In a pivot that should've come months ago, it appears that the Miami Heat is finally intent on embracing the youth movement for the rest of the season. In favor of finding more minutes for their young players, Miami is expected to sit out the buyout market.
According to Miami Herald's Anthony Chiang, the Heat "want to make sure its younger players continue to get the opportunity to play meaningful minutes after the All-Star break." That would almost certainly mean the Heat isn't going to pursue any of the veteran buyout options over the next few weeks.
Even though the Heat find themselves in a race for a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, it appears that Miami intends to make that final push with the way their roster currently stands. That means there's probably a high likelihood that some of the more prominent young players could see a bigger role with increased minutes.
And, quite frankly, that's exactly the way it should be for the Heat the rest of the way.
Erik Spoelstra needs to let the young players spin
The priority for Miami should be investing in its young core right now. If that leads them to the postseason, that's great. But, even if it doesn't, the Heat should be willing to live with the results.
That means much more Kel'el Ware, and probably while playing alongside Bam Adebayo. That also means more Kasparas Jakucionis, Pelle Larsson, and Jaime Jaquez Jr. In fact, at this point, Nikola Jovic should be getting consistent minutes, too.
Because if he can break out of his recent slump, that would only equate to great things for the Heat organization as a whole.
But, all of that must start with Erik Spoelstra.
The front office could sit on its hands and decide against taking a flier on a veteran buyout candidate, but, ultimately, Spo controls the rotations.
Unless Spo is on board, this decision from the front office won't mean much in terms of the big picture.
So if there is indeed going to be an effort to force-feed the young players down the stretch, the ultimate proof of that will be revealed in Spo's rotations. Thankfully, there have already been some signs that Spo is slowly heading in that direction.
In the final few games before the NBA All-Star break, Ware did get more minutes playing next to Bam, and Jakucionis' role began to expand. How much of that is because of injury remains to be seen.
I suppose the ultimate test of that will arrive once Norman Powell and Tyler Herro return from nagging injuries. However, it should count for something that it does appear the Heat are making the right pivot. For now.