The Miami Heat are mere days away from their first ornganized contest of the upcoming season. Though it won’t count, a game of the preseason variety, they would be best served to start nailing down some things about their team and who they plan to be.
One of the questions at the tops of the minds of many and one of the first things that’ll need to be experimented with, in hopes of fully figuring it out early (again… hopefully), are the Miami Heat’s rotations and how they’ll look heading into the year.
While the bench unit and reserve players are something that needs to be sorted out, with a plethora of talent and versatility to choose from, the starting unit is also something that needs to be figured out.
While, assuredly, it’ll include Kyle Lowry, Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, and elite marksman, Duncan Robinson, who’s that fifth and final guy?
Miami Heat Rotation: Erik Spoelstra Not Sure, But Who Get’s First Crack?
Fortunately, Erik Spoelstra has an answer for that question. Well, sort of and it comes from Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel.
Spoelstra says he is still evaluating lineups.
— Ira Winderman (@IraHeatBeat) October 1, 2021
While that may be the case, there can always be assumptions garnered from the things that a team, coach, or player may put on display. That’s what this whole thing is about, right?
Perhaps, but either way, that’s the scenario at play here. A scrimmage day for the Miami Heat, you typically get your main unit against the other units on these occasions.
With that and where you see the other four projected starters on the floor, that fifth guy with them can only, logically, be assumed as the fifth guy, right? That is typically the case.
Where “scrimmages” are where you simulate real-game action and sequences, you want to be as consistent and symmetrical with real-game scenarios as possible. It seems elementary because it is, as far as laying out the definition of a scrimmage, but all that goes to say that the following assumption is a pretty logical one.
The guy must be the guy that played alongside those other four guys that are presumed to be the starters during the “scrimmage”, right? Again though, who’s that guy?
Miami Heat Rotation: Who Get’s 1st Shot As 5th Starter… Probably P.J. Tucker
If you believe the tape, then the answer is P.J. Tucker. This tape, that is.
It’s simple footage of the Miami Heat working in scrimmages. While there isn’t anything of real merit to this conversation that happens with the ball, it’s who’s wearing white and who’s wearing the black in this frame that matters.
Scrimmage day at Heat camp. pic.twitter.com/6iQwHiGjvq
— Ira Winderman (@IraHeatBeat) October 1, 2021
Judging things based on this footage from camp, then, again, P.J. Tucker is running with the unit that Duncan, Bam, Kyle Lowry, and Jimmy Butler are running with. That seems like an answer.
Or does it? As Coach Spoelstra is known for wanting to tinker his way through certain scenarios, that may also be the case here.
However, it would make a ton of sense to start Tucker, as he not only adds things defensively, but he helps space and can help Bam a lot from a defensive perspective against bigger guys or stronger power players.
Spo will never just come right out and say it though or not right now, at least , which is classic him. There was also this tidbit and of course, just to confuse and leave a bit of mystery.
Via Winderman, Spo also said that this was the only the “first such action” and that the “tape will provide something to work off”. Those are answers, that really also lead to more questions.
However, if you had to pick a guy right now and the proverbial, leader in the clubhouse for the fifth and final starter’s slot… it would probably be P.J. Tucker based on all that can be gathered thus far.