<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/heat-news-tyler-herro-hilariously-distracted-interview-fight-stands');   ga('set', 'title', 'Heat’s Tyler Herro hilariously distracted during interview by fight in stands');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Heat-news-Tyler-Herro-hilariously-distracted-during-interview-by-fight-in-stands.jpg"></figure><h1>Heat’s Tyler Herro hilariously distracted during interview by fight in stands</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-10-15T20:53:32-07:00">October 15th, 8:53pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-10-15T20:53:32-07:00">October 15th, 8:53pm</time><address><a>Michael Aaron Gomez</a>Michael Aaron Gomez is a creative writer and longtime NBA fan. He has been a fan of the Lakers since the three-peat but believes LeBron James is the greatest player of all time.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Miami Heat defeated the San Antonio Spurs in their preseason game 120-117, but one of its biggest stories happened afterward. During his postgame interview, Heat guard Tyler Herro saw fans fighting in the stands, which distracted him and led to a hilarious exchange before he left for the locker room.</p><p>“I’m sorry, I’m distracted by a fight up there. This is CRAZY!” Herro said, via a post shared by ClutchPoints on X, formerly Twitter.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">“I’m sorry, I’m distracted by a fight up there. This is CRAZY!”</p><p>Tyler Herro was watching a fight during his postgame interview 🤣</p><p>(via <a href="https://twitter.com/BallyHEAT?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@BallyHEAT</a>)<a href="https://t.co/HvLSQepf8U">pic.twitter.com/HvLSQepf8U</a></p><p>— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1846374668342620445?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 16, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><h2><b>Same team, new season for the Heat</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Tyler-Herro-shooting-the-ball.jpg"><figcaption>© Sam Navarro-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>The Miami Heat enter the new season with the same core of Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, and Tyler Herro, with their <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/heat-news-miami-pulls-off-terry-rozier-kyle-lowry-trade-hornets">new addition of Terry Rozier</a> for additional scoring. However, questions still remain about the team, whose core is certainly good enough to reach the Finals but could never get over the hump.</p><p>Moreover, the Celtics may have finally lapped them, upgrading their roster with the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/celtics-news-kristaps-porzingis-traded-to-boston-in-new-3-team-stunner-including-marcus-smart-grizzlies">acquisitions of Kristaps Porzingis</a>, Jrue Holiday, and Derrick White, the ultimate two-way glue guy. Do the Heat still have enough firepower to get out of the East?</p><p>Former coach Stan Van Gundy doesn’t think so.</p><p>“I really don’t understand what’s going on there. They’re really a win-now team, which I respect, and <a href="https://www.si.com/nba/heat/ex-heat-coach-criticizes-miami-front-office-for-false-sense-of-security-pat-riley-nba-2024" rel="noopener">they haven’t put a roster</a> around there that has a chance,” the ex-coach-turned-broadcaster said, via Anthony Pasciolla for Sports Illustrated.</p><p>Heat fans might say that Van Gundy has some good points. Jimmy Butler is entering a contract year, and is now on the wrong side of 30 with a sizable injury history. He missed the first round of the playoffs last season, where the Celtics routed them 4-1.</p><p>While Scary Terry also missed that series because of injury, it remains unclear if he would have made a difference if the talent difference between the two teams was too much.</p><p>Bam Adebayo is a Defensive Player of the Year candidate, but he probably needs more help than Butler, Herro, and Rozier can provide. They most likely will lean harder on second-year player Jaime Jaquez, Jr. and expedite the development of promising rookie Kel’el Ware.</p><h2><b>Roster needs</b></h2><p>The Heat’s relative lack of difference-making players might spell the difference between playoff success and disappointment, and SVG agreed.</p><p>“They didn’t have a great team, and they didn’t have a great year. That’s not a very good roster. To me, that’s a play-in roster again,” the coach said.</p><p>No one knows what will happen next season, but the Heat’s title window may have closed. Meanwhile, the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/timberwolves-finalizing-shocking-karl-anthony-towns-trade-with-knicks">New York Knicks have acquired Karl-Anthony Towns</a> and Mikal Bridges, while the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/76ers-news-philly-makes-paul-george-splash-free-agency">Philadelphia 76ers landed Paul George</a>.</p><p>A 35-year-old Jimmy Butler and Tyler Herro might not be enough to help Bam and the Heat reach the promised land anymore, despite all the fight, toughness, and funny interviews.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Heat’s Tyler Herro hilariously distracted during interview by fight in stands

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/heat-news-erik-spoelstra-identifies-important-key-behind-developing-miami-chemistry');   ga('set', 'title', 'Erik Spoelstra identifies ‘important’ key behind developing Heat chemistry');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Heat-news-Erik-Spoelstra-identifies-important-key-behind-developing-Miami-chemistry.jpg"></figure><h1>Erik Spoelstra identifies ‘important’ key behind developing Heat chemistry</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-10-15T20:31:30-07:00">October 15th, 8:31pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-10-15T20:32:34-07:00">October 15th, 8:32pm</time><address><a>Zachary Weinberger</a>Zachary Weinberger joined ClutchPoints in October 2023 as a Miami Heat reporter as well as an Associate Editor. He graduated from Florida Atlantic University in 2022 after covering the school's athletic programs since his freshman year at the FAU University Press, where he was a Sports Editor and Editor-in-Chief. He then covered FAU Sports for The Palm Beach Post.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>As the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/3-heat-takeaways-from-the-close-preseason-win-vs-spurs">Miami Heat beat the San Antonio Spurs in a preseason squeaker Tuesday</a> night, 120-117, fans got an extended look into the most anticipated aspect of the team this upcoming season. Looking <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/heat-news-erik-spoelstra-nikola-jovic-drop-first-impressions-of-miamis-starting-lineup">at the Heat’s projected starting lineup</a>, this preseason has been a chance to showcase them to build the chemistry which was put on display in the victory against the Spurs.</p><p>Miami’s starting lineup played both halves of the game since it was their second game played with one another as it consists of Terry Rozier, Tyler Herro, Jimmy Butler, Nikola Jovic, and Bam Adebayo. While they came out during the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/3-heat-takeaways-from-home-preseason-opener-win-vs-pelicans">Heat’s home preseason opener agains the Pelicans</a> Sunday, it led to middling results compared to Tuesday <a href="https://x.com/ZachWeinberger/status/1846381093869535690" rel="noopener">which saw a more cohesive unit to the approval</a> of head coach Erik Spoelstra.</p><p>“Yeah, I like it, you know, but who cares what the head coach thinks they like it,” Spoelstra said. “They’re comfortable, they’re gaining confidence and the most important thing is they’re intentional about the work and the process of putting this, you know, together just to start the season, and then we know, we’ll see what happens once we get into it, and we’ll have to figure things out. But I love the intent so far.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Erik Spoelstra on the starting five and their improved performance tonight.</p><p>“I like it, but who cares what the head coach thinks, they like it, they’re comfortable…” <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HeatCulture?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#HeatCulture</a> <a href="https://t.co/8lWgHLRWVA">pic.twitter.com/8lWgHLRWVA</a></p><p>— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) <a href="https://twitter.com/ZachWeinberger/status/1846381093869535690?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 16, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><br>It was a stark contrast from last game where due to it being their first game together, aspects were jumbled until it became better later in the contest. Tuesday, the starting five flowed in transition better, knew each others strengths, found the right spots for buckets, and more.</p></figure><h2><b>Heat’s Terry Rozier speaks on the chemistry with the team</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Terry-Rozier-and-Jimmy-Butler-on-Oct.-15-2024.jpg"><figcaption>Sam Navarro-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Besides the main two stars in Butler and Adebayo, a key part of the starting five to get antiquated is <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/heat-news-miami-pulls-off-terry-rozier-kyle-lowry-trade-hornets">Rozier who was acquired at the trade deadline last season</a> and missed the last 11 games of the season with a neck issue. Having the full offseason to recover and get extended minutes in each preseason game, <a href="https://x.com/ZachWeinberger/status/1846382195293692241" rel="noopener">he spoke highly of the chemistry</a> between everybody and the time used to recover.</p><p>“It feels great,” Rozier said. “I think we’ve been building great relationships since Bahamas. You know, just, basically, just focused on getting my wind up, because I know everything else to take care of itself.”</p><p>“Oh yeah, definitely,” Rozier said when asked if the offseason was an ample opportunity to get his bearings straight. “Got a lot of time to really get our bodies right, get our minds right. So, you know, now we here, it’s time to go. I think we all got one, one thing and goal in mind, so that’s what we want to do.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Terry Rozier on the chemistry of the starting five.</p><p>“It feels great, we’ve been building a great relationship since the Bahamas…” <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HeatCulture?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#HeatCulture</a> <a href="https://t.co/fQF5ISyJS2">pic.twitter.com/fQF5ISyJS2</a></p><p>— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) <a href="https://twitter.com/ZachWeinberger/status/1846382195293692241?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 16, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><br>Rozier would finish with five points on two for eight shooting to go with five assists and five rebounds as he looks to be better and become the ultimate playmaker for the Miami. Besides the chemistry to the rest of the group, the fans have also been interested in how he plays alongside a fellow guard in Herro.</p></figure><h2><b>Heat’s Tyler Herro on “the biggest thing” with the starting five</b></h2><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/heat-news-tyler-herro-reveals-honest-mindset-amid-role-uncertainty">The Heat star in Herro said before how he’ll fit</a> in any unit and showed that Tuesday where he scored 14 points to go along with four assists as he succeeded when he was on and off the ball. He’s working on getting acclimated with everybody on the floor and said<a href="https://x.com/ZachWeinberger/status/1846382474282111457" rel="noopener"> how fulfilling it’s been just to be out there</a> with his teammates.</p><p>“Yeah, it feels good just getting out there on the court with the guys just getting minutes, getting reps,” Herro said. “I think that’s the biggest, biggest thing at this point, just being able to go out there and work through the different things, spacing, where guys like to be, guys strength spots, and where they like the ball. So we’ve been working at it for a couple weeks now, since Bahamas, since training camp started, and everyone’s open to it so it’s good.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Tyler Herro on playing a second game with the projected starting five in a preseason game.</p><p>“It feels good just getting out there on the court with the guys…” <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HeatCulture?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#HeatCulture</a> <a href="https://t.co/1nY1ERZhRq">pic.twitter.com/1nY1ERZhRq</a></p><p>— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) <a href="https://twitter.com/ZachWeinberger/status/1846382474282111457?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 16, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><br>All five of them played well, especially on defense as the Spurs had to earn for their makes until the third quarter where it got interesting and turned into a close game where the second and third unit finished it out with a win. The Heat now look ahead to the backend of the back-to-back as they face the Atlanta Hawks Wednesday where it’s expected that the starters have little to no involvement.</p></figure><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Erik Spoelstra identifies ‘important’ key behind developing Heat chemistry

