Amid the rhythm of the season, it can be difficult to take stock, particularly with each game creating its own drama, particularly with the games coming in such rapid succession.
But with the NBA at rest for a week, there is time for evaluation beyond the scores and stats of the hour, the ability to change the lens to a wider view than living in the moment.
With the Miami Heat, such pause and such context allows for perspective of a bigger picture than the 30-25 record or No. 7 seed.
Such as . . .
Change is afoot: You can see it and you can sense it, a youth movement refusing to be denied.
For all the talk of an older, veteran roster, the departure of Kyle Lowry in favor of Terry Rozier already has altered the dynamic, as have the games that Jimmy Butler has missed.
Inside the locker room Wednesday night at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, there was Kevin Love and otherwise a bunch of kid stuff.
The transition is real, and promising, not only with the growing maturity of Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro, but with the supporting youth of Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Nikola Jovic, as well as Duncan Robinson and Haywood Highsmith still in their 20s.
And that could make it particularly intriguing when Jimmy Butler, weeks ahead of his 35th birthday, comes to the table this summer seeking a two-year extension that would take him to 38.
It’s almost as if the eight-year extension announced for Erik Spoelstra last month was a bridge to coaching the team’s next iteration, as well.
For the Heat, a transition game seemingly already is playing out beyond the court.
With patience also required: But that doesn’t mean the change has to be immediate.
Jovic still is just 20 and still is plenty raw. Yes, he fits in the starting lineup when other playmakers are out, as was the case with the starts this past week in the absence of Butler.
But when the Heat have Butler, Herro and Adebayo on the court, it mitigates much of what Jovic does best with his bust-out dribbles in transition.
The reality is that further tweaking to the roster, or at least the rotation, likely will be required for the Heat to maximize Jovic’s intriguing potential at 6 feet 10.
As for Jaquez, and the recent dropoff in his numbers, context also is needed there, with his best play coming when Herro and then Butler were sidelined.
Even if the role is reduced the rest of the way, it still is more than anyone could have expected from No. 18 in last June’s draft.
As with Jovic, it is the next iteration of the Heat roster that could unlock something closer to the complete Jaquez that was on display the season’s first two months.
Most Malleable Player: No, not necessarily most valuable Heat player to this stage, but what Herro has done this season deserves credit amid the team’s culture of sacrifice.
Because of the predominance of mid-range attempts from Adebayo, Butler, and now even Rozier, Spoelstra had to turn to someone else to take his game elsewhere. So now it’s 3-pointers, rim attempts, or bust from Herro.
Then, with Lowry first off his game and then off his roster, an alternative at point guard was needed. Enter Herro.
As for those games – actually several games – missed by Butler, a closer was needed. Again, Herro time.
The trade rumors could have crushed. Instead, Herro has crushed it with a selflessness all too often overlooked.
Study in resilience: Based on all those dispatches from Rumorville, Robinson was supposed to be part of any team but the Heat at this point, at times more salary-cap ledger entry than South Florida staple.
Yet for all the consternation from some quarters, Robinson’s five-year, $90 million contract has bordered on value added, with the Heat 10-0 this season when he scores 20 or more.
Spacing has never mattered more in the NBA. Arguably, neither has Robinson to the Heat.
By standing by Robinson, the Heat largely have been able to offset the free-agency loss of Max Strus.
The next move . . . : . . . might not be any move at all, or even needed.
The forthcoming signing of Delon Wright off the buyout market should take care of that, giving the Heat an in-the-moment fill-in for sidelined Rozier and Richardson, and then a defensive backcourt component at closing time.
Yes, getting bigger also could be better. But the Heat whiffed in the offseason with the free-agency move for Thomas Bryant. There is no need to compound that miscalculation when Spoelstra has Love locked in as his backup center and appears intent on playing small at power forward.
