Reasons I Don’t Mind Meyers Leonard Starting For Miami Heat: Maximizes His Effectiveness
The Miami Heat will need all of the help that they can get this season. With the target on their backs of being the NBA reigning Eastern Conference Champions, they will get the other team’s best shot every single night.
With that in mind, you need to get the most out of all of the guys you put on the floor. That goes for Meyers Leonard too.
While he seems to always want to let the game to come to him, as far as when and how aggressive he is to look for his shot and unless he’s been explicitly instructed to do otherwise, he does look a lot better on the floor when playing with other starting guys. That often happens, but especially with Leonard.
Leonard tends to get lost sometimes when he’s not out there with the main guys. It seems counterintuitive, but that’s the way it happens with him.
So, while we aren’t saying that he shouldn’t ever or that he won’t ever get run with the second unit, he’s at his best when playing with the first unit guys. Again, when you are paying him what you are paying him and can get more out of him, why not deploy it that way so that you are able to do that?
I think that’s the smart way to do it. We shall get to test these theories more sooner than later.
The Miami Heat begin a two-game mini-series against the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday, the new-look Milwaukee Bucks. They have Jrue Holiday now but they still have quite a bit of size to contend with and especially when you include Giannis Antetokounmpo in that mix.
Keep a close eye on Meyers and who he’s playing with at the time. You’ll see exactly what we mean.