadelphia 76ers will be holding their training camp in the Bahamas, utilizing the facilities at the Atlantis Resort.
Getting away for training camp has become a staple for the 76ers under coach Nick Nurse , who previously took his team for camp to Charleston, S.C., in 2022 and Fort Collins, Colorado, last year.
The Heat have held camps in the Bahamas in 2013, ’16 and ’22, the first two times at Atlantis and more recently at Baha Mar. The Heat have yet to formally announce their camp plans. 3rd.
ESPN’s preseason prediction for Heat center Bam Adebayo ‘s placement for 2024-25 NBA Defensive Player of the Year, behind projected winner Victor Wembanyama of the Spurs and Rudy Gobert of the Timberwolves. Adebayo placed third last year, with Gobert the winner and Wembanyama the runner-up..