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/3-heat-takeaways-from-the-close-preseason-win-vs-spurs');   ga('set', 'title', '3 Heat takeaways from the close preseason win vs. Spurs');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/3-Heat-takeaways-from-preseason-winloss-vs.-Spurs.jpg"></figure><h1>3 Heat takeaways from the close preseason win vs. Spurs</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-10-15T18:58:21-07:00">October 15th, 6:58pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-10-15T18:59:51-07:00">October 15th, 6:59pm</time><address><a>Zachary Weinberger</a>Zachary Weinberger joined ClutchPoints in October 2023 as a Miami Heat reporter as well as an Associate Editor. He graduated from Florida Atlantic University in 2022 after covering the school's athletic programs since his freshman year at the FAU University Press, where he was a Sports Editor and Editor-in-Chief. He then covered FAU Sports for The Palm Beach Post.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Mini-Editorials</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>After the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/3-heat-takeaways-from-home-preseason-opener-win-vs-pelicans">Miami Heat won the home preseason opener last Sunday</a>, they win two straight Tuesday night beating the San Antonio Spurs, 120-117. The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/heat-news-erik-spoelstra-miami-not-sweating-reloaded-east">Heat are on the quest to compete against a tough East</a> as they look to prepare their players during the preseason before the games get meaningful later in the month.</p><p>Here are three takeaways from the Heat’s win:</p><h2><b>The second appearance of the Heat’s projected starting five</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Jimmy-Butler-on-Oct.-15-2024.jpg"><figcaption>Sam Navarro-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>One of the biggest aspects for the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/heat-news-erik-spoelstra-nikola-jovic-drop-first-impressions-of-miamis-starting-lineup">Heat this season is the projected starting five</a> of Terry Rozier, Tyler Herro, Jimmy Butler, Nikola Jovic, and Bam Adebayo. In Sunday’s preseason home opener win against the New Orleans Pelicans, they started slow due to the five having never played with each other in a game, but ended on a good note giving a taste of what could be.</p><p>Tuesday night saw the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/heat-news-erik-spoelstra-searching-for-innocent-climb-amid-starting-lineup-questions">Heat’s starting five have success</a> in a lot more areas compared to their last outing as they flowed much better in transition, got the exact shots they wanted, and capitalize on the opportunties. There is no doubt that it will be a work in progress since it’s their second game together, but it’s hopefully a good sign of things to come for the regular season.</p><p>To start the game, they weren’t making all of the shots that were open to them as they made seven of their 17 attempts from the field and three of 10 from deep. Still, they were finding their spots and getting the looks they want while the Spurs had to work for their buckets as Miami played stifling defense.</p><p>When they got out of the first quarter, each had a +4 which improved to a +6 by the end of the first half where they played even smoother, looking like a cohesive unit instead of a lineup with a mish-mash of talent.</p><h2><b>More time for starting five in the second half </b></h2><p>The starting five would even come back out for the second half which didn’t happen in the last game as Spoelstra wants as much time with this lineup as possible. It does make sense as the Heat have the backend of the back to back the next day which is likely to not see any of the starters play and if they do, it would be a brief appearance.</p><p>Playing crucial stars on a back to back in the preseason wouldn’t be the ideal move as the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/heat-news-erik-spoelstra-makes-injury-guarantee-after-recent-woes">Heat are preparing for a fully healthy lineup this season which has been a well documented issue</a> the past few years. What is the projected starting five is still a work in progress as they did end their time in the game on a middling note as the team had their worst period up until that point in the third where they scored 22 points while San Antonio had their best at 33.</p><p>At any rate, Adebayo led the five with 20, Herro with 14, Butler with 12, Jovic with seven, and Rozier with five. The next time fans could see them is the game after Wednesday which is on Friday against the Memphis Grizzlies on the road.</p><h2><b>How the Heat’s second unit looked</b></h2><p>Alec Burks came back to the lineup after a day off in the win over the Pelicans in exchange for Haywood Highsmith who didn’t play as one would assume he has the same reasoning. The first five off the bench after the starters was Dru Smith, Duncan Robinson, Alec Burks, Jaime Jaquez Jr., and Kevin Love.</p><p>They continued what the starters gave which was complimentary basketball, especially with some noticeable exceptional ball movement as at one point, Miami had 10 assists on 13 made baskets. The unit would come back in the second half with a slight change at center with Thomas Bryant and continued the slippage that the starting lineup had.</p><p>However, they got a groove back after losing a lead and got it back with over 10 minutes left in the game thought it became a close one at the end with the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/heat-news-erik-spoelstra-has-encouraging-nikola-jovic-outlook-entering-year-3">Heat squeaking it out</a>. Wednesday’s game against the Hawks should be a full display of the Heat’s young talent looking to make a name for themselves whether they are rookies or unproven players.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

