Preseason focus likely to be on developing younger players
Erik Spoelstra may make Monday’s preseason game against New Orleans about the Heat’s young players, and that could mean more playing time for Chris Silva.
A plan has already been formulated for Monday’s preseason opener at American Airlines Arena, but Miami Heat coach
Erik Spoelstra just wasn’t ready to reveal it following Saturday’s practice.
“I have decided who are the guys that are not going to play, but you guys will find out [Sunday],” Spoelstra said during a Zoom interview with reporters.
“We have 20 guys available, so I’m not going to play all of them.”
Some clarity on who will and who won’t be available for the Heat in Monday’s preseason opener against the New Orleans Pelicans will come in Sunday’s 5:30 p.m. injury report that’s required by the NBA.
But Spoelstra did hint that he could lean on Miami’s younger players a little more than usual Monday, rather than have veterans like Jimmy Butler and Goran Dragic play extended minutes.
“I like what I’ve seen so far in training camp. We’re doing a little bit more each day,” Spoelstra said. “The guys that have been in our system are getting in much better rhythm and getting their legs under them and the conditioning to where they need to. And the other guys are getting acclimated and learning our system, learning how we do things. We’ve had some
really good practices, really competitive the last couple days. So I want to be able to probably not only reward some of the younger guys, but since we won’t have an extended preseason, do a little bit of an evaluation, as well.”
One of the Heat’s young players who could see extended minutes Monday is 24-year-old big man Chris Silva (6-8, 234), who averaged three points, 2.9 rebounds and 0.5 blocks in 7.9 minutes over 44 regular-season games (zero starts) in a limited role last season as a rookie. He did not play in the postseason because of a groin injury.
“I’ve been watching a lot of film,” Silva said. “Me, Coach Spo, [assistant coaches Chris Quinn and Malik Allen], we’ve been watching film, a lot of film on what is my role. I knew what my role was last year. But I didn’t always play it well, because it was my first year in the league. This year, out there, I know more than I knew last year. I got a little bit more experience. It’s more mentally, knowing the plays, like playing with pace, playing smarter, making reads on offense, making reads on defense, just playing with more experience.”
Part of Silva’s improvement in his second NBA season could simply come from fouling less. Of the 362 players who played in at least 30 games last season, Silva posted the highest foul rate (the percentage of a team’s personal fouls that a player has while on the court) at 48 percent and committed 85 fouls in 346 minutes.
“The less fouls I have, the more of an option I am for coaches to put me back in, to actually have a choice to use me in different moments,” Silva said. “Of course, the foul trouble thing has been a big emphasis, from learning and watching film on how to play defense the right way, how to make reads on defense so I don’t get in foul trouble.”
Silva, who went undrafted out of South Carolina in 2019, had his two-way contract replaced with a three-year standard contract in the middle of last season. He’s entering the second season of that deal, with the Heat holding a $1.8 million team option in the third and final season (2021-22) of the contract.
Silva still faces an uphill battle when it comes to playing time, with Bam Adebayo, Meyers Leonard and Kelly Olynyk ahead of him on the Heat’s power rotation depth chart. In addition, Miami used its first-round pick this year on big man Precious Achiuwa.
“Learning different nuances of our system and the league,” Spoelstra said of Silva’s development. “I noticed Chris really developing it, his understanding of those things, in the bubble. He was spending a lot of practice time initially. He was able to drill and compete five-on-five, but then the film sessions analyzing our games and then analyzing a lot of the other games in the bubble. I just think that really fast tracked his learning process.”
THIS AND THAT
Adebayo recently signed the richest contract in franchise history, a fiveyear, $163 million contract extension that could grow to as much as $195 million. The deal begins in the 2021-22 season and runs through the 2025-26 season.
Are Heat teammates already asking Adebayo to treat them to meals and other things?
“I ain’t really got that yet,” Adebayo said with a smile Saturday, as he’ll earn $5.1 million this season in the final year of his rookie deal. “I feel like they know money is not going to change me. And, also, we still have Jimmy Butler. I don’t got my money yet, so we can always depend on Jimmy at the end of the day. That’s how I think about it.”
What has it been like to play against Achiuwa in practice?
“Playing against Precious, he definitely puts pressure on the rim,” Adebayo said. “He’s one of those guys that wants to learn, he wants to soak in all the knowledge and he wants to further his game. I can respect a guy like that and he can respect me. Playing against him, he definitely puts pressure on the rim, super athletic, and he’s not scared to jump. He’s trying to go block everything and he wants to help this team.
“And when we’re on the same team, it’s kind of like you get two guys that put pressure on the rim, offensive rebound. We’re all around and active around the basket, and we play hard for each other.”
Asked about a report from The Athletic’s Shams Charania that the NBA Competition Committee has unanimously recommended to expand the active roster list from dressing 13 players to 15 for games this season, Spoelstra said: “It just makes so much more sense on many different levels. Obviously, we have a lot more space so I don’t think that’s an issue anymore. Any time you have everybody available, it just gives you more opportunities to look at different things or have guys just simply available for different circumstances that you might not be able to always predict.”
The Board of Governors are scheduled to meet on Thursday to approve the change.