What will help Erik Spoelstra most in training camp

That's one of the reasons to be excited about what the coach has in his hands now.

It's not just that Powell and Herro are gone, one to Chicago and one to Milwaukee, taking their scoring skill but also defensive deficiencies with them. It's that the roster that has replaced last season's is far less complicated and duplicative.

There is considerably more clarity.

Everyone knows who the first option is, where the ball will go first, to draw attention:

Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Even during Butler's best years, the pecking order wasn't as obvious. Herro and Bam Adebayo and even Goran Dragic (in Butler's first year) would take turns scoring 20, with sometimes Butler taking a back seat. And while sometimes there's a benefit to multiple lead options, it's better when you just have one the quality of Giannis, who has been one of the NBA's five most efficient scorers for more than a decade, and was even last season -- in the 36 games he played.

While others will be needed to supplement his scoring, especially down the stretch, and especially when three (and not two) points are needed, no one is going to try to jump ahead of him in line -- overdribbling or chucking while he's parked near the paint. Spoelstra will make sure of that, and the roster doesn't include anyone who is inclined to do that anyway.

But it goes beyond Antetokounmpo.

For the first time in years, we tend to know what every Heat player does best.

That seems to have been by design.

There are the knockdown shooters -- Klay Thompson and Tim Hardaway Jr. and perhaps Simone Fontecchio in a support role. Only Hardaway Jr. may be given more of a burden than simply standing behind the line, ready to fire.

There's the piercing cutter and dogged driver -- Pelle Larsson, who is excelling overseas and appears primed for another leap.

There's the point-of-attack defender who has improved as a table-setter -- Davion Mitchell.

There's the relief scorer who will take the toughest wing defensive assignments and has won a championship in a similar role -- Andrew Wiggins.

There's the anchor of the defense, who can get you 83 on occasion (OK, one occasion) -- Bam Adebayo, who should be able to find his spots cleaner in the simplified pick-and-roll dribble-handoff-heavy new offense than last season's read and react system.

There's the strip specialist -- Dru Smith, who can carve out some short-minute havoc-causing stints until rookie Ryan Conwell is ready with his superior offensive skill set.

There are two bigs who are really good at one thing -- Bobby Portis Jr. as a stretch shooter (who plays exceptionally well off Giannis) and Nick Richards, who can offensive rebound in bunches.

In fact, there's really only one wild card, and that's Nikola Jovic, who struggled mightily to create his niche last season but has looked revived in international play, and is just 23. He may be the preseason's only real project, so the Heat can realize some value from his new extension.

But other than that, everyone else will be given a lane, whatever makes it easiest for Giannis to bully his way down the lane while helping to clog it on the other end.

Variability is nice.

For Erik Spoelstra, clarity and consistency may prove to be better.