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MIAMI — In terms of power play, a case could be made that the Miami Heat have never been better positioned when it comes to the two starters in their power rotation.
With this being the Heat’s 39th season, that certainly says plenty about the expectations with Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo.
Best one-two power punch in the current NBA?
A case certainly could be made for the Heat’s opening power pairing, certainly up there with:
— Denver’s Nikola Jokic-Aaron Gordon
— Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid-LeBron James
— Cleveland’s Jarrett Allen-Evan Mobley
— Boston’s Mitchell Robinson-Jayson Tatum
— Oklahoma City’s Isaiah Hartenstein-Chet Holmgren
— New York’s Karl-Anthony Towns-OG Anunoby
— Detroit’s Jalen Duren-John Collins
— Indiana’s Ivica Zubac-Pascal Siakam
— Golden State’s Kristaps Porzingis-Draymond Green
— San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama-Tobias Harris
But in most of those cases, the second starter in a power role is more of a career wing, with the limited exceptions of, say, the Nuggets, Cavaliers and Thunder truly playing big-big.
Yet for all the hope of what Antetokounmpo and Adebayo might deliver from a position of power, it’s not as if the Heat haven’t had ample power play to rely upon over the years.
So before looking ahead this season to the Giannis-Bam possibilities, a look back at the previous most noteworthy Heat starting power pairings:
1. Chris Bosh-LeBron James (2010-14): No, neither a true center, but also part of how Erik Spoelstra transformed the Heat dynamic during the Big Three era, recognizing that one can only get so far on the championship stage going with the likes of Joel Anthony, Rony Turiaf and an aging Zydrunas Ilgauskas.
So Bosh took his game even further to the perimeter, LeBron took his game into the post, and the quality of the wing rotations was allowed to flourish.
This likely will be the Heat power standard that Antetokounmpo-Adebayo will come to be measured against.
2. Shaquille O’Neal-Alonzo Mourning (2004-08): Taking some liberties here, considering O’Neal and Mourning never started together during their two-plus seasons as teammates. But their shared tenure left the Heat arguably with their best-ever 1-2 punch at center.
Re-acquired in March 2005, Mourning provided the Heat with the needed boost during the run to the franchise’s first championship, in 2006, as arguably the Heat’s best-ever backup center, with all due respect to what Chris “Birdman” Andersen later would provide during the Big Three era.
3. Alonzo Mourning-P.J. Brown (1996-99): Among the most enduring of the Heat’s power pairings, the two started 241 regular-season games together and 34 Heat playoff games together.
With Brown’s shooting, it provided a needed inside-outside contrast in the power rotation on offense, with both All-Defensive talents on that end of the court.
To a degree, this will be the Heat defensive standard by which the Antetokounmpo-Adebayo pairing will be measured.
4. Rony Seikaly-Grant Long (1988-94): Even as the expansion-era losses mounted, Seikaly and Long provided a needed foundation in the power rotation, appearing in 424 games together and starting 280 together.
It was a unique study in contrasts, the graceful scoring and relentless rebounding of Seikaly, and the lunchpail work ethic of Long that was Heat culture long before the Heat started spelling Culture with a capital C.
5. Shaquille O’Neal-Udonis Haslem (2004-08): While Mourning was the muscle in reserve of O’Neal during the run to that 2006 championship, it was Haslem who provided the starting stability alongside Shaq.
Together, the two started 197 regular-season games together and all but one of the Heat’s 40 playoff games during their combined Heat tenure (with Haslem suspended for that game).
6. Bam Adebayo-Jimmy Butler (2019-2025): Because Butler wanted nothing to do with being classified as a power player, this is a bit of a stretch when it comes to the starting power pairings.
But at moments of truth, including the run to the 2023 NBA Finals against the Nuggets, it often was Adebayo and Butler surrounded by wings and shooters.
By Basketball-Reference’s accounting, Butler spent 83% of his time during the 2022-23 regular season at power forward, then 70% of his time that postseason at power forward.
7. Bam Adebayo-P.J. Tucker (2021-22): This in many ways was the long and short of it for the Heat in the Adebayo area, a surprisingly successful pairing with an undersized stretch four in Tucker, who officially was listed at 6-5 by the NBA.
Together the two started 52 games in their lone season together, including all 18 games in the Heat’s postseason run within one victory of the 2022 NBA Finals.
