Center
- Bam Adebayo
- Thomas Bryant
- Orlando Robinson
The minutes behind Adebayo were a pit in the postseason, especially against the Denver Nuggets in the Finals. The Heat last season went through Dewayne Dedmon and Orlando Robinson before settling on Cody Zeller. Zeller’s minutes in the Finals were a disaster, with the Heat giving up leads or sinking into bigger deficits when he was on the court even for 3-5 minutes at a time.
That’s not entirely Zeller’s fault (especially considering it was Nikola Freaking Jokic on the other end) but the Heat need to find a long-term answer at the position.
Robinson is back, this time on the regular roster. The Heat were impressed with the work he put in behind the scenes, signing him to a standard deal even before he made the All-NBA Summer League team.
Bryant is a low-risk, high-reward flyer. Super talented on offense and a gobbler of rebounds, but he needs to get better defensively to stay on the court and earn the backup center job. Consider this another open competition between Robinson and Bryant.
*We’ll have another update on the Heat’s depth chart during or after training camp.