Let’s take a look at the Heat’s shooting guard position as we get closer and closer to training camp.
Here’s the next installment of our look at the Miami Heat roster in our position-by-position preview. We will take a look at each position and see what we can expect as the season gets closer.
Here, we are looking at the most crowded position on the roster, shooting guard. Let’s get to it…
The Starter: Tyler Herro
Status: Highly Questionable
Herro is blossoming into a great player for the Heat. In the regular season, he was the most consistent offensive scoring threat the Heat had. Last year, he won Sixth Man of the Year and he’s looking to be a full-time starter now, but nothing is guaranteed.
If the Heat commits to him with long-term money, they’d be silly not to give him this shot, assuming he does earn it. Last year, Max Strus worked his way into the starting role, but this year, the starters will look different. Herro isn’t guaranteed this spot, but he’s one of the 4 guys the Heat have at this position that deserve playing time.
Herro has taken a step each year, and if he continues that this year, we could be looking at a potential All-Star if the Heat are a successful team. After averaging 20+ PPG, Herro could be on the verge of leading the team in scoring, with Jimmy’s blessing of course. He’s great to watch, fun to root for, and has a swag about him that is just Miami.
The Reserves: Max Strus and Victor Oladipo
Max isn’t going to go to the bench quietly. He liked that starting spot and he wants to keep it. His shooting and cutting were so valuable for the Heat. I don’t love the idea of moving him to the bench, but I do see the value of Herro with the starters.
Strus is giving the Heat production WAY over his contract, and after this year will likely demand a much bigger deal — things the Heat will be happy to deal with later. Let’s hope Strus has gotten even better this off-season.
Alongside him, the Heat now seem to have a healthy Victor Oladipo in the backcourt. He got better and better as the postseason went on and showed great value. If he’s able to have a full training camp and the Heat have him ready to go, they could be looking at one of the best reserve backcourts in the league.
Oladipo could easily find himself playing 25+ minutes per game and could be the driver of the second unit without Herro there.
The Help: Duncan Robinson
It’s a bit crazy to think the man making the most money of these four is last in this depth chart. Duncan’s defense coupled with his shooting returning to normal levels have removed him from a clear starting role. It’s been a bad drop — and no one will be surprised if the Heat end up trading him away for some front-court help.
He can still get hot, but if he is going to be in the rotation, Spo has some magic to pull around all these guards.
Strengths of The Position
#1 — Depth
Literally any of those four could start for the Heat and they’d be ready to go and fit with the rest of the unit just fine. Whether you have Herro or Oladipo coming off the bench, you have a legit offensive playmaker running your second unit. And whether it is Strus or Robinson, you have a legit three-point shooting threat running around screens and drawing attention from the defense. They’ve got it all and they have it two deep.
#2 — Ignitability
Pretty much all four of those guys are capable of going nuclear at any moment — maybe less so Oladipo (although he is capable of it, we just haven’t seen it in Miami). But Herro, Strus, and Robinson (tres leches) are at any moment capable of exploding for 15-20 point quarters if they get hot. That’s great to have on your roster.
Weaknesses of the position
The biggest weakness of the position is going to their defense. Oladipo is a capable defender obviously, but tres leches are all vulnerable on defense to varying degrees. Usually this isn’t an issue until the Playoffs.
GRADE
Personally, I love having all these guys on the roster and can’t wait to see what Spo does with it all!