8. Brian Grant-Anthony Mason (2000-01): Although a staunch proponent of playing big, Pat Riley had no choice but to go smaller with Mourning sidelined by kidney illness.
Together, Mason (generously listed by the NBA at 6-8) and Grant (6-9) started 77 games together, with the Heat closing a surprising 50-32.
Riley then went back to Mourning as a playoff starter, with the Heat ousted 3-0 in the first round by Charlotte.
9. Brian Grant-Lamar Odom (2003-04): This time it was Stan Van Gundy who got creative with an undersized, versatile approach, starting Odom at power forward.
Grand and Odom started 76 games together as the Heat rallied to win 17 of their final 21 regular-season games, with the two also starting all 13 of that season’s playoff games.
10. Hassan Whiteside-Chris Bosh (2014-16): On paper this had a chance to be special. Instead, it was a mismatched pairing of a player needing to learn how to win (Whiteside) and one who already had won (Bosh).
The two were 4-6 together as starters in 2014-15, but then improved to 25-16 while starting together in 2015-16 before Bosh was sidelined in February 2016 by blood clots.
YOUTH MOVEMENT: With the Cleveland Browns opening their training camp, it put team owner Jimmy Haslam in front of microphones for the first time since he swung the Giannis Antetokounmpo deal in his role as Bucks owner. Haslam put the trade of Antetokounmpo into perspective of reloading with youth. “We felt the need to get younger. He was the best asset we had,” Haslem said, according to Milwaukee’s Journal Sentinel, noting the draft capital the Bucks surrendered in previous trades for Damian Lillard and Jrue Holiday. “We had mortgaged our future going forward and I think we got four really good players and we got two draft picks: No. 1 draft picks, a couple swaps and a second. Time will tell. We’ve got to use those picks wisely.” In addition to landing Tyler Herro, Kel’el Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Kasparas Jakucionis from the Heat, the Bucks also landed the Heat’s No. 13 pick that was utilized on Tennessee forward Nate Ament, Heat first-round picks in 2031 and ’33, a first-round swap in 2030 and a second-round pick in 2033.
SPEAKING OF: Speaking of Antetokounmpo, no less than Kevin Durant recently called the Heat trade acquisition his prime viewing choice. “Greek Freak probably the number 1 guy I like to watch,” Durant said during a social-media interview. “Anthony Davis. I like long, athletic guys. That’s just who I am. Greek Freak is a force and I’ve never seen anything like him. And his ceiling, he could be the best player to ever play if he really wanted to. That’s pretty scary to think about. But he’s by far my favorite player to watch.” And, yes, Durant, 37, a long-time Heat target, will be a free agent next summer unless he extends (as expected) with the Houston Rockets.
OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS: As the Heat continue to search for additional shooting, returning forward Simone Fontecchio made clear in a recent interview in Italy that he sees his own pathway to such a role alongside Antetokounmpo. “For a guy like him, it’s crucial to have shooters around, and selfishly I could be useful,” Fontecchio told Italian news outlet Domani. With the Heat having already added Tim Hardaway Jr., Fontecchio might have to earn his way back into the rotation, but his patience is among the reasons he apparently was so enticing to retain. “My priority was to continue my NBA career. Pat Riley told me he wanted me to stay, and coach Erik Spoelstra made it clear that he really wanted to keep me,” Fontecchio said. “I’ve always felt their trust, even when I fell out of the rotation.” At 30, Fontecchio said accepting such an uncertain role has become easier. “In recent years it’s become simpler and simpler,” he said.
ADJUSTMENT INCOMING: Just as he had to adjust upon his arrival to the Heat, Chris Bosh, in his recent interview with HoopsHype, said the same will have to be the case for Antetokounmpo. “Just play, go out there and play the game,” Bosh said. “Of course, enjoy Miami. Be a leader in practice that they need you to be on the court and off the court. But just go out there and play basketball. One thing that Spo allows you to do is to go play. So if you have the mindset to be a winner to go out and compete, he’s in the right place. And it’ll be ups and downs just like everything else, but they’ll build around him. He’s the guy. Bam’s the guy. Attack the paint and kick for the three.”
2. NBA players — the Heat’s Nikola Jovic and the Denver Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic — on Serbia’s preliminary roster for World Cup qualifying games on Aug. 28 against Iceland and Aug. 30 against Italy. The Aug. 30 game is expected to pit Jovic against Heat teammate Simone Fontecchio.
