It may have taken the Miami Heat all of one preseason game to unveil their new planned starting five. The biggest revelation: Nikola Jovic is in it. Kel’el Ware is not.
A similarly big revelation: Head coach Erik Spoelstra may be prepared to start both Tyler Herro and Norman Powell, once the former returns from his left ankle surgery.
Jovic received the nod over Ware for Miami’s preseason opener against the Orlando Magic. This doesn’t have to be a permanent call. Exhibition games are a time for experimentation. But moving him into the starting five jibes with the decision to give him a four-year, $62.4 million extension.
It’s not about the money, per se. Jovic’s extension will not kick in until next season. When it does, he’ll never make 10 percent of the salary cap. The Heat can bring him off the bench without worrying about the financial optics.
Starting him next to Adebayo is instead just good-to-great, maybe amazing, offensive business. Jovic promises a floor-spacing element that can’t be matched by any of the other bigs on Miami’s roster. Adebayo merely dabbles in outside volume, and Ware’s three-point touch remains conceptual. Jovic, on the other hand, has drilled 38.3 percent of his triples over the past two seasons, on 6.5 attempts per 36 minutes.
Don’t be surprised if Tyler Herro and Norman Powell start together
The Herro-Powell element of this is more interesting—and, in theory, much less of a given.
Most would take a look at the preseason opener’s starting lineup, and assume a healthy Herro will slot into Powell’s place. Pushing against that stance, in a game Herro did not play, is not our attempt at magicking a random takeaway out of our butts. It is informed by how Miami wants to play on offense.
As mentioned on the Heat’s preseason broadcast, Spoelstra is using a 16-second shot clock in practice. They clearly want to play fast. Combine that with the emphasis on Jovic’s floor-spacing, and the mandate in Miami is clear: This team is all-in on figuring out how to deploy a more dangerous offense.
Make no bones about it, this is the right call. The Heat have ranked in the top 15 of points scored per possession just once over the past four years, and not since 2021-22. Catering to the offensive product, even if it comes at the expense of defense, is long overdue.
Starting both Herro and Powell fits that directive. Alongside Wiggins, Jovic, and Adebayo, Miami wouldn’t quite be five-out, but it’d come pretty darn close, while retaining its ability to play at a more frenetic pace.
What this does to the defense remains to be seen. And there is still time for things to change. For now, though, Coach Spo’s preseason leanings point toward a clear preference: loading up on offensive firepower from the opening tip.