How Erik Spoelstra can turn Nassir Little into a strong rotation piece

The Miami Heat hit their fanbase with yet another under the radar acquisition by bringing in free agent forward Nassir Little. The five-year veteran was signed to a non-guaranteed one-year standard contract, filling the Heat’s 15th and final roster spot. With the deal not being guaranteed, it won’t affect Miami in going over that second apron.

Little is coming off a brief stint with the Phoenix Suns, where he averaged just 3.4 points, 1.7 rebounds and 0.5 assists on 46% shooting. He is a career 33% shooter from 3-point range and his best season came with the Portland Trail Blazers during the 2021-22 season. He averaged 9.8 points, 5.6 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 0.9 blocks on that year’s campaign.

It‘s easy to look at these numbers and really question how this type of signing makes sense… but in reality, it does.

The Heat typical tend to be attracted to guys that have a deeper impact to games than just the box score. Little brings intangibles, energy and some fountain of youth to the roster entering his age-24 season. Most importantly, there is defensive versatility here, being listed at 6-foot-6 with a ridiculous 7-foot-2 wingspan.

Those types of attributes can make him a strong option to withstand switches onto other positions defensively. During his short NBA career so far, he has shown high activity on that end of the floor; getting active in passing lanes and providing on-ball pressure. There are also rim finishing abilities from Little, and can find himself being the recipient of attacking open seams from the Heat’s playmakers.

Miami lost defensive stalwarts in Caleb Martin and Delon Wright during this offseason. They quickly pivoted in re-signing Haywood Highsmith in a desperate attempt to keep a true 3 and D type of player in the mix. However, it was clear that there would still be some help needed on that end of the floor throughout the rotation.

The initial thought, and still something that can materialize, is converting Keshad Johnson to a standard at some point during the season. That is only a possible route if Johnson receives consistent playing time though. The same could be said with Little, as the Heat currently sport a plethora of depth when healthy.

However, health is something that this team has proved can’t be relied on during the course of a season. As soon as injuries start to come up (or even pile up), that’s when coach Erik Spoelstra becomes more open to giving minutes to the hungrier young guys looking for an opportunity. Spoelstra has also not been shy in giving a guy filling in due to injury a permanent rotation spot, if earned.

That was seen with development pieces like Martin, Highsmith, Gabe Vincent and Max Strus over the years.

With all this being said, Little has those defensive abilities that can win over Spoelstra if given any playing time. He could surely be an asset out on the perimeter with his size and length at either of the forward positions. The Heat have some top heavy offensive minded players and are going to need a guy that can take assignments on opposing team’s best players.

Little will be hungry enough to want to do so, and maybe a real role under a coach that isn’t afraid to give out opportunity can help develop his offensive game a bit more.

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