Miami Heat: 3 Reasons the Heat will be surprisingly better this season

The Young Guys

Let’s start with the young players that could end up being rotation pieces for the Miami Heat at some point this season. There are four young, intriguing players on the roster who didn’t get minutes at all last season for Miami. When talking about how the Heat could replace the production that will be missed after Gabe Vincent and Max Strus left in free agency, this is how.

Nikola Jovic

Nikola Jovic is one of the more interesting players to watch during pre-season and into the start of the regular season. He had a solid run playing in the FIBA World Cup for the Serbian national team and is hoping to carry that over into the regular season. He didn’t play much last season and there’s a very real chance he’s in the rotation from day 1.

Jaime Jaquez Jr.

The same could be said for Jaime Jaquez Jr. who has already received praise from Jimmy Butler through the first few practices in training camp. If he is as NBA-ready to contribute to a team as many draft analysts believed, there’s a chance he could emerge as a steal for the Heat late in the first round. Could he be that Strus replacement on the wing?

Haywood Highsmith

Haywood Highsmith is a player that we saw sparingly during the regular season and in the playoffs. Because of his defensive versatility, there’s a chance he gets a bigger role in the absence of Strus. For Highsmith, it all comes down to whether or not his offensive game has evolved during the summer.

Orlando Robinson 

The Miami Heat need a big to emerge next to Bam Adebayo. I’m not sure if Orlando Robinson is going to be that player to fill the need in the frontcourt, but he’ll get a shot.