{"id":107497,"date":"2025-10-05T08:08:57","date_gmt":"2025-10-05T08:08:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=107497"},"modified":"2025-10-05T08:09:52","modified_gmt":"2025-10-05T08:09:52","slug":"%f0%9f%94%a5did-the-heat-just-tip-their-hand-their-latest-preseason-moves-might-have-quietly-revealed-the-new-starting-lineup-and-one-unexpected-name-could-change-everything-ll","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=107497","title":{"rendered":"\ud83c\udfc0DID THE HEAT JUST TIP THEIR HAND?! Preseason adjustments might have accidentally revealed their new starting lineup \u2014 and one surprise name could shake the whole locker room…ll"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/p>\n
It may have taken the Miami Heat all of one preseason game to unveil their new planned starting five. The biggest revelation: Nikola Jovic is in it. Kel\u2019el Ware is not.<\/p>\n
A similarly big revelation: Head coach Erik Spoelstra may be prepared to start both <\/em>Tyler Herro and Norman Powell, once the former returns from his left ankle surgery.<\/p>\n
Jovic received the nod over Ware for Miami\u2019s preseason opener against the Orlando Magic. This doesn\u2019t have to be a permanent call. Exhibition games are a time for experimentation. But moving him into the starting five jibes with the decision to give him a four-year, $62.4 million extension.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not about the money, per se. Jovic\u2019s extension will not kick in until next season. When it does, he\u2019ll never make 10 percent of the salary cap. The Heat can bring him off the bench without worrying about the financial optics.<\/p>\n
Starting him next to Adebayo is instead just good-to-great, maybe amazing, offensive business. Jovic promises a floor-spacing element that can\u2019t be matched by any of the other bigs on Miami\u2019s roster. Adebayo merely dabbles in outside volume, and Ware\u2019s three-point touch remains conceptual. Jovic, on the other hand, has drilled 38.3 percent of his triples over the past two seasons, on 6.5 attempts per 36 minutes.<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t be surprised if Tyler Herro and Norman Powell start together<\/h2>\n
The Herro-Powell element of this is more interesting\u2014and, in theory, much less of a given.<\/p>\n
Most would take a look at the preseason opener\u2019s starting lineup, and assume a healthy Herro will slot into Powell\u2019s place. Pushing against that stance, in a game Herro did not play, is not our attempt at magicking a random takeaway out of our butts. It is informed by how Miami wants to play on offense.<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
As mentioned on the Heat\u2019s preseason broadcast, Spoelstra is using a 16-second shot clock in practice. They clearly want to play fast. Combine that with the emphasis on Jovic\u2019s floor-spacing, and the mandate in Miami is clear: This team is all-in on figuring out how to deploy a more dangerous offense.<\/p>\n
Make no bones about it, this is the right call. The Heat have ranked in the top 15 of points scored per possession just once over the past four years, and not since 2021-22. Catering to the offensive product, even if it comes at the expense of defense, is long overdue.<\/p>\n
Starting both Herro and Powell fits that directive. Alongside Wiggins, Jovic, and Adebayo, Miami wouldn\u2019t quite be five-out, but it\u2019d come pretty darn close, while retaining its ability to play at a more frenetic pace.<\/p>\n
What this does to the defense remains to be seen. And there is still time for things to change. For now, though, Coach Spo\u2019s preseason leanings point toward a clear preference: loading up on offensive firepower from the opening tip.<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Heat gave Nikola Jovic the start over Kel’el Ware to begin the preseason, and there may be no going back from that.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":107498,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-107497","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba"],"yoast_head":"\n
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<\/p>\n