3 Heat takeaways from the close preseason win vs. Spurs

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/heat-news-erik-spoelstra-has-encouraging-nikola-jovic-outlook-entering-year-3');   ga('set', 'title', 'Heat’s Erik Spoelstra has ‘encouraging’ Nikola Jovic outlook entering Year 3');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Heats-Erik-Spoelstra-has-encouraging-Nikola-Jovic-outlook-entering-Year-3.jpg"></figure><h1>Heat’s Erik Spoelstra has ‘encouraging’ Nikola Jovic outlook entering Year 3</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-10-15T15:34:26-07:00">October 15th, 3:34pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-10-15T15:34:26-07:00">October 15th, 3:34pm</time><address><a>Zachary Weinberger</a>Zachary Weinberger joined ClutchPoints in October 2023 as a Miami Heat reporter as well as an Associate Editor. He graduated from Florida Atlantic University in 2022 after covering the school's athletic programs since his freshman year at the FAU University Press, where he was a Sports Editor and Editor-in-Chief. He then covered FAU Sports for The Palm Beach Post.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>With the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/heat-news-erik-spoelstra-miami-not-sweating-reloaded-east">Heat looking to impress this season against a tough Eastern Conference</a>, one of the many pieces that could shine this season is 21-year old Nikola Jovic who is entering his third season in the NBA. Looking to have a role <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/heat-news-erik-spoelstra-nikola-jovic-drop-first-impressions-of-miamis-starting-lineup">with the Heat’s starting lineup this year</a>, head coach Erik Spoelstra spoke before Tuesday’s preseason game against the San Antonio Spurs about the work he’s put in to prepare for 2024.</p><p>Jovic was a mainstay in the starting lineup in the latter half of the season prior where he was next to Bam Adebayo bringing size and spacing. Spoelstra would say to ClutchPoints that <a href="https://x.com/ZachWeinberger/status/1846310134684819940" rel="noopener">it has been a positive trajectory for the 21-year old</a> and his time with the Serbian national team in the Paris Olympics, where he won a bronze medal, gives him some much needed experience.</p><p>“It’s encouraging that he’s taking these big steps in the last two years,” Spoelstra said. “You know, he put in a great deal of work after the season, in the lead up and it was unfortunate that he got hurt, but I was really glad that he was able to get back with the team and experience that whole deal, the competitive nature of the Olympics, I think, one thing it’s a life experience. But two, it just really, you know, puts an impression on everybody that was there. And I think that was good for him the last two summers were really good and he did a bunch of work with us as well. You can see that work with this player development, but also in terms of getting his body ready, strong, fast, all those things that you need to prepare for an 82-game season.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Asked Erik Spoelstra about the work he’s seen Nikola Jovic put in for this season still at 21 years old. Would talk about how huge it was to be a part of the Olympics.</p><p>“It’s encouraging that he’s taken these big steps…” <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HeatCulture?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#HeatCulture</a> <a href="https://t.co/UIDFnwSJmt">pic.twitter.com/UIDFnwSJmt</a></p><p>— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) <a href="https://twitter.com/ZachWeinberger/status/1846310134684819940?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 15, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://instagram.com/embed.js"></script></p></figure><h2><b>Heat’s Nikola Jovic on his role in the starting lineup</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Nikola-Jovic-on-Oct-13-2024.jpg"><figcaption>Sam Navarro-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Even at such a young age, Spoelstra has the trust in him to start alongside other star players like the aforementioned Adebayo, Jimmy Butler, Terry Rozier, and Tyler Herro. As said before, he gives the Heat the size that they need at the power forward position where last season, they also used Haywood Highsmith and Caleb Martin who are smaller than a traditional player at the four.</p><p>His main area that he’s looking to hit more consistently is from three-point range where last season, he made 39.9 percent of his shots from deep to go along with averaging 7.7 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 2.0 assists per game. In the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/3-heat-takeaways-from-home-preseason-opener-win-vs-pelicans">last Heat preseason game against the New Orleans Pelicans</a>, he made one of four attempts from beyond the arch where Jovic said “it’ll be a lot better” and went into his role.</p><p>“I mean, I have to make them,” Jovic said Sunday. “You have a Jimmy and Bam, who can, you know, punish things in the paint. And you have Tyler and Terry, who’s gonna, you know, be what they are, and make plays for others. And I found myself open, you know, almost every time I shot it, I just have to make it. I’m not sure what happened today, it’ll be a lot better for sure. And yeah, I just got to make shots, because there’s not going to be a lot of them and the ones I get, I have to make.”</p><p>At any rate, it remains to be seen what <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/heat-news-nikola-jovic-reveals-training-camp-plan-as-he-returns-from-injury-setback">kind of jump Jovic will make</a>, especially when surrounded by a ton of other talent in the starting lineup, but fans are excited nonetheless. The Heat have a back to back Tuesday and Wednesday for preseason games taking on the Spurs and Atlanta Hawks.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Heat’s Erik Spoelstra has ‘encouraging’ Nikola Jovic outlook entering Year 3

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/heat-player-danger-losing-starting-job-2024-25-training-camp');   ga('set', 'title', '1 Heat player in danger of losing starting job in 2024-25 training camp');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/1-Heat-player-in-danger-of-losing-starting-job-in-2024-25-training-camp-1.jpg"></figure><h1>1 Heat player in danger of losing starting job in 2024-25 training camp</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-10-15T11:16:15-07:00">October 15th, 11:16am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-10-15T11:16:15-07:00">October 15th, 11:16am</time><address><a>Jaren Kawada</a>Jaren Kawada is a former full-time sports bettor and is now a NFL, College Football and Betting Associate Editor at ClutchPoints. Kawada was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii, but now resides in Indianapolis, Indiana, after graduating from Butler University with a B.A. in sports media. Aside from football, Kawada is an avid combat sports and basketball bettor.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA Editorials</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>In the last five years, the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/heat-news-perfect-letter-underdog-8-seed-miami-historic-run-2023-nba-finals">Miami Heat have gone to the Eastern Conference Finals</a> three times, winning it twice. Throughout that period, the team has kept the core of its roster together but could potentially be in the final year of its ongoing era with star Jimmy Butler in the final season of his current contract.</p><p>Regardless of where Butler plays in the 2025-2026 season, there is no doubt that he is not the future of the team. At 35 years old, Butler is at the end of his athletic prime with the team ready to transition to recent Olympic gold medalist Bam Adebayo as their superstar.</p><p>Even then, Butler is clearly not going to come off the bench despite his age. The six-time All-Star has averaged over 20 points per game in nine of his last 11 seasons. Adebayo, along with high-priced stars Terry Rozier III and Tyler Herro, are just as locked-in. That leaves one returning starter with the least job security by a wide margin.</p><p>The Heat are currently <a href="https://www.miamiherald.com/sports/nba/miami-heat/article293927899.html" rel="noopener">content with their starting lineup</a> but in the ever-changing modern NBA, nothing is guaranteed.</p><h2>Nikola Jovic could lose starting job in 2024-2025</h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Nikola-Jovic.jpg"><figcaption>Jerome Miron-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>There is no doubt that few players on the Heat roster broke through more than Nikola Jovic did in 2023-2024. The former first-round pick began the year spending time with the Heat’s G-League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce. By the season, he became the starting power forward. Jovic is seemingly the perfect fit next to Adebayo as a sizeable stretch four with a unique offensive skill set.</p><p>No matter how impressive Jovic has been, he could be the victim of timing. If all goes right for rookie Kel’el Ware, the former Hoosier will be right on his heels. As the Heat’s No. 15 overall selection in the 2024 NBA Draft, Ware was one of the most impressive players in the ensuing NBA Summer League. Few doubted his talent but there were questions about Miami selecting him considering his fit with Adebayo. The 2024 Paris Olympics put some of them to rest.</p><p>One of the biggest criticisms of Adebayo’s game is his lack of a three-point shot, something he improved on during the 2023-2024 season by making a career-high 15 triples on 35.7 percent accuracy. The 27-year-old showed off his continuous efforts during the Olympics as a <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/olympics-news-team-usas-anthony-davis-bam-adebayo-making-terrorizing-waves-vs-serbia">reliable floor-spacing big man next to Anthony Davis</a>.</p><p>At 6-foot-9, adding a jump shot to the game of Adebayo would make him a feasible power forward. That would allow Ware to occupy the middle as his running mate. Ware also showed the potential ability to space the floor in college at Indiana, making 42.5 percent of his three-pointers.</p><p>While Jovic is a much better floor-spacer and offensive weapon, the interior defensive tandem of Adebayo and Ware would have the potential to be the best in the league. Erik Spoelstra is notorious for favoring defense, potentially giving Ware the inside track.</p><h2>Jaime Jaquez Jr. could also threaten Nikola Jovic</h2><p>However, Spoelstra has also been hesitant to play rookies right away. That would give Jovic some security from Ware in the short term but not from budding star Jaime Jaquez Jr. The 23-year-old is fresh off a first-team All-Rookie season and would give up considerable size at 6-foot-6 but already has 24 starts under his belt, including all four of his career playoff games.</p><p>A starting job for Jaquez is also unlikely given how much Jovic has grown on Spoelstra, who also likes the idea of the UCLA product running his second unit. Yet, if there is a player in the league who embodies the Heat culture more than Butler and Adebayo, it might be Jaquez. There is something to earning Spoelstra’s trust that is difficult to lose.</p><p>At this point in the offseason, it appears clear that Jovic will begin the year as Miami’s starting power forward. Spoelstra has yet to fully unleash the Serbian but 2024-2025 could finally be his year. Either way, finding a stable player at the position has been a never-ending task for the Heat since they <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/heat-news-chris-bosh-sounds-off-painful-death-career-admission">lost Chris Bosh nearly a decade ago</a> and there is no reason for Jovic to assume his job is safe.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

