Five things to watch for the Heat’s season

Norman Powell was the free-agent steal this offseason. He will play the role of “sixth man” for the team and will probably play most fourth quarters. Norman Powell is 32 years old. In the last two years, he has missed more than thirty games in the last two seasons for injuries all over his body (toe, shoulder, groin, etc.)

Tyler Herro will miss about two months with an injured foot to start the season. Norman Powell will need to help with the scoring during this time. But, it would be much better if he doesn’t have to do so and then get injured. Then, Tyler Herro returns and the two players never are on the court together.

#3 — Kel’el Ware needs to take defensive responsibility off Bam

Kel’el Ware needs to take defensive responsibility off Bam Adebayo. He must learn to do what Bam does as “the quarterback of the defense.” Then and only then, will Bam be able to score and rebound at will. Bam is a “team player” so his main focus is always helping the team win. Bam has gone on “scoring tears” before when pressed.

If Kel’el Ware can handle the defensive tasks, the Heat will be that much better. Coach Spo, as per Ira Winderman, wants Ware to focus on making winning plays and/or have a positive plus/minus during the games this season. He said:

“There were points in the game where there are swing points where it might be the play to make or the decision to make that’s not quite there,” Spoelstra said of a player who turned 21 in April. “But I would much rather coach somebody who’s willing to be coached, who can put up 24 and 10, and figure out how to get those winning moments during the course of a game. And that’s where we are.”

#2 — Heat can’t get outrebounded many times

The Heat lose games when they are outrebounded by the opposition. They win games when they tie the opposition (in rebounding) or win the rebounding battle. Precious Achiuwa was signed this off-season as a “bridge player” to flatten the learning curve for Kel’el Ware.

#1 — Tyler Herro must play more off the ball this season than on-the-ball

Tyler Herro is injury prone. He can’t be “the main ballhandler” on offense. He needs to live “in space” running defenders off screen after screen, after screen as Reggie Miller and Ray Allen did. John Jablonka wrote in his Simply Ballin substack that Tyler Herro has been more effective in playing off-the-ball. But the quantity of times that he was cutting, running off screens and dribble handoffs was very low compared to being the primary P&R ball handler.