Davion Mitchell has made one thing blatantly obvious for the Heat this year

5 Things U Can Heat

1. 1. Davion Mitchell is playing pickup ball
2. 2. Stay ready so you don't have to get ready
3. 3. Mitchell's fit long-term
4. 4. Know when to move and know when to speak up 
5. 5. Where is Ware's shot?

It's hard playing full-throttle on a losing team. Every year, there are decent to good defenders who look poor when playing on a team headed to the lottery.

Even in a losing funk, Heat culture doesn't excuse one from giving their all defensively. The losses are snowballing, but that hasn't stopped Davion Mitchell from treating his minutes like Game 7. He's in a contract year, but don't confuse his effort as phony. Mitchell is a dive-on-the-floor ball player no matter the circumstance, and he continues to give it his all even as the Miami Heat are 11 games under .500.

1. Davion Mitchell is playing pickup ball

The Heat's defense was lacking this week. The New York Knicks put on a clinic without their best player, and the Memphis Grizzles scored at least 25 points every quarter. Ironically, Miami's best defensive effort came against the Boston Celtics.

The Heat reverted to their switch-heavy scheme and played Boston close in the first half. The game was knotted at 50 a piece before the reigning champs put out the fire.

Mitchell displayed how pesky a defender he is in the second period. On two occasions, his slight stunts put the Celtics stars in a bind. 

Stunting is when a help defender slightly jumps or digs at a ball handler looking to throw off their timing. Mitchell is elite at this because his quickness allows him to fake dig or get all the way in there. He's quick enough to recover to his man if the ball handler swings it to his matchup. 

Derrick White is looking to take advantage of his speed against Jaime Jaquez Jr. Jaquez battles and makes the shot tough, but Mitchell sticking his nose in his business makes White second-guess himself.

Instead of continuing his spin to the left, White spins back right with his head down, ensuring the ball is secured. Even superstars have to pick the ball up with Mitchell in the vicinity.

Andrew Wiggins was the Jayson Tatum stopper in the 2022 Finals, so he's confident in that matchup. He does a solid job planting his feet with the 210-pound Tatum driving his shoulders into Wiggins' chest. When Tatum least expects it, Mitchell gets involved in another play, and Tatum picks up the ball with two hands like a mother getting her son out of traffic. 

Mitchell made a perennial All-NBA performer uncomfortable, and Mitchell's effort resulted in Tatum taking a tough mid-range over the rangy Wiggins. Small details like this go unnoticed, but it's part of why Mitchell's future with the Heat is a talking point.

2. Stay ready so you don't have to get ready

This was an amazing shot from ESPN during the heartbreaking loss to the Pistons Wednesday night.

Two minutes into the game, Davion Mitchell is the only player on the Heat's bench without his warmup. His bench peers have their nice and cozy warmups on, but Mitchell's 45 is clearly visible, and his face is ready for war.

3. Mitchell's fit long-term

With his attitude and playing style, Mitchell is a clear fit in Miami. He likes it in South Beach, and the feeling appears mutual. But I still have my concerns about him as a longterm starter.

Mitchell is shooting the leather off the Wilson, but teams aren't guarding him. He's 49% on low volume, but teams are just fine with allowing Mitchell to take open shots, which clogs up the spacing for an already struggling offense.

Though Mitchell has been cash from deep, Josh Hart clearly points at Mitchell, and Cam Payne chooses to retreat to box out Kel'el Ware. They aren't respecting Mitchell as a threat from beyond the arc. It takes seasons for improving shooters to garner respect from defenses. 

He's burying shots and threading needles in transition to balance teams leaving him. Transition explosions are a must when your half-court offense needs work. Teammates running with the speedy Mitchell on the break equals spoon-fed buckets.

Inject these into my veins. Mitchell has this spark-plug ability to energize the team with huge steals and momentum-swinging offense. 

Being a full-time starter on a great team is still difficult with his offensive limitations. His passing and transition play are winning traits, but he's not shifting defenses with rim attacks or forcing defenses to respect his deep ball. I want him around for the long haul as the Heat's backup point guard. Mitchell's feisty point-of-attack defense already makes bench unit leaders quiver at the sound of his mighty mouse feet sliding all over the floor. 

4. Know when to move and know when to speak up 

Duncan Robinson isn't half the defender Mitchell is, but look at the stress he puts on the No. 1 defense in the NBA (since Jan. 1st).

Two pistons go with the flying Robinson and leave Tyler Herro wide open at the basket. The Heat missed their opportunity to convert an easy bucket, but these plays are why Robinson has started the past four games. Erik Spoelstra had to make a defense vs. offense decision since the Heat aren't full of impactful two-way players.

Bam Adebayo's two-way game was as good as it gets against Detroit. He measured Jalen Duren and Isaiah Stewart time and time again, handing out majestic footwork buckets. Adebayo and Robinson's dynamic dribble-handoff game squeezes a ton of juice out of this Heat offense. It's one of Miami's best actions.

That being true, Bam was frying the Pistons' bigs and didn't necessarily want Robinson to come near him here. 

Robinson cuts towards the ball, looking for a shot or handoff. Malik Beasley is Detroit's go-to-chase defender and was on Robinson's heel. Beasley chose to take the opportunity to double Bam as he was on a heater. Robinson was open due to the double, but Bam didn't hit him. 

A few minutes later, we see Bam chewing out Robinson for cutting into his space. He seems to be conveying something like, "Let me cook one-on-one. Don't bring the help towards me."

Considering the Heat's struggles, it's encouraging to see Bam using his voice as a leader. In Robinson's defense, Bam drawing two to the ball is a testament to his dominance, and leaving the fastest man to 1,000 3s wide open is a tough compromise. But with one second left on the shot clock, there wasn't enough time to swing it to Robinson. 

Robinson and Bam went on to run more DHO actions to end the game. The bigger takeaway here is Bam leaning into leadership mode. He and 14 are the franchise guys after Jimmy Butler's departure. It's rare to see Bam or Herro cut into teammates. You could look at that sequence as showing up your guys or a player who's passionate about needing to break this losing streak. I'll go with the latter. Sure, the Heat's season has collapsed, but that leadership to speak up is something Bam has to carry into next season. 

5. Where is Ware's shot?

Kel'el Ware wants to carry over his shooting from earlier in the season. When he began getting real minutes in January, he was on a 3-point burner. Now he's in a cold streak. We're seeing bricks from the rookie that dent the backboard. He's down to 31% on 3s for the season.

That's how it can go for a rookie big expanding his range. Ware's jumper is turtle-slow, but the form looks good. How confident is he?

Luckily for Heat fans, other parts of his game continue to round out. Ware is getting off the ball quickly. He's not holding the ball and backing down defenders for 15 seconds, which hinders the offense.

Ware's strength will improve as he ages. It takes a lot of upper-body strength to posterize a stout defender like Stewart. Ware met Stewart and showed him how they do it on Krypton. 

The over-and-over blocks on Cade Cunningham were the plays that make you squint and think that this Heat season does have some worthwhile developments.