More than maybe any other playoff hopeful, the Miami Heat is more reliant on the entire sum of its parts than the single individual pieces. With no clear All-Star on the roster, the Heat needs just about everyone to play well to achieve its goals.
Almost 10 games into the season, Miami is once again hovering near .500, so how have all these pieces been coming together? On the Heat Check podcast this week, David Wilson and Heat beat writer Anthony Chiang hand out the simplest grades possible: thumbs up or thumbs down.
Obviously, wing guard Josh Richardson is thriving and wing Wayne Ellington has vanished, but what about the middle-of-the pack guys? Is post player Bam Adebayo playing to the level he should be? What do we make of forward Justise Winslow’s abysmal shooting percentage, but productivity everywhere else? This episode takes a look at the 11 healthy players who might play an important role in the rotation throughout the season, all the way from Dwyane Wade down to small forward Derrick Jones Jr.
A new episode will be published weekly throughout the season, so be sure to stay tuned as the season goes on and don’t hesitate to pass along any feedback.