Despite piecing together a widely heralded offseason, the Miami Heat still don’t have a conventional floor general to run the offense, or a ton of established veterans on the perimeter who can effectively generate their own shots. They have Tyler Herro, Norman Powell, and a bunch of question marks.

This is considered a potentially fatal flaw for Miami’s system. The lack of perimeter offensive creation certainly was last season.

And yet, this time around, the Heat’s offensive makeup might be a feature rather than a bug. Because thanks to the off-ball utility of both Herro and Powell, the stage is set for Miami to get fate-shifting breakouts from Pelle Larsson and Kasparas Jakucionis.

Herro and Powell deserve more credit for their versatility

Higher-profile scorers almost always like to operate on-ball. Herro and Powell aren’t exceptions. Even as Herro has reworked his shot profile, he still likes to cook off the dribble, and either get to his mid-range jumper, or launch a self-created 3. Powell has the type of zero-to-60 thrust that he parlays into admirable rim pressure for a guard his size.

Still, the appeal of both is that they don’t need to have the ball, and that they’re a brilliant brew of effective and totally cool with it when they do not. This applies even to their performances last season, when they ferried larger on-ball workloads than ever.

Herro ranked in the 63rd percentile of catch-and-shoot threes taken per 75 possessions for the 2024-25 campaign, and was in the 97th percentile of efficiency on those attempts, according to BBall-Index. Powell placed in the 58th percentile of catch-and-shoot three-point volume per 75 possessions—which is the lowest finish of his career. His efficiency on those looks settled into the 99th percentile(!).

There is no overstating the value of this offensive usage. Especially when you consider that, in all likelihood, Herro and Powell will be the Heat’s two leading scorers next season.

Larsson and Jakucionis should get plenty of on-ball reps

Right now, both Larsson and Jakucionis are more comfortable as creators than complementary options. That could be problematic for a team looking to make the playoffs. The Heat don’t have to worry about it.

Larsson’s summer-league performances highlighted a handful of flaws, but they also accentuated his greatest strengths: a knack for getting downhill and to the rim, the ability to put defenders on his back hip and uncork runners, and a penchant for creating contact that earns him trips to the charity stripe. He averaged a Shai Gilgeous-Alexanderian nine free-throw attempts per game for the Summer Heat.

For his part, Jakucionis is at home running the offense as an oversized point guard. The turnover issues were front and center in summer league, and aren’t going anywhere. But his live-dribble vision is admirable, and he has the chops to generate separation on his from-scratch jumpers.

Playing beside bigs who actually catch the ball will work wonders for both younglings. More critically, though, they will get to operate inside a spacing environment with at least two knockdown weapons—potentially three, if Simone Fontecchio has a bounce-back year—who will part the defense simply by virtue of standing on the court. And when either Herro or Powell is in motion, forget about it.

Optimizing development is a paramount for every team. It’s especially pivotal to the Heat as they hold out for their next big-time acquisition. Nothing is guaranteed, but the degree to which Herro and Powell can lift up Jakucionis and Larsson may mean Miami has two youngsters ready to absolutely pop by the end of next season.