Summer reading: A look at the roster
Does Riley stay on a roll, or is it time for Heat to start figuring out roles?
LAS VEGAS — Because Pat Riley already has defied logic by adding a maxsalary free agent with zero salary-cap space, it might be foolish to consider the Miami Heat a finished product.
Certainly not as long as Russell Westbrook remains an option, with the Oklahoma City Thunder point guard seeking an escape hatch from the suddenly rebuilding franchise.
But it also could be the case that this is all there is to be, at least in the moment, following the sign-and-trade agreement that delivered Jimmy Butler from the Philadelphia 76ers.
Which could make this a time for Riley and his front-office and coaching staffs to assess where things stand, if only to get a read on what should — or should not — come next, as well as the proper timing if further change is needed.
From that perspective, a look at the Heat roster, still with more than two months left before the start of training camp and three before the start of the franchise’s 32nd season.
Power rotation: With the excising of Hassan Whiteside to the Portland Trail Blazers, it could be as simple as picking up where coach Erik Spoelstra left off, with Bam Adebayo at center and Kelly Olynyk at power forward.
Such an approach could be further bolstered with the acquisition of Trail Blazers big man Meyers Leonard in the Whiteside trade, giving the Heat a sort of Olynyk 2.0 in Leonard, another 7-foot 3-point shooter to balance the floor with Adebayo.
But that also would further put James Johnson in limbo, after Johnson had previously emerged as the versatile hybrid power forward who had served as a fulcrum for the Heat’s 2016-17 late-season revival.
At this point, Johnson appears to solely be a power forward in the Heat’s thinking, although a full recovery from his May 2018 hernia surgery could potentially lead to a return to time on the wing.
For that matter, does second-round acquisition KZ Okpala eventually emerge ahead of Johnson in a forward-thinking approach if the Heat return to the use of a combo forward?
Unlike with Adebayo and Whiteside, it appears unlikely the Heat will carry a true backup center, which could open the door for such a role for an addition on a two-way contract.
Small forward: Before his trade to the 76ers in the Butler deal, Josh Richardson stood as the clear front-runner for another go-round as the starting small forward.
According to Basketball Reference’s play-by-play breakdown, Richardson spent 55% of his minutes last season as the Heat’s small forward, after spending 78% of his minutes there in 2017-18 and 80% in 2016-17.
With the Heat still wingintensive, the question becomes whether Butler Will there be even more as the season draws near? winds up cast as the facto small forward.
While he has spent 49% of his career minutes at small forward, Butler last season played 80% of his minutes at the position and in 2016-17, when teamed with Dwyane Wade and Rajon Rondo with the Chicago Bulls, he played 93% of his minutes at the position.
Another option at small forward could be the athleticism of Derrick Jones Jr., especially if the improvement continues with the 3-point shot. de
Shooting guard: This could come down to the question of how ready firstround
pick Tyler Herro is after a single season at Kentucky and how soon might be too soon for the 19-year-old first-round draft choice.
Otherwise, the positional designation of Butler will go a long way toward determining whether Dion Waiters will enter camp locked in as the starting shooting guard.
While the Heat have cycled through other options at the position amid Waiters’ injuries, Waiters frequently has bristled at the notion of playing as a reserve.
With the retirement of Wade and last season’s trades of Tyler Johnson and
Wayne Ellington, Waiters enters the season with as wide open a canvas at the position as he has had during his Heat tenure.
Point guard: This will be a fascinating case study, and for more than the possibility of Westbrook being airlifted into this spot through another round of Riley nocap-space-no-problem maneuvering.
Considering what appeared to be a very real bid by the Heat to offload Goran Dragic in an initial version of the Butler signand-trade, the organizational thinking already could be that Justise Winslow remains ahead of Dragic in
The issue for the Heat is that the greatest value with Winslow appears to be when he is playing on the ball.
By contrast, with the Heat eventually to claim Dragic’s cap space with the expiration of his contract following the coming season, will the commitment be there for starter’s minutes?
A counterargument could be made that with the Heat invested to the tune of $32 million this season to Butler, maximizing that investment could mean maximizing the proven value of Dragic in the lineup. the positional hierarchy.