Q: Unlike some Heat fans, I am looking forward to the coming season. They are younger with five of their top seven players under 28 years old, and there are three All-Stars, and one almost All- Star on the squad: Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro and Andrew Wiggins, and Norman Powell. A full season with Wiggs, a full season at the four for Bam, and Tyler getting scoring help from Powell is a major upgrade over last year. – Michael, Boynton Beach.
A: That certainly is one way of looking at it, that if each Heat cornerstone is at his absolute best, then there are considerable possibilities. But how often does a team get the best possible version of every rotation component? For example, will Tyler Herro be as dynamic a scorer with Norman Powell also scoring? Can Andrew Wiggins work at the pace that might best benefit Bam Adebayo? It’s not necessarily about square pegs in round holes, but rather the overall mix. This is not exactly the Thunder drafting components to complement what is in place. This is Bam and Tyler being drafted, Andrew arriving as a consolation prize in the Jimmy Butler trade, and Norman suddenly becoming available at the low-risk cost of Kevin Love and Kyle Anderson. Basically, this might not be the mix the Heat would have created in a lab. That, in turn, puts much of the onus on chemistry.
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Q: Ira, why can’t the baseball “Moneyball” approach make up for the Heat’s lack of All-Stars ? – Barry.
A: A question that is an interesting contrast to the one above, that the Heat well could wind up without a single All-Star this coming season (face it, few are considering the Heat must-see basketball at this stage). The difference between baseball is that only five play at a time in basketball. Stars win, no matter how prudent the finances are with the overall roster. Give me a team without an All-Star and I’ll give you a play-in team, at best.
Q: How much do you think the injury will set back Haywood Highsmith? – Nate.
A: From a health standpoint, you never know about an athlete until he is up and back at it. From a Heat standpoint, I’m not sure that “setback” would be the phrasing when it comes to Haywood Highsmith’s knee surgery. As it is, at least seven players are ahead of Haywood in the rotation (Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro, Norman Powell, Andrew Wiggins, Kel’el Ware, Davion Mitchell and Nikola Jovic), so there well could have been a chance that he would have been sitting at the outset, regardless. Now it comes down to the likes of Jovic, Powell, Pelle Larsson and even Simone Fontecchio staying healthy during their international competitions.
