Crucial Heat decision may have just been taken out of Erik Spoelstra's hands

With the way things are trending, Nikola Jovic is likely going to start alongside Bam Adebayo for the Miami Heat in the season-opener against the Orlando Magic. A decision that, for the most part, may have been taken out of Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra's hands, thanks to an injury to Kel'el Ware.

Spo still hadn't committed to a starting 5 as of practice a little more than 24 hours ahead of their season-opener against the Magic. However, after Ware suffered an ankle sprain toward the end of Tuesday's practice, all signs do now seem to point to Jovic getting the starting nod.

Officially, Ware is listed as questionable.

Ware could still play in the opener, but, especially at this point, I do believe that it's far more likely that the Heat will take the safe route with their highly-touted center. Unless, of course, the "ankle sprain" was more of an overstatement, the Heat does tend to tread on the safer side.

The Heat will likely play it safe

That makes me believe that even if Ware is going to try to give it a go in the opener, he'll more than likley play a much smaller role than initially thought. That means he will probably come off the bench. That way, the Heat could monitor his minutes and time on the floor even further.

Whether that changes much for the Heat, or at all, remains to be seen. Spo still hadn't publicly committed to a starting 5, and Jovic may have been his decision at the 4 in the end. But there's no question the injury to Ware just took that decision out of his hands.

At this point, knowing everything we know about how the Heat (and Spo) operates, it would be surprising if the starting 5 didn't include Jovic.

There's an argument to be made that the true surprise could come at the point guard position. Even though Davion Mitchell should get the nod, especially with how underwhelming his competition looked during the preseason, nothing is ever completely off the table for Spo.

That said, Mitchell, Norman Powell, Andrew Wiggins, Jovic, and Bam should be the penciled-in starting 5 for the Heat at the moment.

If nothing else, this last-minute injury to Ware likely just cemented that.