1 Heat player in danger of losing starting job in 2024-25 training camp

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/heat-news-erik-spoelstra-eyeing-breakout-season-for-key-miami-point-guard');   ga('set', 'title', 'Erik Spoelstra eyeing breakout season for key Heat point guard');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Erik-Spoelstra-eyeing-breakout-season-for-key-Miami-point-guard.jpg"></figure><h1>Erik Spoelstra eyeing breakout season for key Heat point guard</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-10-14T14:52:32-07:00">October 14th, 2:52pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-10-14T14:52:32-07:00">October 14th, 2:52pm</time><address><a>Zachary Weinberger</a>Zachary Weinberger joined ClutchPoints in October 2023 as a Miami Heat reporter as well as an Associate Editor. He graduated from Florida Atlantic University in 2022 after covering the school's athletic programs since his freshman year at the FAU University Press, where he was a Sports Editor and Editor-in-Chief. He then covered FAU Sports for The Palm Beach Post.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/3-heat-takeaways-from-home-preseason-opener-win-vs-pelicans">Miami Heat got their first preseason win over the New Orleans Pelicans</a> Sunday evening where this time of the year displays players that are under the radar. As the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/heat-news-erik-spoelstra-miami-not-sweating-reloaded-east">Heat prepare for a tough Eastern Conference this season</a>, they will look for any break out player which head coach Erik Spoelstra speaks highly of one possibility after the victory Sunday.</p><p>In terms of the player in question, it would be Dru Smith who is serving as the team’s backup point guard as evident in the first two preseason contests. He showed his play-making skills Sunday where he scored four points, collected three rebounds, had two steals, one block, and five assists (a team high) as one of the first five coming off the bench.</p><h2><b>Heat’s Erik Spoelstra on the strengths of Dru Smith</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Dru-Smith-on-Oct.jpg"><figcaption>Sam Navarro-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>There is no doubt that this is a great sign as <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/heat-news-miami-calls-nba-concerns-cavs-court-dru-smith-injury">Smith had been in the process of recovering from a torn ACL</a> last season and the surgery that came after it. Heat had him return on a two-way contract and is now playing a big role as Spoelstra <a href="https://x.com/ZachWeinberger/status/1845925031651823790" rel="noopener">sung his praises to the media</a> after the win against New Orleans.</p><p>“The first thing is that it’s a real credit to him and the training staff, the fact that he’s out here doing what he’s doing,” Spoelstra said. “You know, after his injury, he really worked at it behind the scenes, and you have some really tough days, you know, in May, June, July, but he has that mental forms to that toughness that’s that’s unique. That’s a superpower of his.”</p><p>“I did not look at his box score,” Spoelstra continued. “So much of what he does, it won’t show up [in the boxscore]. He just makes winning play after winning play. The guys love playing with him, he connects the group. Defensively, he’s tough. Really can make a lot of things happen. If there’s a ball going around, he’s going to find a way to be around it or deflect it or steal it. And then he allows that group to function because he can get them organized and get the ball where it needs to go.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">From last night…Erik Spoelstra on Dru Smith who displayed his skills coming back from injury.</p><p>“So much of what he does, it won’t show up [in the box score]…” <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HeatCulture?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#HeatCulture</a> <a href="https://t.co/1rKDhhMnad">pic.twitter.com/1rKDhhMnad</a></p><p>— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) <a href="https://twitter.com/ZachWeinberger/status/1845925031651823790?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 14, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://instagram.com/embed.js"></script></p></figure><h2><b>Heat’s Dru Smith on being back out on the floor with his team</b></h2><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/heat-news-erik-spoelstra-nikola-jovic-drop-first-impressions-of-miamis-starting-lineup">With the excitement of the Heat’s starting lineup</a>, the second unit is an interesting one as Smith seems to have a big role incoming for this season. He’s not taking the opportunity for granted, especially after being <a href="https://x.com/ZachWeinberger/status/1845925140192022671" rel="noopener">away from basketball for an extended period of time</a> as he spoke about in the locker room.</p><p>“It’s been fun,” Smith said. “It’s been good to get back out there just to even have the opportunity to be playing again. I think one thing about the injury is it just kind of gave me a fresh perspective just to appreciate the game and appreciate my opportunities when I get out there. Just playing hard, that’s all I’m trying to do. Just play hard, play the right way and try to get everybody involved.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">From last night…Dru Smith on displaying his skills, coming back from injury.</p><p>“It’s been fun, it’s been good to get back out there…” <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HeatCulture?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#HeatCulture</a> <a href="https://t.co/tOMw7nsLFw">pic.twitter.com/tOMw7nsLFw</a></p><p>— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) <a href="https://twitter.com/ZachWeinberger/status/1845925140192022671?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 14, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><br>He also showed off some defensive intensity in the second quarter of the game where at a few points, he was matched up with the tough Zion Williamson, but held his own and found ways to be active and get the ball in his hands. As for his health, he experienced major strides as while before he had hope to be at least limited in training camp, <a href="https://x.com/ZachWeinberger/status/1845925355963449501" rel="noopener" target="_blank">he’s been active in the preseason</a> even having to recover for a grueling 10 months after ACL reconstruction surgery.</p></figure><p>“I feel pretty good,” Smith said. “I mean, as good as I could have hoped for at this point. Yeah, I was hoping to be ready for training camp. We kind of jumped into it fairly quickly. I had played live like two or three times before camp started and then jumped right in. So it’s been going good. The knee has been responding really well. So just got to stay on top of it.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Dru Smith on how he feels coming back from injury.</p><p>“I feel pretty good…” <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HeatCulture?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#HeatCulture</a> <a href="https://t.co/9KLT8Oktbc">pic.twitter.com/9KLT8Oktbc</a></p><p>— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) <a href="https://twitter.com/ZachWeinberger/status/1845925355963449501?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 14, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://instagram.com/embed.js"></script></p></figure><h2><b>Heat’s Dru Smith on being the facilitator of the second unit</b></h2><p>As said before, it seems likely until the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/heat-news-josh-richardson-out-for-season-after-shoulder-injury-that-needs-surgery">Heat’s Josh Richardson can come back</a> from season-ending shoulder surgery which he’s in the process of recovering, he will head the second unit as the main facilitator. He’s one of the team’s few “true” point guards and said after the win that he gets <a href="https://x.com/ZachWeinberger/status/1845925663837942047" rel="noopener">“more joy”</a> of feeding other players than scoring.</p><p>“I mean, that brings me more joy than, you know, scoring baskets,” Smith said. “Like seeing other guys with even records playing defense hard and, you know, just getting out in transition, seeing everybody, everybody eats whenever you’re locking up, and then whenever you’re getting back on the other end quickly. So definitely fun. I think that that second unit tonight, I had a great time playing together. Just got to keep rolling.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Dru Smith on his role being a facilitator for the Heat.</p><p>“That brings me more joy than scoring baskets…” <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HeatCulture?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#HeatCulture</a> <a href="https://t.co/uw1nGmqw5M">pic.twitter.com/uw1nGmqw5M</a></p><p>— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) <a href="https://twitter.com/ZachWeinberger/status/1845925663837942047?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 14, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://instagram.com/embed.js"></script></p></figure><h2><b>Heat’s Dru Smith on building chemistry with the second unit</b></h2><p>While the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/heat-news-erik-spoelstra-searching-for-innocent-climb-amid-starting-lineup-questions">Heat’s starting lineup looks to build chemistry</a> and will be a talking point throughout the season, the second unit will be as well as Smith will work along side others such as Duncan Robinson, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kevin Love, and more. He would talk amount the importance of not only “gelling” together, but also playing to their strengths in causing turnovers and being a more faster paced team.</p><p>“I think just overall, you know, I think that second unit we’ve had a good few days together,” Smith said. “Just kind of gelling together, you know, through practice and everything like that. So I think it doesn’t always mean anything, but I think today it translates to the floor for us and, you know, we’re just out there trying to have fun together.”</p><p>“I think anytime you can, you know get a turnover and get out on the other end, just get easy baskets in transition,” Smith said. “That’s definitely been an emphasis just running more so, being disruptive is something we always try to do, I think getting out on the other end and taking advantage is something that we’ve really been focusing on.”</p><p>At any rate, Smith and the rest of the Heat will look to gain chemistry starting Tuesday and Wednesday as they have a back to back in preseason games against the San Antonio Spurs and Atlanta Hawks at the Kaseya Center.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Erik Spoelstra eyeing breakout season for key Heat point guard

