Heat depth creates tough rotation decisions

TheHeat’s roster is filled with players who are realistic rotation options.

This is a good problem to have, but one that will force the Heat’s coaching staff to make some tough decisions in the coming days before Wednesday’s regular-season opener against the Orlando Magic at the Amway Center.

“The thing I like about this team is that we do have depth,” Heat All-Star center Bam Adebayo said following Sunday’s practice. “You got to ask the head coach the decisions about the rotation. He always says he wants his decisions to be challenging when he has to pick who plays. He gets a kick out of that.”

After waiving BJ Johnson and converting Max Strus’ Exhibit 10 deal to a twoway contract on Saturday, the Heat’s 17-man regularseason roster is set. Precious Achiuwa, Adebayo, Avery Bradley, Jimmy Butler, Goran Dragic, Moe Harkless, Udonis Haslem, Tyler Herro, Andre Iguodala, Meyers Leonard, Kendrick Nunn, KZ Okpala, Kelly Olynyk, Duncan Robinson and Chris Silva are the 15 players on standard contracts, and Gabe Vincent and Strus are the two players on two-way contracts.

Vincent’s availability is in question for the opener because he’s in the late stages of his recovery from an offseason scope on his right knee, but the belief Sunday was the other 16 players on the Heat’s roster would be available to play Wednesday. Bradley (hamstring strain) and Nunn (right groin strain), who missed Friday’s preseason finale, practiced Sunday.

While 15 players are allowed to be active for games this season instead of 13, it’s hard to imagine coach Erik Spoelstra playing more than 10 players in most games. The issue is the Heat’s roster features 13 realistic rotation options.

Roster depth is more important than ever during a season that’s beginning amid the still-raging COVID-19 pandemic, with players who test positive having to miss at least two weeks in most circumstances.

But unless there are multiple players out because of injuries or positive tests, the fact is Spoelstra will have tough rotation decisions to make with the way the Heat’s roster is presently constructed.

“We love our depth,” Spoelstra said Sunday. “We think it’s a major strength of ours. We know that we’ll be utilizing our depth over the course of a 72-game season. And if you want to have a great team, you have to be able to check a lot of boxes. We think this roster has the potential to do that.”

The only players who seem to be locks to be in Miami’s rotation to begin the season are Adebayo, Butler, Dragic, Herro and Robinson.

That leaves eight players — Achiuwa, Bradley, Harkless, Iguodala, Leonard, Nunn, Okpala and Olynyk — vying for four or five rotation spots. The emergence of Achiuwa and Okpala in preseason practices and games makes things even more complicated.

“Ultimately, it’s going to be a really tough challenge,” Robinson said of the rotation decisions facing Spoelstra. “That’s his 13, 14 years of head coaching experience. Thankfully, I don’t have to come up with that decision, but I can definitely see how that could be a challenge.”

Answers to these key questions could help decide the Heat’s rotation on opening night and beyond:

Will the free-agent

● acquisition of Bradley push Nunn out of the rotation? With Dragic and Herro as two guards who will be in the Heat’s rotation, there doesn’t seem to be room for both Bradley and Nunn

(two other guards) to get consistent playing time.

Is there only room for one of Leonard or Olynyk in the Heat’s rotation? Both players bring somewhat similar skills to the court, as big men who can space the floor with their outside shooting. Then there’s Achiuwa, the Heat’s firstround pick this year, who is also making a strong case to be part of a power rotation led by Adebayo. There doesn’t seem to be room for Leonard, Olynyk and Achiuwa to all be part of Miami’s big man rotation that’s anchored by Adebayo, who will play 30-plus minutes in most games.

●Who will fill the power forward role in smaller lineups? The loss of forwards Jae Crowder and Derrick Jones Jr. in free agency creates a need for a versatile forward who has the athleticism, foot speed and size to switch onto multiple positions. Harkless, Iguodala and Okpala are the candidates to fill that role, and there’s probably only room for two of the three in the Heat’s rotation. Iguodala’s veteran experience and impressive NBA résumé makes him a likely part of the rotation, and then it could come down to either Harkless or Okpala.

The Heat’s starting lineup is also still unknown, with Adebayo, Butler and Robinson expected to be three players in the starting group. The other two spots (a guard and forward/center) are still up for grabs.

“I haven’t had those meetings with our players yet,” Spoelstra said Sunday of informing players how he’ll use them on opening night. “We’ll come to a decision on who we’re starting against Orlando and make each decision as necessary after that.”

Of course, the Heat’s rotation equation could drastically change with a trade for Houston Rockets superstar guard James Harden, who has asked the Houston Rockets to trade him and has interest in landing with the Heat and reportedly the Brooklyn Nets, Philadelphia 76ers and Milwaukee Bucks.

The Heat has checked in with the Rockets and remains interested in exploring the possibility of trading for Harden. But Houston was not close to a trade with any team as of

Saturday, according to a league source.

Any trade for Harden would probably help eliminate some of the Heat’s rotation questions, with Miami likely having to trade four or five of its players to make the salary-cap math work in a deal. The Heat would then have to fill any roster vacancies with minimum contracts, a $3.6 million bi-annual exception or another trade.

ESPN Houston radio host John Granato reported Sunday that the Toronto Raptors and Boston Celtics are “the favorites right now for James Harden. It’d be a package for Pascal Siakam and more or Jaylen Brown and more.”

How far the Heat will be willing to go in an effort to trade for Harden remains to be seen, as does Miami’s opening night rotation.

“Ultimately, you want to have depth to be able to take on any kind of challenge that you may face during the playoffs,” Spoelstra said. “We feel that we’ve improved our depth. We have a lot of capable talented guys at each position and we think that is a major strength.”