2025-26 Miami Heat Regular Season Thread 2.0

[3ammy3uck3ts]

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Let’s hope maybe for some clarity on his contract being available for trade. I could be wrong but I believe voiding his contract does little to nothing for us while being able to use his large expiring could help us a lot in the trade market specifically for someone with the contract the size of Giannis

[greg4012]

The chemistry of team look best when Mitchell, Powell, Larsson, Wiggins and Bam was starting (+37.5 Net). Now that Herro is here he eats 30 mins out of the rotation which is a huge change. It's taken some very successful lineups completely out of the rotation like the lineup I mention. The Larsson lineup hasn't played a single min since Herro return on the court.

Spo is not going to reduce Herro mins but most likely increase his mins. Should Spo scrap the idea of Herro being a plug and play piece to rearranging the lineups completely to complement Herro. Before the season started, Spo was designing the scheme and rotation with the idea of Herro, Powell, JOVIC, Wiggins and Bam starting. Should Spo go back to his original plan and Start Jovic over Mitchell? And see if chemistry clicks

Last sentence is very interesting. As I've stated on here many times, my biggest thing is not wanting to have the spillover of Herro or Powell minutes beyond SG to eat into the forward rotation because I think it has too many second order consequences for this roster construction and leads to Miami going too small.

Good to hear that Spo originally was comfortable with giving Herro at "de facto" PG some minutes. I def believe Miami needs to try that out. Unfortunately Herro will always be a player that you need to adjust around him to cover for his deficiencies. I def believe keeping him the smallest player on the court for stretches helps "hide" him more. Keeping Powell at guard also helps him.

Jovic obviously needs to earn back his minutes and it starts with smart decisions, defense, and making his damn shots (which we know he can do). Commit to making it work with Bam and Ware (mine for that upside). Give Herro-Powell-Wiggins-Bam-Ware a shot to play real minutes together. Iterate from there. Maybe Jovic finds a groove and earns rotation minutes. Maybe Miami finds a closing lineup for certain opponents (where POA defense on a PG isn't crucial) with Herro-Powell-Wiggins-Jaquez-Bam.

There's def a lot more variants to explore with this roster. We need to get right.

I mean should he has to "earn" back his mins? Or go back to using how it was originally planned to see what happens, let him fail or flourish for a while?

One reason I think Jovic over Ware is because Herro really hasn't handle the ball since returning. And that maybe because he not physically ready to do so. Spo has made sure points are on floor with Herro

I'm open to experimenting with Jovic in different lineups. I have more faith in Jovic settling in than most. Most fans will revolt at the sight of Jovic suddenly starting lol.

[greg4012]

The chemistry of team look best when Mitchell, Powell, Larsson, Wiggins and Bam was starting (+37.5 Net). Now that Herro is here he eats 30 mins out of the rotation which is a huge change. It's taken some very successful lineups completely out of the rotation like the lineup I mention. This Larsson lineup hasn't played a single min since Herro return on the court.

Spo is not going to reduce Herro mins but most likely increase his mins. Should Spo scrap the idea of Herro being a plug and play piece to rearranging the lineups completely to complement Herro. Before the season started, Spo was designing the scheme and rotation with the idea of Herro, Powell, JOVIC, Wiggins and Bam starting. Should Spo go back to his original plan and start Jovic over Mitchell? And see if team and rotation chemistry clicks

Another lineup that had success that's been wiped out since Herro return is D. Mitchell - J. Jaquez Jr. - P. Larsson - Wiggins - B. Adebayo ( +34 Net)

Inserting Herro plays a role in adjusting lineup rotations. But it's far from the only thing affecting that over this stretch. Since Herro's return on 11/24, he has played in 6 of 8 games (25% of games without him). Norm has also missed 2 games over this stretch and each of Pelle, Jaime and Wiggins missed a game (each a different game I believe).

[twix2500]

Last sentence is very interesting. As I've stated on here many times, my biggest thing is not wanting to have the spillover of Herro or Powell minutes beyond SG to eat into the forward rotation because I think it has too many second order consequences for this roster construction and leads to Miami going too small.

Good to hear that Spo originally was comfortable with giving Herro at "de facto" PG some minutes. I def believe Miami needs to try that out. Unfortunately Herro will always be a player that you need to adjust around him to cover for his deficiencies. I def believe keeping him the smallest player on the court for stretches helps "hide" him more. Keeping Powell at guard also helps him.

