The Miami Heat turned heads when they overhauled their offense last season. Gone were the high ball screens used across the rest of the league, in favor of one-on-one drives and off-ball movement. It was a necessary jolt to an offense that needed it, and the team placed 12th league-wide in offensive rating after three consecutive seasons in the bottom 10, according to Cleaning the Glass.
The acquisition of Giannis Antetokounmpo changes everything, though. Giannis will elevate their scheme with his rim pressure in isolation and transition play, but there will need to be an increased emphasis on spacing principles and weaponizing shooters off the ball.
Summer League is as good a place as any for coaching staffs to experiment, and the Heat have been no different. With a few games complete, it's clear that they're trying out some adjustments within their overall identity. Even though this roster is driven by its guard play, there are still things to learn when viewing certain actions through the context of the real team.
The "LaRoche Offense" is here to stay — with tweaks
The 2024-25 Memphis Grizzlies were the first team to try the offense Miami runs right now, with assistant coach Noah LaRoche widely credited with its creation. After one year of mixed success, LaRoche was let go and brought in as a consultant with Miami, who fully leaned into the scheme.
The most important thing to know about this style of offense is that on-ball screens (the defining action of the modern era) are heavily de-emphasized. Instead, players are expected to generate advantages one-on-one, starting drive-and-kick sequences or drawing help. Off-ball movement is critical too, as players move into newly open spaces once the defense is compromised.
Antetokounmpo is a walking paint touch and understands how to beat a collapsed defense around him. As the primary offensive threat, he should fit right in. But in order to maximize Antetokounmpo, defenders need to be punished for trying to overload on the interior. It's the reason why spacing is the most important skill to put around him.
Miami clearly understands this, so there has been a clear emphasis on off-ball screening actions on the weak side of the court. Shooters will lift from the corner with two screens for catch-and-shoot threes, or one player will curl off a screen on the wing towards the basket only for another to run his man directly into the same pick for a pindown three. Those actions will naturally produce good shots if run with proper personnel, but they just as critically occupy the second line of the defense if the ball-handler drives to the rim.
It's easy to envision Giannis thriving on those open driving lanes, but those are also actions that he can benefit from off the ball. Using Giannis as a screener in those actions occupies his defender, who might otherwise be sagging off of him to help pack the paint. It also opens up rolls to the basket and creates chaos as defenses overcompensate for the threat of him getting open.
Interestingly, the Heat also began sprinkling in a little bit of on-ball screening in their loss to the Magic, but it came with a major caveat. Instead of high ball screens in the middle of the floor, they will occasionally run side pick-and-rolls only when the corner is empty. Perhaps it's a way to utilize the space those actions can provide a two-man game, or maybe it's to catch defenses off-guard. Those are actions Giannis has eaten off of for years. As the Heat's version of LaRoche ball continues to evolve, it's something worth monitoring.
The transition offense is being overhauled
The other big shift in the Heat's offense last year was in their pace of play. In an attempt to generate more high-value shots, Miami shot up to second league-wide in transition frequency. That wasn't just their first time ranking in the top half of the league since 2020-21, nor their highest finish since placing ninth in 2011-12 — it was their highest finish in Cleaning the Glass' entire database (since 2003-04).
Unfortunately, they played like it. The Heat scored 1.25 points per possession in transition, good for 19th overall. The team played like they were more concerned with getting out on the break than with what to do once they got there, and it showed. They ran the break on 34% of opponent misses, the second most in the league, but were 19th in points per possession on those plays.
It was clear that the Heat had some low-hanging fruit to address all season. In Summer League, there's clearly been a concerted effort to do it. Fastbreaks are very structured, with players sprinting down the court to specific areas where their teammates know to look. Spacers obviously fill the corners and wings, but even players as small as Jahmir Young will race to the dunker spot for dump-off passes at the rim. The reads are simple, especially with practice. Having played several games together now, the summer Heat have made it look easy.
As long as players consistently beat the defense down the floor, the Heat know where to get them the ball. It demands high effort and conditioning, but what doesn't in Miami? Principles like this are especially important with Giannis, a one-man transition machine, in town. Maximizing those possessions is going to be critically important for the Heat's success.
Add us as a preferred source on Google