Familiar players but new questions

MIAMI — The goal, of course, is to pick up where the Miami Heat left off after last season’s 30-11 finish over the second half of the schedule.

But even with the bulk of the roster intact, this is not the same team. And this is not the same NBA or Eastern Conference.

Monday at AmericanAirlines Arena, the Heat will reconvene for their annual media day before moving up to Boca Raton for training camp at Florida Atlantic University.

And there will be questions, even with 11 players returning from last season’s roster, because there always are.

To that end, a look at 10 of those questions, as Heat coach Erik Spoelstra prepares to start it up again. 1. Have the Heat improved? Well, to look at it another way, they certainly haven’t regressed, considering the only players lost from the season-ending roster were Josh McRoberts, Luke Babbitt and Willie Reed.

As for the prime additions, it comes down to Kelly Olynyk and the Heat’s belief he is a $50 million player, as well as the lottery pick spent on Bam Adebayo.

More than anything, it comes down to growth from within and last season’s mantra of “1 percent better” in every game, practice, workout.

Simply put, the Heat will be better if Hassan Whiteside, Goran Dragic, Dion Waiters, James Johnson and the other returning core components are better. 2. Has the returning core maxed out? Based on the $60 million contract for

Johnson, the $52 million contract for Waiters, as well as the money committed to keep Tyler Johnson and even Wayne Ellington, Pat Riley apparently believes otherwise.

The NBA is replete with stories of players producing in contract years and then returning to the anonymity from which they emerged.

This all is a great unknown with this roster, which has yet to show that it is capable of producing more than 41 games of sustained success.

3. How does Justise Winslow fit in?

The focus on Winslow at times has infuriated the coaching and front-office staffs. Yet it was shortly after Winslow was lost last season that the Heat began their 30-11 second-half turnaround, with the Heat 4-14 with Winslow in the lineup last season.

The Heat appeared to create a niche for Winslow as a ball-handling power forward at the end of the 2015-16 season. Now that role seemingly belongs to James Johnson.

The ultimate best use might be as the Swiss Army knife that Spoelstra references, perhaps never to be truly defined.

4. Who starts at power forward?

Considering much of the Heat’s success over the second half of last season came with Babbitt as the starter, an argument could be made for Olynyk and his outside shooting.

But the way the Heat went all-in with James Johnson in free agency, the commitment seemingly would equate to a starting role, unless, of course, the coaching staff views the second-unit chemistry with Tyler Johnson as too valuable to sacrifice.

5. Who starts at small forward?

This was another case of the Heat achieving success over the second half of last season with an unlikely starter, in this case Rodney McGruder.

The question now is whether the Heat revert to Winslow, which seemingly was the plan all along by Riley until last season’s injuries, or whether Josh Richardson’s contract extension translates into a move into the starting unit.

It could come down to separating James Johnson and Winslow and their overlapping skill sets, with one starting, the other coming off the bench, then filling in from there.

6. Who gets squeezed out in the backcourt?

For all the questions about whether the Heat have enough at power forward and small forward, there is nothing short of an abundance in the backcourt.

Figure on the 7-Eleven backcourt starting again, which accounts for Dragic and Waiters. And there certainly has been ample investment in Tyler Johnson and Richardson.

So that could reduce Ellington to 3-point specialist and possibly even move McGruder from 2016-17 starter to outside of the 2017-18 primary rotation.

7. Is there any chance for player development?

The fact that the Heat committed to a guaranteed contract with Jordan Mickey shows there still is an eye toward internal growth. There also is the partial guarantee paid to Okaro White.

Beyond that, Derrick Walton Jr. and Matt Williams Jr. figure to remain in the pipeline, possibly both on two-way contracts, with Walton already signed to such a deal.

8. Is patience from Riley and the front office a given? Not sure. While Riley stood by the roster at last season’s trading deadline, a rocky start by a healthy roster could try the patience of the front office. There already have been 41 games of patience (last season’s first 41). Most of the roster becomes trade eligible on Dec. 15. This is a roster very much on the clock.

9. What is the Heat’s upside in the Eastern Conference?

Considerable, considering how three teams that finished ahead of the Heat took steps back in the offseason, with the Bulls trading Jimmy Butler, the Pacers dealing Paul George and the Hawks losing Paul Millsap in free agency.

A playoff spot is there for the taking, after losing out on a tiebreaker to Chicago for last season’s No. 8 seed, unless teams such as the Hornets, 76ers and Pistons vault ahead of the Heat.

10. Could additional moves be coming?

There certainly is ample wiggle room on the camp roster, with White to this point guaranteed only a fraction of his 2017-18 salary and A.J. Hammons considered little more than a throw-in to the McRoberts trade.

The Heat retain their $4.3 million mid-level exception, with the Dwyane Wade situation in Chicago likely to become a soap opera unto itself.

There also remains the matter of whether there is a credible option at point guard in case a spot starter is needed in a Dragic absence.

JIM RASSOL/STAFF FILE Last season when Justise Winslow was in the lineup the Heat were 4-14 — without him, 30-11.

JOSHUA C. CRUEY/STAFF FILE Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra has the core of last year’s team — which missed the playoffs on a tiebreaker — back.