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/heat-news-erik-spoelstra-nikola-jovic-drop-first-impressions-of-miamis-starting-lineup');   ga('set', 'title', 'Erik Spoelstra, Nikola Jovic drop first impressions of Heat’s starting lineup');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Erik-Spoelstra-Nikola-Jovic-drops-first-impressions-of-Miamis-starting-lineup.jpg"></figure><h1>Erik Spoelstra, Nikola Jovic drop first impressions of Heat’s starting lineup</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-10-13T16:42:52-07:00">October 13th, 4:42pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-10-13T16:42:52-07:00">October 13th, 4:42pm</time><address><a>Zachary Weinberger</a>Zachary Weinberger joined ClutchPoints in October 2023 as a Miami Heat reporter as well as an Associate Editor. He graduated from Florida Atlantic University in 2022 after covering the school's athletic programs since his freshman year at the FAU University Press, where he was a Sports Editor and Editor-in-Chief. He then covered FAU Sports for The Palm Beach Post.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/3-heat-takeaways-from-home-preseason-opener-win-vs-pelicans">Miami Heat won their home preseason opener</a> against the New Orleans Pelicans in a thriller, 101-99, as it gave fans a taste of what’s to come this upcoming season. One major aspect of this team that fans have been interested to <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/heat-news-erik-spoelstra-searching-for-innocent-climb-amid-starting-lineup-questions">see more of is the Heat’s projected starting lineup</a> which made its debut Sunday afternoon as head coach Erik Spoelstra and star Nikola Jovic spoke about it after the win.</p><p>In terms of the starting lineup that is expected to be trotted out in the regular season opening on Oct. 23 against the Orlando Magic, it should consist of the previously mentioned Jovic with Jimmy Butler, Tyler Herro, Terry Rozier, and Bam Adebayo. While it started shaky as most units are who haven’t played together a single minute against an opponent, it finished successfully as Spoelstra <a href="https://x.com/ZachWeinberger/status/1845597557021397182" rel="noopener">gave his positive first impressions.</a></p><p>“I thought it was really encouraging,” Spoelstra said after the game. “You know, that’s the way they looked in training camp while we’re in Bahamas, the group has gone at it with the right approach, the right mindset, just to roll up the sleeves and get to work on our system. Work on getting comfortable with each other, work on working to each other’s strengths, and finding different ways to do that. The defense was very active. Very active and disruptive and then offensively just playing very fluid, flowing into actions without causes. I liked what I saw and I know the guys probably felt comfortable as well and that’s the way they looked in the game.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Miami Heat HC Erik Spoelstra speaks on the first minutes with the projected starting five, who haven’t played with each other at the same time before.</p><p>“It was really encouraging…” <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HeatCulture?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#HeatCulture</a> <a href="https://t.co/R5u2sHHxKo">pic.twitter.com/R5u2sHHxKo</a></p><p>— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) <a href="https://twitter.com/ZachWeinberger/status/1845597557021397182?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 13, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://instagram.com/embed.js"></script></p></figure><h2><b>Heat’s Nikola Jovic on when the starting lineup will gain full chemistry</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Nikola-Jovic-on-Oct.-13-2024.jpg"><figcaption>Sam Navarro-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>As mentioned before, the starting five started slow as even though it’s immensely talented, it will take some time before they get it all together. In the first quarter, they shot 6-18 from the field, but turned it around in the second period where they were 8-13 from the field and a +2 overall.</p><p>Jovic said to ClutchPoints that because everybody in the projected starting lineup knows each other by know, it shouldn’t be too long <a href="https://x.com/ZachWeinberger/status/1845598261320495575" rel="noopener">till they are fully 100 percent have the chemistry</a> needed to achieve their goals.</p><p>“I mean, we’ve known each other for a minute now,” Jovic said. “Maybe even though we never played together, we know each other from last year, and of course, like I said, it’s going to take some time. some time but I think these guys have so much experience that they will for sure make it look good. Yeah, I’m sure at one point, it will look really good.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Asked Nikola Jovic if he envisions the chemistry of the starters at 100 percent by the season opener of if it’ll be a continuous process.</p><p>“It’s going to take some time, but these guys have so much experience that it’ll for sure make it look good…” <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HeatCulture?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#HeatCulture</a> <a href="https://t.co/CjhFfBKw6h">pic.twitter.com/CjhFfBKw6h</a></p><p>— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) <a href="https://twitter.com/ZachWeinberger/status/1845598261320495575?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 13, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://instagram.com/embed.js"></script></p></figure><h2><b>Heat’s Nikola Jovic on first impressions with the new starting lineup </b></h2><p>The 21-year old player finished the game with three points on shooting 1-5 from the field and for sure knew that he should’ve had a better game. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/heat-news-nikola-jovic-reveals-training-camp-plan-as-he-returns-from-injury-setback">Jovic brings another dimension to Miami</a> as he adds size and spacing to the starting lineup as he solidified his spot in the four towards the second half of the year last season.</p><p>Despite the underwhelming outing, <a href="https://x.com/ZachWeinberger/status/1845598558927589519" rel="noopener">he saw a lot of positives</a> in the Heat’s first minutes with the projected starting lineup.</p><p>“It felt great, of course it’s not gonna be great from the jump and we’re ready for anything that gonna come to us,” Jovic said. “But I actually felt pretty good, you know. And I think other guys felt that too, and especially in that second quarter where we got back in, you know, that that’s what we want. The transition was the most important part. We showed that we can run, we have so many offensive talent that you can it’s really hard to guard us. And I think we showed it was how of the ball, it was Terry in the pick and role hole, Bam running the floor. You know, Jimmy doing his thing. So it was, it’s pretty obvious that we have a lot of talent. And, yeah, I think we just have to show people that we’re keeping an eye out.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Nikola Jovic’s initial reaction to the projected starting lineup getting their first minutes together today vs. the Pelicans.</p><p>“It felt great…” <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HeatCulture?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#HeatCulture</a> <a href="https://t.co/U9RAb2g9bC">pic.twitter.com/U9RAb2g9bC</a></p><p>— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) <a href="https://twitter.com/ZachWeinberger/status/1845598558927589519?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 13, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><br>The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/heat-news-erik-spoelstra-miami-not-sweating-reloaded-east">Heat are in the midst of preparing for a loaded Eastern Conference</a> as this upcoming week will be busy as they have preseason games Tuesday and Wednesday back-to-back against the San Antonio Spurs and Atlanta Hawks respectively.</p></figure><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Erik Spoelstra, Nikola Jovic drop first impressions of Heat’s starting lineup

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/3-heat-takeaways-from-home-preseason-opener-win-vs-pelicans');   ga('set', 'title', '3 Heat takeaways from home preseason opener win vs. Pelicans');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/3-Heat-takeaways-from-home-preseason-opener-vs.jpg"></figure><h1>3 Heat takeaways from home preseason opener win vs. Pelicans</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-10-13T15:01:24-07:00">October 13th, 3:01pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-10-13T15:01:24-07:00">October 13th, 3:01pm</time><address><a>Zachary Weinberger</a>Zachary Weinberger joined ClutchPoints in October 2023 as a Miami Heat reporter as well as an Associate Editor. He graduated from Florida Atlantic University in 2022 after covering the school's athletic programs since his freshman year at the FAU University Press, where he was a Sports Editor and Editor-in-Chief. He then covered FAU Sports for The Palm Beach Post.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Editorials</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/heat-player-who-will-shock-nba-with-breakout-2024-25-season">Miami Heat get</a> their first win of the preseason which happens to be the home opener as they beat the New Orleans Pelicans, 101-99. After a <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/heat-news-erik-spoelstras-productive-training-camp-assessment-will-fire-up-miami-fans">productive Heat training camp in the Bahamas</a>, fans got a taste of what to expect from the season.</p><p>Leading the Heat was Tyler Herro and Duncan Robinson who each had 12 points while Terry Rozier didn’t trail too far, contributing 11 points. The game ended up being a close one towards the end with the third string unit of each team, but Miami held strong and got the gritty win, despite losing a 20-point lead.</p><p>One of the more interesting aspects going into Sunday’s preseason home opener was the chance of seeing a <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/heat-news-erik-spoelstra-searching-for-innocent-climb-amid-starting-lineup-questions">dress rehearsal of some sorts for the Heat’s projected starting lineup</a>. That lineup consisting of Terry Rozier, Tyler Herro, Jimmy Butler, Bam. Adebayo, and Nikola Jovic.</p><h2><b>The first look of the Heat’s projected starting five</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Jimmy-Butler-on-Oct.-13-2024.jpg"><figcaption>Sam Navarro-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>The five players didn’t played one second together last season which could be shocking, but because of the plethora of injuries to the Heat, it was stalled. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/heat-news-erik-spoelstra-reveals-what-a-jaime-jaquez-jr-jump-wil-look-like">With the news that Herro would be available</a> in the game, Miami head coach Erik Spoelstra <a href="https://x.com/ZachWeinberger/status/1845520913602621736" rel="noopener">brought out the aforementioned five</a> and the results were as expected which was middling.</p><p>As said, it isn’t the most shocking development since the only playing time the five have had together are during training camp and practice with each other. This is the first game-like atmosphere against an opponent for the group of stars so it will no doubt take some time before everybody is gelled together.</p><p>While the first quarter saw some flashes, there was some spacing and chemistry issues, but with more time, Spoelstra is confident the system of the five players will thrive. The starting five shot 6-18 in the first quarter, but they did start to gain rhythm in the second period where the group ended the first half on a +2 and shooting 8-13 from the field.</p><p>In terms of three-point shooting, it was Rozier and Herro who saw the most success as even though <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/heat-news-bam-adebayos-breakout-shooting-highlights-miamis-preseason-scrimmage">Adebayo looks to add that to his arsenal this season</a>, he was 0-2 from deep. As for Butler, he only scored four points on shooting one for three from the field which should not be an indication on his production heading into the season.</p><h2><b>The performance from the Heat’s bench and how it’s shaping up</b></h2><p>Besides the intrigue of the starting lineup, Sunday’s outing also saw who Spoelstra believes will be the first five coming off the bench for Miami. The names that came out to the floor were Duncan Robinson, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Dru Smith, Haywood Highsmith, and Kevin Love.</p><p>One name that should be here is Alec Burks, but he was not in uniform today and reportedly got the day off ahead of a busy schedule for the team this upcoming week. Looking at the players mentioned, it is shaping up to be a solid second unit which has the capabilities to complement players in the starting lineup.</p><p>By themselves though, it was forgettable third quarter as they scored 22 points, though they kept the Pelicans at bay with 18 points. However, the starters were done after the first half as other was used to display the talents of the young players on the team trying to earn a roster spot like Josh Christopher, Nassir Litte, and others plus the rookies in Kel’el Ware and Pelle Larsson.</p><p>Those players and others will get more chances during the preseason to showcase themselves as each have a lot to prove under the spotlight.</p><h2><b>Busy upcoming week for the Heat</b></h2><p>Looking ahead for the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/heat-news-erik-spoelstra-miami-not-sweating-reloaded-east">Heat as they prepare for loaded Eastern Conference</a> this season, they have three more exhibition games this upcoming week. Two of them come Tuesday and Wednesday on a back to back since the latter against the Atlanta Hawks was postponed due to the passage of Hurricane Milt0n through Florida.</p><p>As mentioned before, there is no doubt that Spoelstra will want to see more time with the projected starting five of Butler, Adebayo, Herro, Rozier, and Jovic as there was highs and lows Sunday afternoon.</p><p>Still, the ceiling is high with the talent of the five listed players as when they get the chemistry down pact, the Heat could once again turn heads come the regular season when it starts on Oct. 23 against the Orlando Magic. Tuesday will feature the Heat hosting the San Antonio Spurs while Wednesday has them making up the game vs. the Hawks.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

