Heat's crowded wing rotation is a good problem to have

The Miami Heat, who own the sixth-easiest strength of schedule the rest of the way, are looking to build a rhythm after a poor end heading into the All-Star break. They are in the midst of a season-long four-game losing streak and dipped to three games below .500 for the first time this season at 25-28.

They will also be doing so with a new-look rotation featuring Andrew Wiggins, Davion Mitchell and Kyle Anderson, who barely had a cup of coffee in their first action with the Heat last week. For more on how each player did, click here!

Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra will have his work cut out for him the rest of this season if this team wants to make any noise in the playoffs–if they actually make the playoffs. And one of his tasks will be figuring out a crowded wing rotation, led by Wiggins and third-year forward Nikola Jovic.

Erik Spoelstra, Heat have good problem with wing rotation:

One of my biggest questions exiting the All-Star break was how the wing rotation would figure itself out over the final stretch of the season.

Of course, there’s the possibility of injury, which none of us obviously want to happen. But should everyone be healthy, Spoelstra has a litany of options behind Wiggins:

Nikola Jovic (mentioned above)
Duncan Robinson
Alec Burks
Kyle Anderson
Pelle Larsson
Haywood Highsmith
Jaime Jaquez Jr.

It’s not top-heavy nor will it blow anyone’s socks off, sure. But there’s no shortage of different options for Spoelstra to deploy alongside Tyler Herro, Bam Adebayo and Kel’el Ware, among others.

That doesn’t include Keshad Johnson, who was converted to a standard contract earlier this season–despite spending most of the year with the Sioux Falls Skyforce, the Heat’s G-League affiliate. This is also assuming Terry Rozier isn’t in the rotation; who knows if Spoelstra will continue to give him run, even though he shouldn ‘t.

If Davion Mitchell doesn’t start full-time, then Robinson–an elite shooter with great chemistry with Bam Adebayo–could very well earn that nod. The Heat must see what they have with Jovic, who’s eligible to be extended this offseason; Burks has recently provided a positive impact in the rotation; Anderson is a smart, savvy veteran who can operate as a small-ball 5; Larsson has emerged as one of the Heat’s best perimeter defenders (and connectors); Highsmith, while having a down year defensively, has been one of the Heat’s best 3-point shooters.

We very may well see a mixed back-end of the rotation. Again, a couple of players may be out due to injury, which will help solve the issue of who plays each night. It’s all a very fluid situation. So I am fascinated to see how Spoelstra intermixes certain players into the rotation by the end of the season.