Jovic obviously needs to earn back his minutes and it starts with smart decisions, defense, and making his damn shots (which we know he can do). Commit to making it work with Bam and Ware (mine for that upside). Give Herro-Powell-Wiggins-Bam-Ware a shot to play real minutes together. Iterate from there. Maybe Jovic finds a groove and earns rotation minutes. Maybe Miami finds a closing lineup for certain opponents (where POA defense on a PG isn't crucial) with Herro-Powell-Wiggins-Jaquez-Bam.

There's def a lot more variants to explore with this roster. We need to get right.

I mean should he has to "earn" back his mins? Or go back to using how it was originally planned to see what happens, let him fail or flourish for a while?

One reason I think Jovic over Ware is because Herro really hasn't handle the ball since returning. And that maybe because he not physically ready to do so. Spo has made sure points are on floor with Herro

I'm open to experimenting with Jovic in different lineups. I have more faith in Jovic settling in than most. Most fans will revolt at the sight of Jovic suddenly starting lol.

Remember Larsson looked like poop then he was thrown into the starting lineup and flourish

As far as Ware and Bam together I don't think the team is currently built for that to work.

[3ammy3uck3ts]

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Respect my GOAT, best player in this series. The ball and chain was just too heavy

[greg4012]

I mean should he has to "earn" back his mins? Or go back to using how it was originally planned to see what happens, let him fail or flourish for a while?

One reason I think Jovic over Ware is because Herro really hasn't handle the ball since returning. And that maybe because he not physically ready to do so. Spo has made sure points are on floor with Herro

I'm open to experimenting with Jovic in different lineups. I have more faith in Jovic settling in than most. Most fans will revolt at the sight of Jovic suddenly starting lol.

Remember Larsson looked like poop then he was thrown into the starting lineup and flourish

As far as Ware and Bam together I don't think the team is currently built for that to work.

What is the deficiency in build for that to work in your opinion?

Do you think last year's team (post-Jimmy) was better built for it to work?

[3ammy3uck3ts]

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[Crazy-Canuck]

The chemistry of team look best when Mitchell, Powell, Larsson, Wiggins and Bam was starting (+37.5 Net). Now that Herro is here he eats 30 mins out of the rotation which is a huge change. It's taken some very successful lineups completely out of the rotation like the lineup I mention. The Larsson lineup hasn't played a single min since Herro return on the court.

Spo is not going to reduce Herro mins but most likely increase his mins. Should Spo scrap the idea of Herro being a plug and play piece to rearranging the lineups completely to complement Herro. Before the season started, Spo was designing the scheme and rotation with the idea of Herro, Powell, JOVIC, Wiggins and Bam starting. Should Spo go back to his original plan and start Jovic over Mitchell? And see if team and rotation chemistry clicks

They played 11 minutes since herros return.

162 ortg
100 drtg

So that line up continues to work. But pelle is now out for a couple of weeks.

[Crazy-Canuck]

The chemistry of team look best when Mitchell, Powell, Larsson, Wiggins and Bam was starting (+37.5 Net). Now that Herro is here he eats 30 mins out of the rotation which is a huge change. It's taken some very successful lineups completely out of the rotation like the lineup I mention. This Larsson lineup hasn't played a single min since Herro return on the court.

Spo is not going to reduce Herro mins but most likely increase his mins. Should Spo scrap the idea of Herro being a plug and play piece to rearranging the lineups completely to complement Herro. Before the season started, Spo was designing the scheme and rotation with the idea of Herro, Powell, JOVIC, Wiggins and Bam starting. Should Spo go back to his original plan and start Jovic over Mitchell? And see if team and rotation chemistry clicks

Another lineup that had success that's been wiped out since Herro return is D. Mitchell - J. Jaquez Jr. - P. Larsson - Wiggins - B. Adebayo ( +34 Net)

Inserting Herro plays a role in adjusting lineup rotations. But it's far from the only thing affecting that over this stretch. Since Herro's return on 11/24, he has played in 6 of 8 games (25% of games without him). Norm has also missed 2 games over this stretch and each of Pelle, Jaime and Wiggins missed a game (each a different game I believe).

Not just rotations, but many also had to change their roles.

Not enough people are paying attention and think a 5 man unit synergizes like its nba2k.

Chemistry is important and its hard without training camp. Even bron is struggling to get integrated and the team to him.

[twix2500]

I'm open to experimenting with Jovic in different lineups. I have more faith in Jovic settling in than most. Most fans will revolt at the sight of Jovic suddenly starting lol.

Remember Larsson looked like poop then he was thrown into the starting lineup and flourish

As far as Ware and Bam together I don't think the team is currently built for that to work.

What is the deficiency in build for that to work in your opinion?

Do you think last year's team (post-Jimmy) was better built for it to work?