Continue reading...
With this being the Heat’s 39th season, that certainly says plenty about the expectations with Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo.
Best one-two power punch in the current NBA?
A case certainly could be made for the Heat’s opening power pairing, certainly up there with:
— Denver’s Nikola Jokic-Aaron Gordon
— Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid-LeBron James
— Cleveland’s Jarrett Allen-Evan Mobley
— Boston’s Mitchell Robinson-Jayson Tatum
— Oklahoma City’s Isaiah Hartenstein-Chet Holmgren
— New York’s Karl-Anthony Towns-OG Anunoby
— Detroit’s Jalen Duren-John Collins
— Indiana’s Ivica Zubac-Pascal Siakam
— Golden State’s Kristaps Porzingis-Draymond Green
— San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama-Tobias Harris
But in most of those cases, the second starter in a power role is more of a career wing, with the limited exceptions of, say, the Nuggets, Cavaliers and Thunder truly playing big-big.
Yet for all the hope of what Antetokounmpo and Adebayo might deliver from a position of power, it’s not as if the Heat haven’t had ample power play to rely upon over the years.
So before looking ahead this season to the Giannis-Bam possibilities, a look back at the previous most noteworthy Heat starting power pairings:
1. Chris Bosh-LeBron James (2010-14): No, neither a true center, but also part of how Erik Spoelstra transformed the Heat dynamic during the Big Three era, recognizing that one can only get so far on the championship stage going with the likes of Joel Anthony, Rony Turiaf and an aging Zydrunas Ilgauskas.
So Bosh took his game even further to the perimeter, LeBron took his game into the post, and the quality of the wing rotations was allowed to flourish.
This likely will be the Heat power standard that Antetokounmpo-Adebayo will come to be measured against.
2. Shaquille O’Neal-Alonzo Mourning (2004-08): Taking some liberties here, considering O’Neal and Mourning never started together during their two-plus seasons as teammates. But their shared tenure left the Heat arguably with their best-ever 1-2 punch at center.
Re-acquired in March 2005, Mourning provided the Heat with the needed boost during the run to the franchise’s first championship, in 2006, as arguably the Heat’s best-ever backup center, with all due respect to what Chris “Birdman” Andersen later would provide during the Big Three era.
3. Alonzo Mourning-P.J. Brown (1996-99): Among the most enduring of the Heat’s power pairings, the two started 241 regular-season games together and 34 Heat playoff games together.
With Brown’s shooting, it provided a needed inside-outside contrast in the power rotation on offense, with both All-Defensive talents on that end of the court.
To a degree, this will be the Heat defensive standard by which the Antetokounmpo-Adebayo pairing will be measured.
4. Rony Seikaly-Grant Long (1988-94): Even as the expansion-era losses mounted, Seikaly and Long provided a needed foundation in the power rotation, appearing in 424 games together and starting 280 together.
It was a unique study in contrasts, the graceful scoring and relentless rebounding of Seikaly, and the lunchpail work ethic of Long that was Heat culture long before the Heat started spelling Culture with a capital C.
5. Shaquille O’Neal-Udonis Haslem (2004-08): While Mourning was the muscle in reserve of O’Neal during the run to that 2006 championship, it was Haslem who provided the starting stability alongside Shaq.
Together, the two started 197 regular-season games together and all but one of the Heat’s 40 playoff games during their combined Heat tenure (with Haslem suspended for that game).
6. Bam Adebayo-Jimmy Butler (2019-2025): Because Butler wanted nothing to do with being classified as a power player, this is a bit of a stretch when it comes to the starting power pairings.
But at moments of truth, including the run to the 2023 NBA Finals against the Nuggets, it often was Adebayo and Butler surrounded by wings and shooters.
By Basketball-Reference’s accounting, Butler spent 83% of his time during the 2022-23 regular season at power forward, then 70% of his time that postseason at power forward.
7. Bam Adebayo-P.J. Tucker (2021-22): This in many ways was the long and short of it for the Heat in the Adebayo area, a surprisingly successful pairing with an undersized stretch four in Tucker, who officially was listed at 6-5 by the NBA.
Together the two started 52 games in their lone season together, including all 18 games in the Heat’s postseason run within one victory of the 2022 NBA Finals.
8. Brian Grant-Anthony Mason (2000-01): Although a staunch proponent of playing big, Pat Riley had no choice but to go smaller with Mourning sidelined by kidney illness.
