Finals offer Heat a lesson in depth
Smart signings, drafting help maximize rosters
MIAMI — The box score wasn’t necessarily truth in advertising, but it was good place to start when it came to defining these Golden State Warriors and perhaps where these NBA Finals are headed.
While the eye might have jumped to the top right, where the “44” in the scoring column said all that needed to be said about LeBron James’ opening act, down toward the left were the numbers that spoke volumes of what his Cleveland Cavaliers are facing in this best-of-seven series.
Eight Warriors played at least 12 minutes. Ten played at least eight. All 10 scored. Yes, the extra period in Golden State’s 108-100 overtime victory slightly skewed some of those numbers, but even before the additional five minutes, the Warriors’ reserves were grinding down James’ not-so-supporting cast.
“I do believe in our depth,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “We play a lot of people and we feel like over the course of a game and maybe in overtime we can keep fighting and good things will happen.”
Depth in the salary-cap NBA is a luxury often sacrificed in the name of star power. As it is on the Cavaliers’ roster. As it was, and could be again on the Miami Heat’s roster. As it was when the Los Angeles Clippers came up short halfway through the postseason.
Ultimate Golden State success in this series still will be defined by Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson.
But there also is more there than mere splash.
There is Andre Iguodala at a reasonable $12 million on a contract that actually declines in annual salary going forward, Shaun Livingston at a manageable $5.3 million, Mo Speights at $3.7 million, Leandro Barbosa at the minimum, and, at least for now, Harrison Barnes, Draymond Green and Festus Ezeli on the rookie-scale gift that keeps on giving, and something that shows the value of keeping and developing prudently evaluated draft picks.
This summer, Green will go to the market. Barnes and Ezeli likely will follow the year after. It won’t always be this simple, slotting everything into what became a hard cap this season for the Warriors.
But the lesson is there, that being proactive early with Curry’s contract and finding the right pieces can make all the difference.
“I think that was a pretty significant factor, obviously,” Cavaliers coach David Blatt said of Golden State’s depth impacting Game 1. “In terms of numbers and in terms of the lift that they got.”
The Warriors have swarmed the opposition all season, next-man-up a far easier catchphrase when there are so many next men up that you don’t even have to summon David Lee, who stands as the Warriors’ highest-paid player.
This is where the Heat struggled at times during James’ tenure in South Florida, when there weren’t enough quality next men up, at least not as many who could contribute and prove trustworthy.
By the end of this past season, the Heat’s depth again was illusory, with all due respect to what James Ennis, Shabazz Napier or Tyler Johnson might one day become.
Of course, without the absence of Chris Bosh and the injury to Josh McRoberts there would have been a better hand for Erik Spoelstra to play. But there also was the personnel misplay with Danny Granger, the starting-lineup reliance on Norris Cole, the type of dependence on older players that now has the Cavaliers looking down the bench at Mike Miller, Shawn Marion, Brendan Haywood, Kendrick Perkins and then seemingly looking straight on past, none seeing action in Game 1.
Perhaps if the Atlanta Hawks had remained whole, if Thabo Sefolosha, DeMarre Carroll and Kyle Korver had remain ambulatory, that depth would have worn on the Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference finals. We’ll never know. But we do know that such depth at least got the Hawks to the league’s final four
With the Heat still stargazing, still envisioning a lineup that could have Hassan Whiteside, Bosh, Goran Dragic, Dwyane Wade and someone special from 2016 free agency, constructing necessary depth could be an ultimate challenge for Pat Riley.
The Warriors have shown how smart signings and deft drafting can change the equation. There is no doubt that when it comes to these Finals, they have something in reserve. It is a lesson staring the Cavaliers in the eye, a lesson the Heat and other would-be contenders would be wise to heed.