If Saturday night’s game was the first of the post-Jimmy Butler era, it’s not off to a good start.
Following his trade request, Butler was suspended by the team for seven games for conduct detrimental to the team. The first game of his suspension was served Saturday night, but he’s probably not going to play for the Heat again as they try to find a trade.
“It’s disappointing when you see the organization and a player going head-to-head like that,” Bam Adebayo said after Saturday morning’s shootaround. “But the rest of us got to figure out how to win games.”
Rather than send a message that they can win games without Butler, the Heat lost to the Jazz, 136-100. The Jazz, who entered with a 7-25 record, are one of the worst teams in the league. This qualifies as Miami’s worst loss of the season.
The easy hot take is that this loss proves that the Heat need Butler, and that they botched their handling of the franchise star.
There’s no question that an engaged Butler makes this team better, but that take is too simple and ignores important context.
For one, the Heat were dealing with the physical exhaustion of playing their third game in four nights and the emotional toll of the franchise’s relationship with Butler deteriorating.
Also, coach Erik Spoelstra made a dramatic and questionable change to the starting lineup, opting to open with Terry Rozier, Tyler Herro, Haywood Highsmith, Nikola Jovic and Adebayo.
After starting the first 12 games of the season, Rozier was moved to the bench in favor of Duncan Robinson.
Jovic started the first eight games of the season before being pulled from the starting group. Saturday marked Jovic’s first start since Dec. 21.
It was the sixth starting lineup the Heat have used this season. That group has played just 26 minutes together this season before Saturday night, and outscored opponents at an impressive rate of 27.9 points every 100 possessions in a limited sample size.
That group started well, outscoring the Jazz by five in their opening stint. They were then outscored by five to begin the second half. Overall, they were outscored by five points in their 17 minutes.
It's time for Erik Spoelstra to experiment with Kel'el Ware as a starter next to Bam Adebayo.
Spoelstra isn’t committed to this starting lineup going forward and plans to make adjustments based on matchups.
“We’ll do this by a night-by-night basis right now,” Spoelstra said.
Butler’s absence could also open the door for Spoelstra to experiment in a more extreme way. The Heat have opted mostly to play small with Adebayo at center surrounded by shooting. That’s partly because Butler and Adebayo aren’t viewed as floor spacers, so the other three members of the lineup needed to be shooters. With Butler away, the Heat can afford to start games with another non-spacer on the floor.
That could be rookie center Kel’el Ware. Yes, Ware is a willing 3-point shooter, but he hasn’t earned the respect yet from opponents to be considered a floor spacer. That’s partly why Spoelstra hasn’t leaned into lineups with both Ware and Adebayo on the court together.
Now, because of Butler’s absence and Ware’s development, it might be time for Spoelstra to establish new strengths and lean into a bigger frontcourt.
Pairing Ware with Adebayo would give Miami a different look. A 7-foot shot-blocked paired with Adebayo could be the foundation of a formidable defense. Opponents would have to navigate getting shots over Ware, while Adebayo looms as an elite help defender.
It also could relieve Adebayo of some of his more stressful rim-protecting duties. Adebayo scored four points and missed all six of his field goal attempts in Saturday’s loss to the Jazz. The Heat need to find a way to make his job easier, not harder, with Butler away from the team.
Outside of one end-of-game possession, Adebayo and Ware have not logged a minute together this season. Part of the vision when drafting Ware was to eventually pair him with Adebayo in the front court.
“To be able to block shots, defend the rim, shoot 3s and he’s got a great touch in the post,” said Heat assistant general manager Adam Simon. “I think a lot of his skillset will be great to play with and as well as when Bam’s off the court.”
In a post-Butler world, the Heat need to build around Adebayo. Part of that is pairing him with a true 7-footer so that Adebayo can explore other parts of his game.