While Heat coach Erik Spoelstra long ago proved his worth as one of the NBA's best, he's still facing the kind of puzzles even he might struggle to solve.
Like, say, deciding which of their young building blocks—Nikola Jovic or Kel'el Ware—would fit best into their fifth and final starting spot. It's a call he still hasn't made, even with the opening of the 2025-26 campaign now upon us.
Assuming Spo doesn't go super-sized and starts both, he'll have to choose between Jovic, the face-up forward, and Ware, the shot-blocking, floor-spacing center. While this decision can (and almost certainly will) change over the course of the season, I don't envy anyone forced to make it at any point. There are clear, compelling cases for both.
Miami might need Nikola Jovic's playmaking and perimeter shooting to make the new offense work.
If the Heat are fully committed to pushing the pace on offense, then Jovic should the pick.
His grab-and-go rebounding can get this offense humming before the opposing defense has a chance to get set. His ball-handling and penchant for passing are also potentially sneaky solutions to some of this club's most pressing problems. His perimeter touch (career 37 percent from distance) could be absolutely vital to a team that parted with sharpshooter Duncan Robinson this offseason and then saw its top three-point threat, Tyler Herro, undergo surgery on his left foot and ankle in September.
You could argue Jovic's development will be the single biggest swing factor of this season and keep a straight face while doing it.
That doesn't mean, however, Jovic is the obvious choice here. Ware might be the most important building block in Miami's young core, and maybe this defense doesn't hold up without his paint protection and rebounding.
If the Heat want to win with defense, Kel'el Ware needs the spot.
For all of the talk about Miami's new offensive approach, this group will almost certainly butter its bread on the defensive end.
That's where Bam Adebayo, Andrew Wiggins, and Davion Mitchell—presumably 60 percent of Miami's season-opening starting five—all do their best work. And it's where this franchise has typically enjoyed its most success under Spo.
Defense-first teams without a knockout-powered scoring punch don't have the widest margin for error. They have to be razor-sharp on every defensive possession, and they have to close out the stops they're able to get.
That's the kind of thing that could make Ware a first-five necessity, since his rebounding prowess is one of the more unique skills on the roster. Throw in the offensive havoc he can wreak as both a floor-spacer and an above-the-rim finisher, and suddenly he seems like the clear choice.
Unless Spo wants stability with his starting lineup, this may ultimately be matchup-based.
In terms of opening night, this is a fork-in-the-road decision that will force Spoelstra to choose a direction.
It is, however, just one of 82 decisions he'll have to make.
Some Heat fans might be most comfortable with continuity in the opening group, but this might be a situation the team goes back and forth on throughout the season. And against certain teams—like, say, the jumbo-sized Dallas Mavericks—maybe Spo even trots out Jovic and Ware with Adebayo at times.
Really, this all highlights two things: the lack of a perfect solution, but also the presence of multiple compelling options. This could be a headache, but it's probably a good one to have. If nothing else, you'd rather have to choose between two young, talented, ascending players than have none from which to choose.