Miami Heat: Biggest Preseason Takeaways Before Season Opener
By Will Salinas
The Miami Heat finished their 2021 preseason with an overall record of 5-1. Miami saw themselves running all sorts of lineups throughout these games, as it was more of an experimental run than actual midseason look.
While it was just preseason, there are some things that were worth noting and looking at. Mostly positives came from this, but there were surely some things that didn’t quite sit right.
First, let’s get the negative points out the way and starting with my biggest issue, KZ Okpala.
AUCH Roundtable: To KZ Or Not To KZ Okpala… That’s The Question. light. Read
The KZ Okpala Experiment continued to fail during the summer league and preseason games.
Especially in their fifth game against the Atlanta Hawks, KZ Okpala and in a game where he had the biggest green light with no Jimmy, Bam, Kyle, Tyler, or otherwise, only put up 10 points on 4-13 shooting from the field. That was to go along with seven boards and zero assists.
Nobody expected KZ to deliver a win but to be outscored by Javonte Smart and Micah Potter, who are undrafted players, for me is just not acceptable. I don’t know what the Miami Heat should do with Okpala, but I do not expect him to get rotational minutes.