The Miami Heat have a ton of new talent on the team and a bunch of new shiny toys that they surely want to take advantage of. With so many options to choose from at his disposal, Coach Spoelstra will surely tinker with his lineups from time to time.
With many situations sure to arise, the Miami Heat should be sure to take full advantage of the versatility that they have equipped themselves with. On that versatility, it could provide many different options when it comes to which combinations he uses.
The Miami Heat have more or as much size as they have in the last few seasons. To go along with that size though, they also offer certain levels of versatility among their forwards and… true centers, that they just haven’t had in recent years.
When it comes to their guards and wings, they have defenders, flat-out scorers, shooters, and a three-level guy now at the starting point guard in Kyle Lowry. The potential groupings are all so enticing.
There are a few though that stick out more than others when you consider the choices and the given situations. Here are three situational lineup groups to be curious about in the coming season.
Miami Heat: 3 Situational Groups For Coach Spoelstra to Consider – Size
The Miami Heat can offer certain levels of size and shooting that few teams can offer and in fact, in combination in some situations. Here is how that size might look.
Big Lineup
Though Kyle Lowry will be the starting point guard, there may come a situation where the Miami Heat want to size up, say against a LeBron James and Russell Westbrook lineup or even a lineup featuring James Harden and Kevin Durant.
Heck, when you consider the size that the Milwaukee Bucks can throw at you with their bigs, in combination with Jrue Holiday, Khris Middleton, and Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Miami Heat need a big lineup.
Here’s how it would go .
PG–Jimmy Butler
SG–Tyler Herro
SF-Duncan Robinson
PF-Bam Adebayo
C-Dewayne Dedmon
Since Jimmy is the pseudo-backup point guard, he would be just fine running this unit. This unit gives the Miami Heat offense from everyone, go-to scoring from Tyler Herro, high-output shooting from Herro and Robinson, rim runners in Bam and Dedmon, and floor-stretching from your big in Dedmon, if you need it.
Jimmy, Bam, and The Ded-Man also help to provide a solid enough defensive foundation to keep that lineup floating. That’s even with Duncan and Herro along for the ride on that side.
Miami Heat: 3 Situational Groups For Coach Spoelstra to Consider – Shooting
The Miami Heat have really honed in on their shooting prowess over the last couple of seasons, with a big part of that going to Duncan Robinson and his ability. He will have company this season though, especially if Max Strus has anything to say about it.
The Miami Heat can certainly use two elite-type shooters on the squad though, as you can never have enough of that. Here is how their shooting lineup might look.
3- Point Shooting Lineup
PG– Kyle Lowry
SG– Tyler Herro
SF– Max Strus
PF– Duncan Robinson
C-Bam Adebayo/Dewayne Dedmon
The Miami Heat have quite a few guys who can get going from deep and stay going. Kyle Lowry is a really good deep shooter, shooting 39.6 percent on 7.2 attempts last season, while Tyler Herro can get going too, though streaky.
Duncan Robinson might be the best shooter in the league, save for a guy or three, while Max Strus is steadily proving himself as an elite marksman every single day. The center situation in this lineup could be flexible.
To be frank, Dedmon offers some spacing and shooting ability that Bam just doesn’t have right now, but from an athleticism, clean-up, around the hoop, and all-around defensive perspective, it’s a well known fact that Bam offers something that a lot of people don’t there.
Dedmon is pretty good defensively though and at protecting the rim, something he’s probably better suited to do than Bam because he’s at the rim more on defense, whereas Bam guards everyone and everything. Again, either could play there in this lineup, which again, is more power to the Heat because it adds yet another twist of versatility to the whole thing.
Miami Heat: 3 Situational Groups For Coach Spoelstra to Consider – Defense
Here’s the one you’ve all been waiting on. Come on… admit it?
In any event, here goes nothing. Here’s the Miami Heat defensive lineup, as if they all aren’t though.
Defense Lineup
PG– Kyle Lowry
SG– Jimmy Butler
SF– P.J. Tucker
PF– Bam Adebayo
C– Dewayne Dedmon
The first thing worth addressing here is the Dewayne Dedmon selection in this lineup. Here’s the thing, we all know they didn’t play together a ton last season, but allowing Bam the total freedom to roam by having a guy capable of actually protecting his back and the rim would be massive for him, the defense, and the team as a whole.
Again, Dewayne Dedmon isn’t as ploddy or slow-of-foot as some might think, meaning he can play with Bam a bit and hold his own in this defensive lineup. Again, it affords Bam the opportunity to fully do what he does, with no conscious, while it also gives the Miami Heat a ton of size.
With the three pit bulls along the edges that’ll be playing in front of Bam and Dedmon though, they might not have to worry about much getting to the cup anyways. It needs no explanation.
With three of the, outright, toughest dudes in the league and three of the, downright, peskiest defensive players in the league patrolling the perimeter to the paint for the Miami Heat, it’ll be tough for a lot of teams to get good looks off. That’s why this lineup will always work and always give the Heat a fighting chance.
If not, they’ll literally just fight. Hello Markieff Morris!
In all seriousness, the Miami Heat have a ton of pieces to choose from in this coming season. That and the fact that they should really make some noise sets up for some extreme excitement.
With that in mind though, here were three of the more interesting situation lineups that the Miami Heat might try.