3 Heat takeaways from home preseason opener win vs. Pelicans

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/heat-news-erik-spoelstra-reveals-what-a-jaime-jaquez-jr-jump-wil-look-like');   ga('set', 'title', 'Heat’s Erik Spoelstra reveals what a Jaime Jaquez Jr. ‘jump’ will look like');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Erik-Spoelstra-reveals-what-a-Jaime-Jaquez-Jr.-jump-wil-look-like.jpg"></figure><h1>Heat’s Erik Spoelstra reveals what a Jaime Jaquez Jr. ‘jump’ will look like</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-10-13T11:35:42-07:00">October 13th, 11:35am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-10-13T11:36:33-07:00">October 13th, 11:36am</time><address><a>Zachary Weinberger</a>Zachary Weinberger joined ClutchPoints in October 2023 as a Miami Heat reporter as well as an Associate Editor. He graduated from Florida Atlantic University in 2022 after covering the school's athletic programs since his freshman year at the FAU University Press, where he was a Sports Editor and Editor-in-Chief. He then covered FAU Sports for The Palm Beach Post.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>As the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/heat-news-erik-spoelstra-miami-not-sweating-reloaded-east">Miami Heat prepare to take on a loaded Eastern Conference</a> this upcoming season, one aspect of the team that fans are excited to see is Jaime Jaquez Jr. who is entering in his second season in the NBA. There is no doubt <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/heat-news-jaime-jaquez-jr-reveals-key-improvements-hes-worked-on-during-offseason">Jaquez has been improving for his sophomore campaign</a> as Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra speaks on his journey Sunday afternoon.</p><h2><b>Heat’s Erik Spoelstra on what he has seen from Jaime Jaquez Jr.</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Jaime-Jaquez-Jr.-on-April-29-2024.jpg"><figcaption>Michael Laughlin-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/heat-news-tyler-herro-jaime-jaquez-jr-take-step-towards-injury-return">Jaquez would miss the open scrimmage last Monday</a> along with the preseason opener Tuesday against the Charlotte Hornets as he’s dealing with a left groin strain. However, the team told ClutchPoints that <a href="https://x.com/ZachWeinberger/status/1845520913602621736" rel="noopener">he would be available to play Sunday</a> along with Tyler Herro who also gad a groin injury and missed the scrimmage and preseason opener.</p><p>The 23-year old star impressed in his rookie season as being recognized back to back months as Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month as well as making the NBA’s All-Rookie first team. Spoelstra explained <a href="https://x.com/ZachWeinberger/status/1845526777981960312" rel="noopener">what the expectation for him is going into 2024</a> and how teams were starting to scout him in the second half of last season.</p><p>“Probably all the external expectations on what a jump may be,” Spoelstra said on Jaquez. “It’s all about impacting winning and finding different ways to do that more effectively. You know, I think for everybody else, it’s just about does the scoring average go up? That’s really like what probably a lot of people look at, but his impact defensively, I think will improve, feeling more comfortable in our defensive system, being able to take the challenge and do more things on that side of the floor.”</p><p>“And then offensively,” Spoelstra continued. “I think just naturally getting a better idea of how he was defended the second half of the year, how team started to scheme for him and show a little bit more attention to his touches, and particularly in the post. I think he’ll make improvements in that area as well.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Erik Spoelstra on what he expects to see from Jaime Jaquez Jr. going into his second season. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HeatCulture?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#HeatCulture</a></p><p>“Probably all the external expectations on what a jump may be…” <a href="https://t.co/1kmOsxXGoa">pic.twitter.com/1kmOsxXGoa</a></p><p>— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) <a href="https://twitter.com/ZachWeinberger/status/1845526777981960312?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 13, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://instagram.com/embed.js"></script></p></figure><h2><b>Erik Spoelstra on if there is limitations with Jaime Jaquez Jr., Tyler Herro</b></h2><p>Last season, Jaquez averaged 11.9 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 2.6 assists per game while shooting 48.9 percent from the field as he was crucial in filling in for Jimmy Butler when he missed time since the two share some similarities in their play style.</p><p>Coming off this current injury, there may be some concern since this is not Jaquez’s first injury in the groin area as he missed time in last year’s preseason and regular season. However, Spoelstra would tell ClutchPoints before <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/heat-news-tyler-herro-jaime-jaquez-jr-take-step-towards-injury-return">Sunday’s exhibition that Jaquez and Herro</a> will play and <a href="https://x.com/ZachWeinberger/status/1845527076918452587" rel="noopener">downplayed any thought of having limitations.</a></p><p>“They’re going to play tonight, not going to play them 40 minutes if that’s what you’re asking,” Spoelstra said.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Asked Erik Spoelstra about the injuries to Tyler Herro and Jaime Jaquez Jr. and if there will be any limitations with their involvement. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HeatCulture?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#HeatCulture</a></p><p>“They’re going to play tonight, not going to play them 40 minutes…” <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HeatCulture?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#HeatCulture</a> <a href="https://t.co/T6BvdRoc3a">pic.twitter.com/T6BvdRoc3a</a></p><p>— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) <a href="https://twitter.com/ZachWeinberger/status/1845527076918452587?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 13, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><br>Another aspect of the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/heat-news-erik-spoelstra-searching-for-innocent-climb-amid-starting-lineup-questions">Heat that excite fans is how the four main stars</a> of Butler, Herro, Terry Rozier, and Bam Adebayo will play with one another. Though, with the early injury to Herro, there could be some missed opportunities of practice, but Spoelstra would say he has seen a good amount and <a href="https://x.com/ZachWeinberger/status/1845525591941898400" rel="noopener" target="_blank">likes what has been displayed so far.</a></p></figure><p>“We actually have seen quite a bit,” Spoelstra said. “They haven’t missed as much time as they seem. So yeah, I like the progress most guys are making, along with everybody else, and we’ll continue to look at them.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Erik Spoelstra on if Tyler Herro has gotten some work along with the three key players on the team like Jimmy Butler, Terry Rozier, and Bam Adebayo. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HeatCulture?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#HeatCulture</a></p><p>“I like the progress those guys are making…” <a href="https://t.co/im2joayQ5u">pic.twitter.com/im2joayQ5u</a></p><p>— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) <a href="https://twitter.com/ZachWeinberger/status/1845525591941898400?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 13, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><br>At any rate, Sunday’s preseason home opener against the Pelicans could be the first time fans get to see the expected starting lineup with Butler, Herro, Rozier, Adebayo, and the likely power forward in Nikola Jovic. The contest is at 3:30 p.m. (EST) where they will stay home for a back-to-back next week on Tuesday and Wednesday.</p></figure><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Heat’s Erik Spoelstra reveals what a Jaime Jaquez Jr. ‘jump’ will look like

