5 things to watch during preseason,
BOCA RATON — The next stage of preparation for the 2017-18 season begins tonight when the Miami Heat play their first preseason game.
After Saturday’s scrimmage at Florida Atlantic, the Heat host the Atlanta Hawks at 6 p.m. at American-Airlines Arena. With the regular season starting in 2½ weeks, Miami will squeeze six preseason games into 13 days.
Although coach Erik Spoelstra has few decisions to make when it comes to the final 15-man roster, plenty of questions remain before the Oct. 18 opener in Orlando. Five things to watch:
1. Goran Dragic’s minutes: Nobody comes into the preseason more ready for the regular season than the 31-year-old point guard.
Dragic joined his national team, Slovenia, for the EuroBasket championships in early August, which continued to the Sept. 17 title game. He played in nine stressful, high-profile games while leading Slovenia to the championship and being named MVP of the tournament.
Spoelstra has limited Dragic’s participation during training camp; expect the same throughout the preseason schedule.
2. Kelly Olynyk’s role: The Heat have invested $50 million over four years in the 7-footer and will continue to explore where he fits in best. Olynyk could have value in different roles. Does he push James Johnson for the starting power forward spot, or does he come off the bench?
The guess is Olynyk assumes JJ’s role from last year and joins Tyler Johnson as the team’s top reserves. As the first big man off the bench, Olynyk can come in at either power forward or center.
3. Who starts at small forward? This is the most intriguing question of the preseason. A year ago, the Heat were comfortable naming Justise Winslow as the starter before the season even began. But Winslow’s second season was marred by injury (he played in just 18 games) and now he has competition for the spot.
Spoelstra could go one of three ways: hand Winslow back his old job; move wing man Josh Richardson to the starting small forward role, which would ease the logjam of shooting guards coming off the bench; or keep Rodney McGruder at the spot in which he came out of nowhere as a rookie last season and started 65 games.
Something to watch: Winslow spent a lot of time at power forward in Saturday’s scrimmage.
4. Bam’s development: The Heat have been high on rookie Bam Adebayo from Day 1, and that has not changed after his play in the Orlando and Las Vegas summer leagues, his workouts at the team’s practice facility and during the early part of training camp.
The center/forward from Kentucky, the 14th pick in the draft, is making an impression with his athleticism and rugged play. The Heat believe they have a star in the making, and the only question is how they bring him along.
Adebayo, whose defense is ahead of his offense, should see plenty of playing time during the preseason. Although his minutes might be limited early during the regular season, the feeling is he will play his way into the rotation at some point.
5. Dion Waiters’ ankle: Every training camp seems to have an injury story line. That turned out to Waiters’ left ankle, which wasn’t an issue at all until he brought it up during media day and then said he opted against having surgery that would have required eight to 10 months’ recovery time.
Waiters rolled the ankle in March and missed the final 13 regular-season games. He said Monday the swelling remained an issue well into September and the ankle still was sore. That meant Spoelstra, Waiters and his teammates answered questions about the injury most of the week.
Everyone insists the ankle has not been an issue during workouts. And Waiters appeared fine during Saturday’s scrimmage, moving without hesitation and looking like his old self taking the ball to the basket.