First you cant have any non high level shooters around Bam and Ware, players that teams will back off of at the three point line. Gotta have a team more suited for halfcourt offense. The main connector players on this team are Wiggins, Mitchell, Larsson, and Jamie, all are non high level shooters and fullcourt style of players. They all make a living in the paint. Need an offense that will swing the ball enough to get it in Bam and Ware hands. Mitchell is a drive and kick out point, and a player who needs to get out in transition. He is not a set up halfcourt point. And Bam would need to have the ball a lot more because Ware is taking roller option away from Bam.

[twix2500]

The chemistry of team look best when Mitchell, Powell, Larsson, Wiggins and Bam was starting (+37.5 Net). Now that Herro is here he eats 30 mins out of the rotation which is a huge change. It's taken some very successful lineups completely out of the rotation like the lineup I mention. The Larsson lineup hasn't played a single min since Herro return on the court.

Spo is not going to reduce Herro mins but most likely increase his mins. Should Spo scrap the idea of Herro being a plug and play piece to rearranging the lineups completely to complement Herro. Before the season started, Spo was designing the scheme and rotation with the idea of Herro, Powell, JOVIC, Wiggins and Bam starting. Should Spo go back to his original plan and start Jovic over Mitchell? And see if team and rotation chemistry clicks

They played 11 minutes since herros return.

162 ortg
100 drtg

So that line up continues to work. But pelle is now out for a couple of weeks.

Im glad you looked it up. It was really one game and that was the Pistons game. That lineup is what made the comeback in the first half and in the fourth quarter. That unit played 9 mins in that game a +52 Net. The other few mins that unit played was when Herro was out. Otherwise that unit has been wiped out of the rotation. And Spo knows it works.

[greg4012]

Remember Larsson looked like poop then he was thrown into the starting lineup and flourish

As far as Ware and Bam together I don't think the team is currently built for that to work.

What is the deficiency in build for that to work in your opinion?

Do you think last year's team (post-Jimmy) was better built for it to work?

First you cant have any non high level shooters around Bam and Ware, players that teams will back off of at the three point line. Gotta have a team more suited for halfcourt offense. The main connector players on this team are Wiggins, Mitchell, Larsson, and Jamie, all are non high level shooters and fullcourt style of players. They all make a living in the paint. Need an offense that will swing the ball enough to get it in Bam and Ware hands. Mitchell is a drive and kick out point, and a player who needs to get out in transition. He is not a set up halfcourt point. And Bam would need to have the ball a lot more because Ware is taking roller option away from Bam.

Generally agree with the lineup construction principles. I do think the evolution of Bam and Ware as willing spacers makes it a little more tenable than your average 2-big lineup, but the dynamic still stands as a question because they aren't the level of spacing threat as most real perimeter players. That's part of why I prefer a Bam-Ware pairing to be accompanied by a Herro-Powell backcourt. Juice up the accompanying shooting. Wiggins holds serve while not being the most reliable.

In any scenario, I don't think Herro running as "de facto" PG is more than just a 10-15 mpg thing (that just so happens to align with the amount of time any Bam-Ware pairing would occur on the court).

While it's a different offense, as I previously noted last season Herro had a higher net rating per minute in his PG minutes than in his SG minutes. His PG minutes mostly consisted of him playing alongside Burks or Duncan at SG.

From February 7th onward, Tyler was the starting PG for 15 of the 33 games. During those 15 games, Miami had an ORTG of 114.9 and a DRTG of 109.2. That's commensurate with the 12th ranked ORTG for last season and the 3rd ranked DRTG for last season. Miami's net rating of +5.7 during these games was commensurate with the 4th best net rating from last season.

Ware started in 13 of those 15 games with Herro at PG (7-6 overall including the longest winning streak of the season at 6 games).

The lineups in those 13 games consisted of these combos:

Herro-Duncan-Highsmith-Bam-Ware (0-1)
Herro-Duncan-Wiggins-Bam-Ware (1-1)
Herro-Duncan-Jaime-Bam-Ware (0-1)
Herro-Jaime-Wiggins-Bam-Ware (0-1)
Herro-Burks-Wiggins-Bam-Ware (2-1)
Herro-Burks-Larsson-Bam-Ware (4-1)

I see Herro-Powell + Bam-Ware being most similar to Herro-Burks + Bam-Ware. I get the concern with lack of the speeding PG pushing pace up the court, but I think given the constraints of the roster build it's worth mining for potential here. Miami can't become a Davion-centric offense. And I still think Miami needs to give Davion 25-30 mpg. Just needs to be more flexible about where they come and what happens when he's out.

