The Miami Heat have good size across the board at most every position. Will the application and usage of their size make it a positive attribute for this team?
The Miami Heat have been mentioning their desire to play positionless basketball over the past few seasons, in accordance with the trends and play of other teams across the league. While that is what it is on the surface, taking a deeper look at the concept also would optimally call for those on the court in this lineup to all be of a similar size, for defensive switching and offensive positioning purposes.
While the Miami Heat won’t definitely be able to offer many lineups, if any at all, where three or more of the players are the same height, they will offer lineups that have plenty of size. If you take a look at the heights of the 14 players that should definitely make the final roster for this team, they are all 6’3 or above. Goran Dragic and Kendrick Nunn are the only two who check-in at 6’3.
When looking at everyone else, you have: Dion Waiters at 6’4, Tyler Herro at 6’5, Justise Winslow and Derrick Jones Jr. at 6’7, James Johnson, Duncan Robinson, Jimmy Butler, and Udonis Haslem at 6’8, KZ Okpala at 6’9, Bam Adebayo at 6’10, Kelly Olynyk at 7’0, and Meyers Leonard at 7’1.
While their size may seem average at first glance, consider the fact that Goran, Nunn, Herro, Butler, Winslow, or Johnson could all act as the main ball handlers. Also consider the fact that Derrick Jones Jr., Justise Winslow, Duncan Robinson, James Johnson, and potentially even KZ Okpala can all play multiple positions, with a few of them being able to play from pretty much any position.
Specifically, a lineup featuring Dragic at point guard, Jimmy Butler at shooting guard, Justise Winslow at small forward, and some combination of Bam Adebayo, Kelly Olynyk, and Meyers Leonard has crossed my mind. Consider further, what if you take Justise Winslow at the one, Jimmy Butler at the two, James Johnson or Derrick Jones Jr. at the three, and some combination of the three big men at the four and five spots, those are two huge yet versatile lineups.
Meyers Leonard and Kelly Olynyk both have range that extends well beyond the three, with Olynyk being a career 36.7 percent shooter from deep and 35.4 percent last season while Leonard is a 38.5 percent shooter from deep across his career who shot 45 percent from behind the three-point stripe last season. Bam Adebayo is stretching his range as well, along with a growing set of ball skills to go with it.
Justise Winslow and James Johson are both solidly put together and have tremendous ball skills, while they are both also capable of guarding at least four different positions and occasionally even five. KZ Okpala and Derrick Jones Jr. are just freaks and physical specimens athletically, although in somewhat different ways, who can exceed in a myriad of scenarios because of their size, length, and athletic gifts.
All in all and across every position, this is a pretty big Miami Heat team. Hopefully, they can figure out how to put it to good use and make it an advantage for the team during this upcoming season.