Miami Heat media day has arrived, and that only means one thing. The start of the 2026-27 NBA basketball season is finally here. And now that the Heat have landed their next superstar and face of the franchise, Giannis Antetokounmpo, there's that much more intrigue and hype heading into the start of the season.
However, before the games start mattering, there are still some rotational issues that the Heat will need to sort out. And that's exactly what training camp and the preseason are all about.
More specifically, there are three training camp battles that will go a long way in dictating the start of the Giannis era for the Heat. Let's dig a bit deeper into each one of those.
The starting two-guard
The overwhelming expectation is that Klay Thompson is going to hold the starting two-guard position for the time being. However, that could change depending on how the battle plays out between Klay, Pelle Larsson, and Tim Hardaway Jr.
Klay may make the most sense because of the way he can space the floor next to Giannis Antetokounmpo, but I wouldn't count out Hardaway Jr. or Larsson at this point. And in many ways, this decision from the coaching staff will go a long way in dictating how the rest of the rotation will look.
The backup point guard
Davion Mitchell has a pretty strong stranglehold on the starting point guard position. However, beyond Mitchell starting, there are many uncertainties behind him. The belief is that Dru Smith, for better or worse, is going to get the majority of the backup minutes. I wouldn't be surprised to see Larsson get some minutes at lead guard, too.
But this is where we could see a Ryan Conwell or even a Dennis Smith Jr. make their mark in training camp. If either of those two players looks impressive right off the bat, it could certainly change the way Miami approaches some of its cut-day moves. It could also change the perception of the Heat's overall backcourt depth.
The second big (aside from Bobby Portis)
The Heat know what they have with Giannis and Bam Adebayo. To a certain extent, the Heat should be comfortable with Bobby Portis as their primary big off the bench too. However, after that, it's a crapshoot. Who knows what the big man rotation is going to look beyond that. And that's one of the big training camp battles to watch.
Who among Nikola Jovic, Nich Richards, or perhaps Simone Fontecchio will emerge as a capable fourth big in the rotation? Each of them may have their own situations to be relied on, but if the Heat are going to preserve the durability of their superstar frontcourt, they're going to need another consistent big they can rely on.
And right now, I'm not sure if they have that. But that's part of why training camp and the preseason could be increasingly important for the Heat.
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