[Daffy]

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Save it for a trade or until Middleton is released.

Serious question and no insult to you or anyone. What's with the Middleton obsession lately?

[Crazy-Canuck]

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Its weird to me that every suggested rumour by "insiders" seems to be the same, and then this rozier status meeting is happening.

Herro, rozier, ware, jjjj , 2 picks and 3 swaps is being posted from everyone.

[3ammy3uck3ts]

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Its weird to me that every suggested rumour by "insiders" seems to be the same, and then this rozier status meeting is happening.

Herro, rozier, ware, jjjj , 2 picks and 3 swaps is being posted from everyone.

Let’s hope there’s some connection, supposedly we will get clarity on Roziers contract Wednesday.

Makes you think something is in the works with everyone being on the same page trade package wise. Maybe that’s causing some uneven play on the court as well

[3ammy3uck3ts]

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[EMC5466]

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[twix2500]

What is the deficiency in build for that to work in your opinion?

Do you think last year's team (post-Jimmy) was better built for it to work?

First you cant have any non high level shooters around Bam and Ware, players that teams will back off of at the three point line. Gotta have a team more suited for halfcourt offense. The main connector players on this team are Wiggins, Mitchell, Larsson, and Jamie, all are non high level shooters and fullcourt style of players. They all make a living in the paint. Need an offense that will swing the ball enough to get it in Bam and Ware hands. Mitchell is a drive and kick out point, and a player who needs to get out in transition. He is not a set up halfcourt point. And Bam would need to have the ball a lot more because Ware is taking roller option away from Bam.

Generally agree with the lineup construction principles. I do think the evolution of Bam and Ware as willing spacers makes it a little more tenable than your average 2-big lineup, but the dynamic still stands as a question because they aren't the level of spacing threat as most real perimeter players. That's part of why I prefer a Bam-Ware pairing to be accompanied by a Herro-Powell backcourt. Juice up the accompanying shooting. Wiggins holds serve while not being the most reliable.

In any scenario, I don't think Herro running as "de facto" PG is more than just a 10-15 mpg thing (that just so happens to align with the amount of time any Bam-Ware pairing would occur on the court).

While it's a different offense, as I previously noted last season Herro had a higher net rating per minute in his PG minutes than in his SG minutes. His PG minutes mostly consisted of him playing alongside Burks or Duncan at SG.

From February 7th onward, Tyler was the starting PG for 15 of the 33 games. During those 15 games, Miami had an ORTG of 114.9 and a DRTG of 109.2. That's commensurate with the 12th ranked ORTG for last season and the 3rd ranked DRTG for last season. Miami's net rating of +5.7 during these games was commensurate with the 4th best net rating from last season.

Ware started in 13 of those 15 games with Herro at PG (7-6 overall including the longest winning streak of the season at 6 games).

The lineups in those 13 games consisted of these combos:

Herro-Duncan-Highsmith-Bam-Ware (0-1)
Herro-Duncan-Wiggins-Bam-Ware (1-1)
Herro-Duncan-Jaime-Bam-Ware (0-1)
Herro-Jaime-Wiggins-Bam-Ware (0-1)
Herro-Burks-Wiggins-Bam-Ware (2-1)
Herro-Burks-Larsson-Bam-Ware (4-1)

I see Herro-Powell + Bam-Ware being most similar to Herro-Burks + Bam-Ware. I get the concern with lack of the speeding PG pushing pace up the court, but I think given the constraints of the roster build it's worth mining for potential here. Miami can't become a Davion-centric offense. And I still think Miami needs to give Davion 25-30 mpg. Just needs to be more flexible about where they come and what happens when he's out.

Here is the problem with Herro - Powell, they are not supporting cast offensive players on this team. They are not trying to make space for anyone, they are looking for space themselves. Its extremely hard to build a team that everyone makes space for each other. But that is unrealistic because Herro and Powell want their 18 shots a piece. This is why Duncan was so important during his time. He can be very effective with just 9 shots a game, and happy to be just a spacer. So in theory I know Spo is thinking will lets increase the team to try to satisfy the players who want their shot volume. But is that really realistic running Bam and Ware together and being some extremely high tempo team?

This is why adding Herro is not seamless addition. He changes the whole complexion of the team. He takes a chunk of mins and field goal attempts.

[EMC5466]

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[greg4012]

First you cant have any non high level shooters around Bam and Ware, players that teams will back off of at the three point line. Gotta have a team more suited for halfcourt offense. The main connector players on this team are Wiggins, Mitchell, Larsson, and Jamie, all are non high level shooters and fullcourt style of players. They all make a living in the paint. Need an offense that will swing the ball enough to get it in Bam and Ware hands. Mitchell is a drive and kick out point, and a player who needs to get out in transition. He is not a set up halfcourt point. And Bam would need to have the ball a lot more because Ware is taking roller option away from Bam.