Together, Mason (generously listed by the NBA at 6-8) and Grant (6-9) started 77 games together, with the Heat closing a surprising 50-32.
Riley then went back to Mourning as a playoff starter, with the Heat ousted 3-0 in the first round by Charlotte.
9. Brian Grant-Lamar Odom (2003-04): This time it was Stan Van Gundy who got creative with an undersized, versatile approach, starting Odom at power forward.
Grand and Odom started 76 games together as the Heat rallied to win 17 of their final 21 regular-season games, with the two also starting all 13 of that season’s playoff games.
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10. Hassan Whiteside-Chris Bosh (2014-16): On paper this had a chance to be special. Instead, it was a mismatched pairing of a player needing to learn how to win (Whiteside) and one who already had won (Bosh).
The two were 4-6 together as starters in 2014-15, but then improved to 25-16 while starting together in 2015-16 before Bosh was sidelined in February 2016 by blood clots.
IN THE LANE
YOUTH MOVEMENT: With the Cleveland Browns opening their training camp, it put team owner Jimmy Haslam in front of microphones for the first time since he swung the Giannis Antetokounmpo deal in his role as Bucks owner. Haslam put the trade of Antetokounmpo into perspective of reloading with youth. “We felt the need to get younger. He was the best asset we had,” Haslem said, according to Milwaukee’s Journal Sentinel, noting the draft capital the Bucks surrendered in previous trades for Damian Lillard and Jrue Holiday. “We had mortgaged our future going forward and I think we got four really good players and we got two draft picks: No. 1 draft picks, a couple swaps and a second. Time will tell. We’ve got to use those picks wisely.” In addition to landing Tyler Herro, Kel’el Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Kasparas Jakucionis from the Heat, the Bucks also landed the Heat’s No. 13 pick that was utilized on Tennessee forward Nate Ament, Heat first-round picks in 2031 and ’33, a first-round swap in 2030 and a second-round pick in 2033.
SPEAKING OF: Speaking of Antetokounmpo, no less than Kevin Durant recently called the Heat trade acquisition his prime viewing choice. “Greek Freak probably the number 1 guy I like to watch,” Durant said during a social-media interview. “Anthony Davis. I like long, athletic guys. That’s just who I am. Greek Freak is a force and I’ve never seen anything like him. And his ceiling, he could be the best player to ever play if he really wanted to. That’s pretty scary to think about. But he’s by far my favorite player to watch.” And, yes, Durant, 37, a long-time Heat target, will be a free agent next summer unless he extends (as expected) with the Houston Rockets.
OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS: As the Heat continue to search for additional shooting, returning forward Simone Fontecchio made clear in a recent interview in Italy that he sees his own pathway to such a role alongside Antetokounmpo. “For a guy like him, it’s crucial to have shooters around, and selfishly I could be useful,” Fontecchio told Italian news outlet Domani. With the Heat having already added Tim Hardaway Jr., Fontecchio might have to earn his way back into the rotation, but his patience is among the reasons he apparently was so enticing to retain. “My priority was to continue my NBA career. Pat Riley told me he wanted me to stay, and coach Erik Spoelstra made it clear that he really wanted to keep me,” Fontecchio said. “I’ve always felt their trust, even when I fell out of the rotation.” At 30, Fontecchio said accepting such an uncertain role has become easier. “In recent years it’s become simpler and simpler,” he said.
ADJUSTMENT INCOMING: Just as he had to adjust upon his arrival to the Heat, Chris Bosh, in his recent interview with HoopsHype, said the same will have to be the case for Antetokounmpo. “Just play, go out there and play the game,” Bosh said. “Of course, enjoy Miami. Be a leader in practice that they need you to be on the court and off the court. But just go out there and play basketball. One thing that Spo allows you to do is to go play. So if you have the mindset to be a winner to go out and compete, he’s in the right place. And it’ll be ups and downs just like everything else, but they’ll build around him. He’s the guy. Bam’s the guy. Attack the paint and kick for the three.”
NUMBER
2. NBA players — the Heat’s Nikola Jovic and the Denver Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic — on Serbia’s preliminary roster for World Cup qualifying games on Aug. 28 against Iceland and Aug. 30 against Italy. The Aug. 30 game is expected to pit Jovic against Heat teammate Simone Fontecchio.
Continue reading...