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/heat-news-miami-rookie-receives-dereck-lively-ii-comparison-but-theres-a-catch');   ga('set', 'title', 'Heat rookie receives Dereck Lively II comparison, but there’s a catch');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Miami-rookie-receives-Dereck-Lively-II-comparison-but-theres-a-catch.jpg"><figcaption>ClutchPoints</figcaption></figure><h1>Heat rookie receives Dereck Lively II comparison, but there’s a catch</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-10-12T12:12:00-07:00">October 12th, 12:12pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-10-12T12:12:00-07:00">October 12th, 12:12pm</time><address><a>Julian Ojeda</a>Julian Ojeda is an Orlando-based sports journalist with 3 years of professional writing under his belt, specializing in both NBA and NFL coverage. A devoted Orlando Magic fan, he deftly balances fervent fandom with insightful reporting, possessing a keen eye for compelling narratives.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Miami Heat rookie Kel’el Ware has drawn attention after his first preseason performance, sparking comparisons to Dallas Mavericks center Dereck Lively II. In the Heat’s 111-108 loss to the Charlotte Hornets earlier this week, the 20-year-old 7-footer showcased his skills, finishing with 13 points, five rebounds, four blocks, and two steals in just 17 minutes of play.</p><p>ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, speaking on “The Hoop Collective,” highlighted Ware’s potential, <a href="https://x.com/HeatCulture13/status/1845113860493021429" rel="noopener">comparing him</a> to Lively.</p><p>“Did you guys see what Kel’el Ware, the No. 1 pick for the Heat, did in his first game? This guy looks like Dereck Lively with a 3-point shot. Let’s not overreact, but WOAH!” Windhorst said.</p><p>While the comparison is flattering, it comes with an important distinction: Ware can shoot from deep, whereas Lively has not developed a consistent 3-point shot. In his preseason debut, Ware hit 1-of-3 from beyond the arc, a skill that could set him apart from his Mavericks counterpart. This shooting ability, paired with his defensive versatility, makes Ware an intriguing prospect for Miami.</p><h2><b>Heat’s rookie Kel’el Ware gets Dereck Lively II comparison after preseason debut</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Kelel-Ware-7-blocks-a-shot-by-Charlotte-Hornets-forward-Keyontae-Johnson.jpg"><figcaption>© Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Ware’s success in the preseason follows a <a href="https://www.nba.com/2024-summer-league-player-stats?dir=D&amp;sort=BLK" rel="noopener">strong showing</a> in the NBA Summer League, where he averaged 18 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks per game. He also shot 61.8% from the field and 30% from three, helping the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/heat-news-kelel-ware-has-honest-takeaways-from-impressive-summer-league-performance">Miami Heat secure a summer league championship</a> against the Memphis Grizzlies.</p><p>The comparison to Lively carries weight due to Lively’s impact as a rookie, helping lead the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mavericks-most-to-blame-for-embarrassing-nba-finals-game-5-loss-to-celtics">Mavericks to the NBA Finals before falling to the Boston Celtics</a> in five games. However, Lively’s game is primarily focused on defense and rim protection, with his outside shooting being a notable gap. Ware’s ability to stretch the floor as a 7-footer adds another dimension to his game that Lively currently lacks.</p><p>If Ware can maintain his shooting consistency and continue to develop his all-around game, the Heat may have found a valuable asset. His ability to contribute on both ends of the floor could prove pivotal as Miami looks to return to contention in the Eastern Conference.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Heat rookie receives Dereck Lively II comparison, but there’s a catch

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/heat-news-tyler-herro-jaime-jaquez-jr-take-step-towards-injury-return');   ga('set', 'title', 'Heat’s Tyler Herro, Jaime Jaquez Jr. take step towards injury return');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Tyler-Herro-Jaime-Jaquez-Jr.-take-step-towards-injury-return.jpg"></figure><h1>Heat’s Tyler Herro, Jaime Jaquez Jr. take step towards injury return</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-10-11T14:41:16-07:00">October 11th, 2:41pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-10-11T14:41:16-07:00">October 11th, 2:41pm</time><address><a>Zachary Weinberger</a>Zachary Weinberger joined ClutchPoints in October 2023 as a Miami Heat reporter as well as an Associate Editor. He graduated from Florida Atlantic University in 2022 after covering the school's athletic programs since his freshman year at the FAU University Press, where he was a Sports Editor and Editor-in-Chief. He then covered FAU Sports for The Palm Beach Post.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The one aspect of the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/heat-news-erik-spoelstra-makes-injury-guarantee-after-recent-woes">Miami Heat that has been concerning is the amount of injuries</a> they have dealt with the past few seasons as they hope 2024 can be a turning point. However, the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/heat-news-tyler-herro-dealt-concerning-injury-update-before-miami-preseason-opener-vs-hornets">Heat are dealing with injuries to Tyler Herro and Jaime Jaquez Jr.</a> where they missed the scrimmage last Monday and preseason opener as there is positive updates that have come out of Friday’s practice.</p><p>Both Herro and Jaquez both took part in practice in limited fashion Friday which could set them up to participate in Sunday’s home preseason opener against the New Orleans Pelicans. Miami head coach Erik Spoelstra spoke to the media Friday and said <a href="https://www.miamiherald.com/sports/nba/miami-heat/article293843914.html" rel="noopener">the added days of rest due to the previous events missed</a> and the postponement of a game due to Hurricane Milton have benefitted the recovery of the two young stars according to Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald.</p><p>“The extra days helped,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of Herro and Jaquez after Friday’s practice. “But they’ve been working quite a bit behind the scenes. So I wasn’t surprised they were able to do some work today.”</p><h2><b>Heat’s Tyler Herro provides insight into his groin injury</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Tyler-Herro-on-Sept.-30-2024-1.jpg"><figcaption>Sam Navarro-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>As for <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/heat-news-tyler-herro-reveals-honest-mindset-amid-role-uncertainty">Herro who spoke about his possible role with the Heat</a> during media day, one of his main goals he stated was staying healthy after only playing 40 games the season prior. However, he starts the preseason with an injury that does not seem to be all too serous as he’s dealing with a right groin strain as he was not too sure on his status for Sunday’s preseason game against New Orleans.</p><p>“Yeah, I should be,” Herro said. “We’ll see what happens.”</p><p>The injury for Herro seems to be a recent development as he credited the work he put into training camp in the Bahamas as where he suffered the issue. In the same presser, he would downplay the injury to the media as saying he needed some time to rest up and there appears to be no worries for his status for the start of the season later this month.</p><p>“I was pretty sore after training camp,” Herro said. “Ran a lot and I was sore, so I needed a couple of days. I’m back.”</p><h2><b>Heat’s Jaime Jaquez Jr. on putting trust into training staff</b></h2><p>Looking <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/heat-news-jaime-jaquez-jr-reveals-key-improvements-hes-worked-on-during-offseason">at the much talented Jaquez</a>, who is heading into his second season with the Heat after an impressive rookie campaign, he is also dealing with a groin injury, specifically a left groin strain. One could be concerned since Jaquez dealt with groin injuries multiple times throughout the year last season, but spoke about putting trust in the training staff to get him right.</p><p>“We got to talk to the training staff,” Jaquez said. “I put my trust in them that they’re going to get me in the best shape possible and they’re going to let me know just as I’m letting them know that I’m ready to go and ramping up. It’s the back and forth because they try to protect us from ourselves sometimes, where you can overwork and do things to hurt yourself. That’s not what we want.”</p><h2><b>Heat’s Jaime Jaquez Jr. reveals when he started feeling issues in groin</b></h2><p>Jaquez impressed right from the get go in his first season where he won back to back Eastern Conference rookie of the month honors and by the end of the season, was selected to the NBA’s All-Rookie first team. Like Herro, Jaquez attributed training camp to when he felt some issues in the injured area and doubles down on the trust he’s putting into the team so he can get back on the floor as quickly as possible.</p><p>“I had felt some tightness in my groin, and I let the training staff know,” Jaquez said. “It became really tight, it became a little painful at one point and they decided to just hold me out for a little bit just to not make it any worse than it already was. I trust in their decision and their process that they go through. Just trusting in everything they need to get me back on the court and I’m feeling great right now.”</p><p>At any rate, Miami are hoping to get back Herro and Jaquez as soon as possible so they can prepare to improve after finishing the past two seasons with the eighth seed. After the home preseason opener on Sunday<a href="https://clutchpoints.com/heat-news-erik-spoelstras-productive-training-camp-assessment-will-fire-up-miami-fans">, the Heat looks for a productive</a> preseason in preparation for the regular season opener on Oct. 23 against the Orlando Magic.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Heat’s Tyler Herro, Jaime Jaquez Jr. take step towards injury return

