Can Patty Mills not play?
Patty Mills is playing now because he has to, but he was out of the Hawks rotation for a reason before he agreed to a buyout and signed with the Heat. He’s a nice option to have behind glass in case of an emergency, but the sooner he’s out of the rotation again the better because it means the Heat are healthy.
How much have these last few weeks helped Thomas Bryant?
It was a rough start to the season for Bryant, who lost the backup center job to Kevin Love and at one point was surpassed on the depth chart by Orlando Robinson. But Love’s injury and Robinson’s underwhelming impact pushed Bryant back into the mix. He’s played better, averaging 8.7 points on 57% shooting and 5 rebounds in seven games before Tuesday’s loss to Golden State. He likely won’t be a standard in the rotation when Adebayo and Love are healthy, but he’s playable in the right matchups.
Has Orlando Robinson shown enough to stick around next season?
Orlando Robinson entered the season in competition for the backup center job behind Adebayo and, though he pulled ahead at different points in the season, seems to have lost it with 10 games to go. That’s OK. Bryant is an NBA veteran and Robinson is only in his second year. He averaged 3.1 points on 50% shooting, 2.6 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 9.3 minutes this season. His contract for next year is non-guaranteed. The on-court production isn’t especially impressive, but if Robinson showed enough behind the scenes perhaps he has earned another year in Miami’s development system.