IN THE LANE
THE LONG VIEW: The fact that former Heat forward P.J. Tucker has been fined $75,000 by the NBA for daring to request a trade from the Los Angeles Clippers takes his current contract almost full circle from its origins. Amid their 2022 free-agency negotiations when they wanted to retain Tucker after the team’s run within one game of the NBA Finals, the Heat’s concern was guaranteeing a third season for when Tucker would be 40 by the 2025 playoffs. Eventually, the Heat relented, only to see the defensive-minded undersized power forward go to the Philadelphia 76ers for slightly more money. Since then, Philadelphia moved off that third season when they dumped Tucker into the trade of James Harden to the Clippers. Now, Tucker, who has not played since Nov. 27, has been granted a leave of absence by the Clippers, who were unable to deal Tucker at the Feb. 8 NBA trading deadline. The sticking point, as it had been for the Heat, is the $11.5 million player option Tucker holds for next season, one he is not budging from ahead of the March 1 buyout deadline for playoff eligibility elsewhere. “I don’t know where it goes from here. I don’t know,” Tucker told The Athletic. Said Clippers coach Tyronn Lue, “We like PJ here and he’ll get an opportunity.” If there is a Tucker buyout, interest from the Heat would appear within reason. But there won’t be a buyout . . . because of Tucker’s insistence of wanting it all with that third season.
WAITING GAME: Ahead of Wednesday night’s loss to the Heat, Philadelphia coach Nick Nurse offered his perspective on the benefits of adding former Heat point guard Kyle Lowry, who will make his debut with his hometown 76er after the All-Star break. “Nobody competes like that guy,” said Nurse, who coached Lowry to the 2019 NBA championship with the Toronto Raptors. “Like I haven’t had a player my entire coaching career that competes like that guy. So that’s the highest compliment I can give him.” Lowry signed for $2.8 million for the balance of the season. He next will enter free agency in the offseason without Bird Rights, having forfeited those by taking his buyout from the Hornets. Lowry left the Heat after being moved to the bench. Nurse made clear that a similar role awaits. “He gives us another ball handler,” Nurse said, “backup point guard, whatever, second point guard, whatever you want to say with that.”
ANOTHER TALE: Among the benefits of former Heat captain and current team executive Udonis Haslem entering the podcast space has been the filling in of certain blanks in the team’s history. The latest came with former Heat guard Jason Williams during his recent guest appearance revealing how Shaquille O’Neal helped get Williams traded to the Heat from the Memphis Grizzlies in the 2005 offseason. “He came to the crib,” Williams said of O’Neal, then a season into his Heat tenure, visiting his home, “and he asked me do I want to play with Miami?” It didn’t take much convincing. “What do you got to do?” Williams said was his reply. “You could tell Pat Riley that he can cut my left nut off if he gets that deal done. Right? You know what I’m saying?” And just like that (as Williams’ story goes), the Heat had their 2006 championship point guard. “So yeah,” Williams continued, “he got Pat Riley on the phone. We chatted a little bit and the next thing you know the next day it happened.”
SIDE HUSTLE: Although his G League time has been limited on his two-way contract, there is a clear reason why Heat forward Cole Swider is a participant on Sunday’s G League All-Star Game in Indianapolis as an appetizer to the NBA All-Star Game. Not only does Swider rank second in the G League in scoring at 24.6 points per game, but the Sioux Falls Skyforce are 8-1 in the last nine games he has been available. Seven of Swider’s last eight G League appearances have been 20-point games, with the other a 19-point outing. As for the Heat? A bit of a different story, averaging 2.5 points in 10 appearances of mostly mop-up duty.
NUMBER
3. Heat players among the NBA’s Top 15 in fourth-quarter minutes played this season: Bam Adebayo (seventh), Duncan Robinson (10th) and Jaime Jaquez Jr. (14th). The only other team with three players in that Top 15 is the Atlanta Hawks, with Trae Young (sixth), Dejounte Murray (13th) and Saddiq Bey (15th).
