In a season full of big surprises, the Miami Heat might be the biggest surprise of them all. Among a group consisting of Memphis, the Cavaliers, even right down to what seems like the Knicks fooling everyone, to go both ways in fairness, it has been a season of fresh storylines.
On the Miami Heat, however, they not only have a legitimate 10 man rotation but one of the best, if not the very best, supporting units in the league. Coming into the season, many wondered about Miami’s perceived lack of depth, how it could possibly affect them, and if they were to find a way to make a deep playoff run.
Fast forward to the halfway point of the season and Miami not only currently employs the runaway favorite to win the NBA’s Sixth Man Of The Year, Tyler Herro, but also employs a guy that’s potentially having one of the best seasons a player on a two-way contract has ever had, Caleb Martin.
Those are only two components, though big ones, of a well-oiled machine consisting of a ragtag group of castoffs that has been put together by the NBA’s Vito Corleone himself, Pat Riley, and deployed with exquisite strategic precision by the mad-genius, Erik Spoelstra.
Though “group of castoffs” may be pretty strong, there are a lot of guys making major impacts this year for the team that were afterthoughts coming into the season.
Miami Heat: Their Depth Has Certainly Turned Heads This Season
The exploits of the starting lineup have been largely documented and given plenty of recognition (although there was a bit of a wonky start there). However, the shine here is going to the support unit of the Miami Heat.
Before diving into the statistical multiverse of madness, let’s clarify something. If you haven’t noticed, the word “bench” has yet to be mentioned and they have been referred to as the “supporting unit”.
The explanation for this word choice lies in the fact that the Miami Heat have seemingly been missing a key man every single night. Whether it’s Jimmy Butler (19 games missed), Bam Adebayo (25 games missed), or Kyle Lowry (12 games missed) the Heat have had a hard time fielding a healthy squad throughout the majority of the regular season.
Hence, the large roles played by the guys that would typically come off the bench this season. Without further ado, let’s do a bit of a statistical deep dive.
First up is a relatively simple stat: bench scoring. It was stated above that many of the bench guys have had larger roles due to injuries.
But keep in mind that even with all the games missed by the star players, whoever is coming off the bench plays a very important role in the Miami Heat’s crusade to vanquish their opponent every single night.
The Miami Heat currently rank third in the NBA in bench scoring per game, averaging 38.7 points.
That’s a particularly impressive stat given that this team has been forced to play a large cast of characters, from undrafted rookie Omer Yurtseven (who had some solid moments filling in for Bam Adebayo and later Dewayne Dedmon in the starting lineup) to a diminutive point guard by the name of Kyle Guy (also had some very solid moments).
This is without a doubt a most impressive job by the coaching staff, front office, and players in finding ways to succeed even when the deck seems stacked against them.
Miami Heat: Depth Has Not Only Gotten Them Here But Can Propel Them Further
Now, let’s take a look at what makes this Heat supporting unit so good. The positional flexibility of this unit is first up on the list.
The most minutes played by an all-bench lineup for the Heat this season is a Gabe Vincent, Tyler Herro, Max Strus, Caleb Martin, and Dewayne Dedmon lineup.
With this lineup, the Heat are able to deploy an elite three-level scorer (Herro), a movement shooter with the ability to create a shot off the dribble (Strus), a defensive pest and sharpshooter (Vincent), a do-it-all Energizer bunny with pogo sticks for legs (Martin), and a strong rebounder and rim protector that will occasionally set a moving screen (Dedmon).
What’s really peculiar about this lineup is the fact that all of these guys shoot at least 37 percent from deep (Dedmon’s shooting 52 percent from beyond but he only takes half a three-point attempt per game).
According to the stats, this combination of players has had 74 minutes of playing time and has posted a 103.4 offensive rating and a 97.3 defensive rating. Granted, the offense does not pop out at you, but the defense is the clear stand-out here.
Obviously, there’s the caveat that 74 minutes is a pretty small sample size. Yet, the point still stands.
This is the Miami Heat we’re talking about here. And if you haven’t heard, defense is kinda important around those parts.
Even with all those facts laid out, all of the players listed in the lineup above have started 59 games this season and they all have performed admirably. From Gabe Vincent’s outburst against the Clippers to Caleb Martin’s Super-Saiyan game against the Bucks, on national tv nonetheless, the Miami Heat have one of the best problems in the NBA.
They have too many guys that deserve minutes. So far, Coach Spoelstra and his staff have been able to maximize the abilities of this Heat team’s version of Task Force X.
With all of the riches at their disposal, it’ll be fun to see just how far this team can go in their quest to bring championship number four to the 305.