The Miami Heat had two major opportunities to improve the backcourt as they had their eyes set on superstar scorer Damian Lillard and former Milwaukee Bucks guard Jrue Holiday. However, Lillard went to the Bucks, and Holiday was acquired by the Boston Celtics. Plus, with Gabe Vincent signing with the Los Angeles Lakers in the offseason, there's now plenty of questions on who will the team roll with at point guard.
Kyle Lowry as PG1 makes sense
The 37-year old Kyle Lowry said Monday and reiterated Thursday during training camp at FAU that he expects to be the starting point guard for the Heat. The key word there is “expect,” as he emphasized to the media that he didn't say he's “going” to be the starter.
“I didn't say I’m going to, I said I expect to be,” Lowry said. “So get the words right. I expect to be.”
While it's fair to say his play has regressed in recent years, it also makes sense that Lowry would get the starting job this upcoming season. He's the only true point guard on the team that has had major experience leading to a championship.
Another option besides Lowry is Josh Richardson, who has more experience at the shooting guard position but has been playing point for Miami this training camp and did some time in his first stint with the team.
Does the Heat need a ‘true' point guard?
One can make the case that Miami doesn't need a “true point guard,” as the team has multiple players who are forwards or big men who have handled the ball up the court like Jimmy Butler or Bam Adebayo.
Richardson agrees with that sentiment as he said that while he's played point guard before, the team might not need it.
“I played point here, played in San Antonio for a little bit. But I mean, the system that we have doesn't really call for a true point guard,” Richardson explained. “You can get it into someone like Bam [Adebayo] or one of the bigs and play handoff games.”
That could be why Erik Spoelstra said to the media this week that there shouldn't be a “quarterback controversy” about the point guard conundrum.
Lowry PG1 and QB1?
Speaking of which, Spoelstra compared Lowry to that of a quarterback and said he's significant to what the Heat want to accomplish.
“Kyle [Lowry], obviously, is our decorated champion,” Spoelstra shared. “He’s one of the great quarterbacks and quarterback minds in this league and he’s critical to what we do.”
Learning those vet post tricks 👀 what Training Camp is all about@jaquez_jr x @Klow7@MiamiHEAT // @BaptistHealthSF pic.twitter.com/vjFMTT3Dni
— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) October 3, 2023
The safe bet as the starting point guard to begin the season is Lowry, but as Spoelstra has done in the past and most recently this past season, he'll experiment with different rotations. Involving the point guard position, it's what led to the benching of Lowry and starting the aforementioned Vincent in the postseason.
At the moment though, Spoelstra hasn't set any rotations with training camp coming to a close Saturday. He said to ClutchPoints Thursday that they'll see how the preseason games go and then decisions will be made.
Keep an eye out on Dru Smith
Someone else at the position looking to make an impact on the main roster is Dru Smith, who has been a part of the Heat organization since 2021. Currently, he's on a two-way contract with the Sioux Falls Sky Force in the G League. Far from the experienced option, but he's done the most work for the team this summer and head coach Spoelstra said he's noticed his improvement.
“We were able to do the most extended player development program for him for eight weeks,” Spoelstra said at training camp. “He’s just dramatically better.”
The point guard situation will be an interesting storyline throughout the whole season and the first sighting of the starter will be next Tuesday as the Heat will compete in their first preseason game against the Charlotte Hornets.
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