And what’s one thing you hope head coach Erik Spoelstra does this upcoming year?
Gewirtz: I hope Spoelstra lets the younger players take more of the reigns. They are the future of the team and with the East looking a lot different, I think it’s important to let them get as much experience as they can, while still learning from the veterans we still have for at least a few more years.
Johnson: I really hope Spoelstra plays Adebayo and Whiteside together more often. He said he’d experiment with it, but only played them 52 minutes over seven games together. For reference, the Whiteside-Olynyk duo played 186 minutes over 21 games last season. Bring out the Twin Towers next season.
Leniart: I hope he can find a way to keep Whiteside focused and engaged. In the modern NBA, players in the mood of Whiteside are being played off the court in a sense. The trend towards smaller lineups, makes it difficult for big men to play big minutes in the NBA. This was evident last season as Spoelstra limited Whiteside’s minutes throughout the regular season and playoffs much to the chagrin of Whiteside. There’s a chance that we see something similar this season. If this team is going to have success, they need their max player to stay engaged in every game, even if he is not receiving the minutes he is hoping for.
Rahming: My hope for the team and Spoelstra is that they land on a rotation that works and after that point, don’t tinker with it until they’re sure what it’s capable of. Stop the minutes crunch. That is all.
Nurse: My biggest hope for Spoelstra is that he finally settles on a tight rotation. All of the mixing and matching kills the continuity and chance for players to get into a rhythm. Granted injuries are responsible to a certain extent, but Spoelstra started the shuffling during the last season of the Big Three.
Ebrahim: I really hope Spoelstra continues to effectively drill the right mindset into Whiteside this year. He needs to show Whiteside the downsides of not playing with your team and he can use DeMarcus Cousins as the perfect example. Teams with concerns over his Achilles injury alone would’ve paid more than $5 million to get him, but it’s the other issues that deterred them. Whiteside is not nearly as good as Cousins, and although he doesn’t have the injury, I highly doubt he’d be afforded the same leash that the All-NBA center might have been afforded. If he doesn’t smarten up and heed Spoelstra’s advice, Whiteside could be looking at very few suitors in the free agency market when he eventually hits it.
Ramos: I hope Spoelstra plays a lot of Richardson, Winslow and Adebayo lineups. Unleash the young guns and allow them to grow together.