Teammates already welcoming Oladipo
Considering the Miami Heat have gone through 22 starting lineups in their 49 games, the notion of locking into a set rotation during these pandemic times remains an abstract. But after the team’s revisions at the NBA trading deadline, there is a sense of something closer to stability.
That stability should firm up even more in Saturday night’s game against the Cleveland Cavaliers at AmericanAirlines Arena, with Goran Dragic expected back after sitting out Thursday night’s victory over the Golden State Warriors to rest his previously ailing back.
Since the Feb. 25 deadline, and the deal made a week in advance of the deadline, the Heat apparently have locked Trevor Ariza in as their starting power forward, made Nemanja Bjelica their primary backup big man, and then, on Thursday, established Victor Oladipo as a starter in his Heat debut.
For now, it appears the starting unit of choice will be Bam Adebayo, Jimmy Butler, Duncan Robinson, Ariza and Oladipo.
To this stage, only one of the team’s 22 lineups has started more than five games, the one that went 9-7 with Butler, Adebayo, Robinson, Kendrick Nunn and sincetraded Kelly Olynyk.
Now Nunn could be the odd man out in the games Heat coach Erik Spoelstra doesn’t go 10 deep, with Tyler Herro, Andre Iguodala, Dragic and Bjelica seemingly the givens as the first four off the bench, in some order. Nunn was a healthy scratch Thursday night.
Ariza already has made a strong impression with his defense in his first eight appearances, the last five as a starter.
“Trevor gives us another defender, obviously, and a 3-point shooter,” Adebayo said. “But the thing I like about Trevor is he’s 17 years in and he’s still willing to
buy into a system, and he gives to the team. He’s selfless.”
Ariza, with the second of his two 3-pointers Thursday night, tied former Heat guard Tim Hardaway for 34th on the NBA’s all-time list.
Bjelica, in his three appearances, also is winning over his new teammates.
“I want him to hunt shots, just like all our shooters do,” Butler said of Bjelica, a former teammate with the Minnesota Timberwolves. “That’s what he’s here for. And the more that he plays, the more that he gets his feet under him, he’s going to be a huge addition, as well. I just want him to understand that his role is to catch the ball and jack it at the rim as many times as you can.”
With 23 games remaining in the pandemic-shortened 72-game season, it increasingly appears as if first-round pick Precious Achiuwa will be an odd man out, even as Spoelstra warns against counting anyone out. Achiuwa was benched for the second half of Wednesday night’s victory in Indiana and then did not play Thursday.
“I think if you look at this leaguewide,” Spoelstra said, “this is what the rookie class looks like, without a training camp and without summer league, and the whole player development programs that they typically get.
“He’s a contributing player right now for us, in the rotation. Depending on matchups and how the game is going, it might be bigger some games than it is in other games. I wouldn’t read too much into it.”
Short list
Dragic has been removed from the Heat injury report. The only Heat listings on the NBA injury report for Saturday vs. the Cavaliers are KZ Okpala (protocols) as out and Gabe Vincent (knee) as probable. For Cleveland, Larry Nance (illness), Jarrett Allen (concussion) and Dylan Windler (knee) are out.