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/jimmy-butler-net-worth');   ga('set', 'title', 'Jimmy Butler’s net worth in 2024');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/jimmy-butlers-net-worth-in-2024.webp"></figure><h1>Jimmy Butler’s net worth in 2024</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-10-11T14:05:45-07:00">October 11th, 2:05pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-10-11T14:09:32-07:00">October 11th, 2:09pm</time><address><a>Galen Donnelly</a>Galen Donnelly was a writer for ClutchPoints, covering the NBA, NFL, MLB, WWE, lifestyle/entertainment content, and more.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Editorials</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler has a net worth of $80 million. Butler has endured a bumpy ride throughout his NBA career, playing for several different teams along the way. Still, the former Marquette Golden Eagle has managed to establish himself as one of the best players in the league, and he brings a winning mentality and play style wherever he is.</p><p>Last season, he carried the Miami Heat to the NBA Finals for a second time. As a result of his playing career, he has gone from a homeless teenager to one of the wealthiest athletes in the sporting world. Let’s look at Jimmy Butler’s net worth in 2024.</p><h2><b>What is Jimmy Butler’s net worth in 2024?: $80 million (estimate)</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/8-jimmy-butlers-net-worth-in-2024.webp"></figure><p>Celebrity Net Worth estimates Jimmy Butler’s net worth to be somewhere around <a href="https://www.celebritynetworth.com/richest-athletes/nba/jimmy-butler-net-worth/?fbclid=IwAR3Fd3FGO5uMshZipvCO8ZBJ-ONHw92CSmZixJ_0oEq6AV2sSxRYoEUlgpM" rel="noopener">$80 million in total</a> in 2024. That figure is likely to rise over the next few years.</p><p>Butler made $37.6 million in 2022-23. Now his <a href="https://www.spotrac.com/nba/miami-heat/jimmy-butler-8081/#:~:text=Current%20Contract,dead%20cap%20value%20of%20%2445%2C183%2C960." rel="noopener">massive contract extension</a> that pays nearly $50 million a year kicks in. He will make over $45 million in 2023-24, nearly $49 million in 2024-25 and over $52 million in 2025-26. That kind of wealth should make it easy to support his daughter, Riley, who Butler had with longtime <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/jimmy-butlers-girlfriend-kaitlin-nowak" rel="noopener">girlfriend Kaitlin Nowak</a>.</p><h2><b>Jimmy Butler’s unique story</b></h2><p>Though he’s well on his way now, Butler had a rough childhood. Reports indicate that his father abandoned the family when he was a baby. Additional reports state that Jimmy was kicked out of his mother’s house at the age of 13, forcing him to stay with various friends in his teenage years.</p><p>However, life became a bit more stable for Butler after meeting Jordan Leslie while attending Tomball High School in Texas. The two teammates became friends, and Leslie’s mother would eventually offer Butler a spot to live in the family’s home.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">3) In 2005, Jimmy Butler attended a HS basketball camp where he met Jordan Leslie.</p><p>The two quickly became friends, and shortly thereafter, family.</p><p>Despite having 7 kids already, Jordan's mom insisted Butler move in with the family after finding out he had no where else to go. <a href="https://t.co/its3VZiv87">pic.twitter.com/its3VZiv87</a></p><p>— Joe Pompliano (@JoePompliano) <a href="https://twitter.com/JoePompliano/status/1307110779976658946?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 19, 2020</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Butler was taken by the Chicago Bulls with the 30th overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft — the final selection of the first round after he starred at Marquette. The Heat are his fourth NBA team since then.</p><p>He joined Miami in July of 2019 by way of a four-year, $142 million sign-and-trade deal with the Philadelphia 76ers. He also spent time with the Minnesota Timberwolves after the Bulls traded him in 2017.</p><h2><b>Jimmy Butler’s Big Face Coffee brand</b></h2><p>Off the court, Butler is also a busy man. He has featured prominently in commercials for Michelob Ultra and Binance, and he has a number of other endorsement deals.</p><p>He has a YouTube channel with over 800,000 subscribers. Of course, let’s not forget Big Face Coffee, which is <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/heat-video-goran-dragic-reacts-to-jimmy-butler-big-face-coffee-being-closed-for-the-day/" rel="noopener noreferrer">a coffee-based project</a> that Butler worked on from his bubble room during the NBA Playoffs.</p><p>Former teammate Myers Leonard uploaded a photo of the Big Face Coffee menu, which explained that Butler was charging $20 for every cup—no matter the size. Loads of players are said to have paid a visit to this impromptu coffee shop. Realizing its popularity, Jimmy actually went on to file three trademarks for his new side hustle, including one for its logo.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Jimmy Butler brought a French press into the NBA Bubble &amp; started running his own coffee biz out of his room. Everything is $20 and no IOUs.</p><p>How serious is Jimmy? He filed a trademark application to register the logo for his coffee hustle! (h/t <a href="https://twitter.com/Caleb_Mezzy?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Caleb_Mezzy</a>) <a href="https://t.co/lIPaZmLwDB">pic.twitter.com/lIPaZmLwDB</a></p><p>— Darren Heitner (@DarrenHeitner) <a href="https://twitter.com/DarrenHeitner/status/1305976578455867392?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 15, 2020</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>It’s true that Butler makes a lot of money, but he has given a lot of it to charity. While sidelined due to injury in 2015, he made charitable contributions and raised awareness for childhood hunger.</p><p>He also made a trip to the Phoenix Military Academy, where he donated $10,000 for every 3-pointer he hit with one hand. And while playing for the Bulls, he worked alongside community leaders as part of a one-on-one mentorship program for Chicago’s youth.</p><h2><b>Jimmy Butler’s NBA accolades</b></h2><p>While he had good runs with the Bulls, Timberwolves, and 76ers, Jimmy Butler has really made his name as a member of the Heat. Butler and the Heat first mounted a valiant effort in the bubble. Against the odds, Jimmy led his fifth-seeded team all the way to the NBA Finals.</p><p>The scrappy star left several highlight clips in his wake, and Miami defeated teams that most thought they wouldn’t. After sweeping the Indiana Pacers in the first round, the Heat managed to top Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks in just five games.</p><p>Then it was on to the Eastern Conference Finals, where they defeated a talented Boston Celtics team in six games. Ultimately, though, a banged-up Heat side fell to the Los Angeles Lakers on the league’s biggest stage in six games.</p><p>It certainly wasn’t Jimmy’s fault that Miami lost in the Finals, as he was solid on both ends of the floor. In his 21 playoff appearances with the Heat, he racked up averages of <a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/b/butleji01.html" rel="noopener noreferrer">22.2 points</a> on 48.8 percent shooting from the field (34.9 percent from beyond the arc), 6.5 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 2.0 steals.</p><p>As previously mentioned, though, injuries crept into the Heat’s lineup, including those to key role players like Goran Dragic and Bam Adebayo.</p><p>As a six-time All-Star, five-time All-NBA member, and five-time All-Defensive selection, Jimmy Butler has already made a name for himself among the NBA’s best wings. His relentless style of play is endearing, and his teammates love him for it … <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/heat-news-jimmy-butler-ex-teammate-spills-truth-behind-infamous-timberwolves-practice" rel="noopener">at least some of them.</a> He has clashed with teammates and coaches throughout his career, but in the end, he was usually in the right.</p><h2><b>Jimmy Butler leads Heat back to NBA Finals</b></h2><p>Last season, Butler once again showed why he deserves all of the respect in the world. Butler once again carried a surprising team all the way to the biggest stage.</p><p>He led the Heat to the NBA Finals again, becoming only the <a href="https://dknetwork.draftkings.com/2023/5/29/23734644/nba-finals-history-8-seed-appearances-wins-championships-knicks-1999-heat-2023" rel="noopener">second eight seed</a> to ever do so. This time, it was the Denver Nuggets that prevented him from getting a coveted ring.</p><p>In 2023-24, the Heat again finished eighth in the Eastern Conference, however, this time, they lost in the first round to the eventual NBA champion Boston Celtics. Butler struggled with injuries and did not make the All-Star team.</p><p>Butler has become one of the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/25-greatest-small-forwards-in-nba-history-ranked" rel="noopener">greatest small forwards</a> of all time, but were you at all stunned by Jimmy Butler’s net worth in 2024?</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Miami
Heat NEWS

Heat News: Get the latest Miami Heat news, scores, stats, standings, fantasy games, and more from ClutchPoints.

Latest Heat News

Heat’s Tyler Herro hilariously distracted during interview by fight in stands

Erik Spoelstra identifies ‘important’ key behind developing Heat chemistry

3 Heat takeaways from the close preseason win vs. Spurs

Heat’s Erik Spoelstra has ‘encouraging’ Nikola Jovic outlook entering Year 3

1 Heat player in danger of losing starting job in 2024-25 training camp

Erik Spoelstra eyeing breakout season for key Heat point guard

Erik Spoelstra, Nikola Jovic drop first impressions of Heat’s starting lineup

• 3 Heat takeaways from home preseason opener win vs. Pelicans

• Heat’s Erik Spoelstra reveals what a Jaime Jaquez Jr. ‘jump’ will look like

• Heat rookie receives Dereck Lively II comparison, but there’s a catch

• Heat’s Tyler Herro, Jaime Jaquez Jr. take step towards injury return

• Jimmy Butler’s net worth in 2024

MiamiHeat NEWS

Heat News: Get the latest Miami Heat news, scores, stats, standings, fantasy games, and more from ClutchPoints.

Latest Heat News

Heat’s Tyler Herro hilariously distracted during interview by fight in stands

Erik Spoelstra identifies ‘important’ key behind developing Heat chemistry

3 Heat takeaways from the close preseason win vs. Spurs

Heat’s Erik Spoelstra has ‘encouraging’ Nikola Jovic outlook entering Year 3

1 Heat player in danger of losing starting job in 2024-25 training camp

Erik Spoelstra eyeing breakout season for key Heat point guard

Erik Spoelstra, Nikola Jovic drop first impressions of Heat’s starting lineup

• 3 Heat takeaways from home preseason opener win vs. Pelicans

• Heat’s Erik Spoelstra reveals what a Jaime Jaquez Jr. ‘jump’ will look like

• Heat rookie receives Dereck Lively II comparison, but there’s a catch

• Heat’s Tyler Herro, Jaime Jaquez Jr. take step towards injury return

• Jimmy Butler’s net worth in 2024

Miami
Heat NEWS