Generally agree with the lineup construction principles. I do think the evolution of Bam and Ware as willing spacers makes it a little more tenable than your average 2-big lineup, but the dynamic still stands as a question because they aren't the level of spacing threat as most real perimeter players. That's part of why I prefer a Bam-Ware pairing to be accompanied by a Herro-Powell backcourt. Juice up the accompanying shooting. Wiggins holds serve while not being the most reliable.

In any scenario, I don't think Herro running as "de facto" PG is more than just a 10-15 mpg thing (that just so happens to align with the amount of time any Bam-Ware pairing would occur on the court).

While it's a different offense, as I previously noted last season Herro had a higher net rating per minute in his PG minutes than in his SG minutes. His PG minutes mostly consisted of him playing alongside Burks or Duncan at SG.

From February 7th onward, Tyler was the starting PG for 15 of the 33 games. During those 15 games, Miami had an ORTG of 114.9 and a DRTG of 109.2. That's commensurate with the 12th ranked ORTG for last season and the 3rd ranked DRTG for last season. Miami's net rating of +5.7 during these games was commensurate with the 4th best net rating from last season.

Ware started in 13 of those 15 games with Herro at PG (7-6 overall including the longest winning streak of the season at 6 games).

The lineups in those 13 games consisted of these combos:

Herro-Duncan-Highsmith-Bam-Ware (0-1)
Herro-Duncan-Wiggins-Bam-Ware (1-1)
Herro-Duncan-Jaime-Bam-Ware (0-1)
Herro-Jaime-Wiggins-Bam-Ware (0-1)
Herro-Burks-Wiggins-Bam-Ware (2-1)
Herro-Burks-Larsson-Bam-Ware (4-1)

I see Herro-Powell + Bam-Ware being most similar to Herro-Burks + Bam-Ware. I get the concern with lack of the speeding PG pushing pace up the court, but I think given the constraints of the roster build it's worth mining for potential here. Miami can't become a Davion-centric offense. And I still think Miami needs to give Davion 25-30 mpg. Just needs to be more flexible about where they come and what happens when he's out.

Here is the problem with Herro - Powell, they are not supporting cast offensive players on this team. They are not trying to make space for anyone, they are looking for space themselves. Its extremely hard to build a team that everyone makes space for each other. But that is unrealistic because Herro and Powell want their 18 shots a piece. This is why Duncan was so important during his time. He can be very effective with just 9 shots a game, and happy to be just a spacer. So in theory I know Spo is thinking will lets increase the team to try to satisfy the players who want their shot volume. But is that really realistic running Bam and Ware together and being some extremely high tempo team?

Herro was always going to require an integration process. That's what happens when you miss training camp. No question about it. I just contend that more needs to be done to make it work and get higher upside. I wonder if you're more deterministic on this not working than I am. I need to see it play out. The basic principles of the new offense are supposed to set the rules for making space for each other.

What you pointed as "the thing" is exactly what I think is one of the issues with having Norm and Herro spend all their minutes on the floor together with a PG (Davion) that is getting the ball first and forcing BOTH Herro and Powell into supporting cast role from the jump. It creates a dynamic where they're trying to figure out when it's their turn while the whole offense is deferring to Davion's "turn" first.

Norm looked pretty good playing alongside James Harden (way more ball dominant) just last season. He was 3rd on the Clips in FGA per game.

Spo specifically has spoken about wanting to get a greater share of the 3PA to come from Norm and Herro.

Just last season 4 of Norm's 7 3PA per game were catch & shoot. He hit them at a 45% clip. This season 4 of Norm's 6 3PA per game are catch & shoot and he hits them at a scorching 47.7%.

Herro has always been lethal in C&S capacity too. But, as with most basketball players they both need the ball in their hands in a way that is incorporated into the offense to get into their rhythm.

For as fun as it was to start the season with a "high scoring" offense, Miami still wasn't a top 10 offense in ORTG. The goal shouldn't be to get back to where it was before--that's the goal for the defense. The goal for the offense needs to be to get to better than it was before. That's why you need to find a way to maximize Herro and Powell with Bam and Ware IMO. Still hunt for transition opportunities (even if we get a few less of them). Still prioritize quick decisions and move the ball. Still maintain the wheel rotating principles.

The end goal shouldn't be to be the fastest team in the NBA at all costs. It should be to be the best offense possible while maintaining defensive integrity.