Morale amongst the Miami Heat fan base may be at an all-time high after the acquisition of Giannis Antetokounmpo, and there is certainly much intrigue heading into the start of this season, but one NBA writer has already given the team one stern warning.
NBA analyst Sam Vecenie says that Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra should be wary of using two-man lineups that include Klay Thompson and Bobby Portis on a consistent basis. Especially if there aren't three other strong defenders playing alongside them.
"Sam Vecenie says the Heat should avoid Klay Thompson-Bobby Portis pairings unless three high-level defenders are around them, though he rates Portis properly as a useful sixth or seventh man who shoots and rebounds."
Erik Spoelstra will have to craft his rotations with intent
On the surface, it does make sense.
Even though there was a point when both Thompson and Portis were considered versatile defenders, there's been a clear drop-off for both players on that end of the floor. While both do have their strengths (and value) offensively, it's pretty obvious that Spoelstra is going to have to be careful when creating his rotations, especially with Thompson and Portis, because of their limitations defensively.
The good news is that the Heat does have an army of players who possess the ability to help cover for defensive weak spots. This is where having the likes of Davion Mitchell, Andrew Wiggins, Giannis, and Bam Adebayo is going to help immensely.
But again, it's going to be impossible for Spoelstra to have a combination of those players on the floor every time. And that's where the coaching staff will have to pick and choose how they want to use their specialists.
Maybe staggering Thompson and Portis is the plan all along, with the former getting more minutes with the starting 5 and Portis on the second unit.
Theoretically, that would make sense as a tactic from Spoelstra. At the same time, knowing the way Spoelstra operates, I can't imagine he's going to do things all that traditionally.
And if everyone is thinking one way, it's been commonplace to just expect the opposite from Spoelstra.
One of Spoelstra's signature philosophies, for better or worse, is that he likes unpredictability and experimenting with the lineup, especially during the first half of the season. That means that it wouldn't be that shocking if Spoelstra went against the grain with Thompson and Portis (no matter what the warning signs may say).
At that point, there's no controlling (or predicting) how Spoelstra may utilize his roster heading into the start of the season.
However, there's no question that Vecenie may be right on this one. It would probably benefit the Heat to be careful with how they deploy Thompson and Portis. Then again, that may not even matter in the eyes of Spoelstra.
It's certainly one thing to watch as this season gets underway.
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