The timeline of the PG situation for the Miami Heat

Last playoffs, Kyle Lowry embraced a bench role. This season however, he states he is expecting to start.

The timeline over the years of the starting point guard position for the Miami Heat has been a wild one, to say the least. The Heat have cycled through quite a few different options.

For a consistent amount of time, Goran Dragic held it down for many seasons, and may have proved to be the team’s best option this last decade at the position.

However, since Dragic got older and started going through more injury troubles, it has been a revolving door in the depth chart at that position.

Following Dragic’s prime years, there was a “point Justise” era with youngster Justise Winslow.

There was actually a lot of potential with that, as Winslow’s height and length could have wrecked havoc for smaller opposing point guards.

It didn’t end up working out for more than one season though, as Winslow went through plenty of injury troubles himself on route to getting traded during the 2019-2020 season.

Kendrick Nunn took over starting PG responsibilities for pretty much that entire regular season.

That was up until the playoffs when Dragic took the starting position back on the way to the team’s first NBA Finals since 2014.

The 2020-2021 season saw Tyler Herro see a lot of starting PG action but underperformed and saw a dip in his numbers across the board.

When Victor Oladipo got traded to Miami in February of that season, he even got some reps in that role before he went down with a season ending injury.

By the 2021 playoffs, Nunn was the starter again but Miami got swept out the 1st round by the eventual champion Milwaukee Bucks.

Then in that same offseason, it seemed like the Heat’s PG prayers were answered as Kyle Lowry came aboard in a sign and trade with the Toronto Raptors.

Goran Dragic, who was a staple at the position and even at an older age always could step in when necessary at least, got shipped out in that same sign and trade.

Lowry came to South Beach at the age of 35 years old but still proved that he had a lot left in the tank following his final year in Toronto where he put up around 17.0 PPG and 8.0 APG.

The 2021-2022 season featured Lowry take a decline in his stats, but still have a major impact at orchestrating the offense.

His addition helped lead the Heat to the number 1 seed in the Eastern Conference that year.

Sadly, he dealt with some personal issues forcing him to miss games and then went down with a hamstring injury in the beginning of those playoffs.

He did eventually return to the line up but besides one big performance in Boston in the Eastern Conference Finals, he struggled majorly.

During last season, 2022-2023, Lowry began the season as the starter again with a lot to prove.

Honestly, he started off the season pretty good. He was the only real starter that was able to stay healthy during an injury plagued start to that season.

It didn’t last though, as he played through some knee pain and started to show some major flaws on both ends of the floor. That knee injury ultimately forced him to sit out for around a couple months.

Lowry returned right before playoffs began in a now bench role, as Gabe Vincent was able to hold down the fort and play very well while he was out.

The playoffs featured some nice moments for Lowry, even as the back up PG.

Now fast forward to the present time, Gabe Vincent left the Heat to sign with the LA Lakers, leaving a glaring hole once again at the PG position.

Damian Lillard, who requested a trade specifically to the Heat in the off-season, was supposed to have that position covered for the foreseeable future. Lillard ended up joining forces with Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks.

It was reported over the summer that if Miami was indeed unable to land Lillard, the team was leaning towards inserting Herro back into that position.

During media day yesterday, the entire roster was adamant on the notion of it being a “PG by committee” type of situation.

Herro, Lowry, Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, Josh Richardson, Caleb Martin, and maybe even youngsters like Nikola Jovic and RJ Hampton are all people who can handle the ball in different spurts.

Jovic at the point is an intriguing possibility, who has reportedly gotten a lot better since his rookie year last season. With his 6’10 height and length, that could be very similar to the “Point Justise” experiment that took place years ago.

Although, it’s not guaranteed that Jovic gets a regular rotation spot, let alone a starting position.

It just doesn’t seem likely. He is still a bit too raw… but he could prove otherwise by the end of camp.

Hampton is a combo guard, and could bring lots of upside as the newest young guy in the Heat’s system, but that has yet to been found out too.

Yesterday, Lowry refused to speak to the media.

It was considered quite odd from Heat fans all over social media that the team’s third highest player in Lowry wouldn’t even be a factor and say a single word during media day.

Just a day later at the first day of training camp, Kyle Lowry has finally spoken and openly expressed an expectation for him to regain his regular starting role.

It is nice to see Lowry confident in his abilities, but a starting backcourt that featured both an aging Lowry and Herro struggled last season, specifically on the defensive end.

Even with Lowry stating his starting PG desires, coach Erik Spoelstra would not commit to that notion.

Spoelstra also told the media that he expects to go through training camp, preseason and then figure out who will be the starting PG by the end of it.

It’s very plausible to think that Spo will be trying multiple different players to run the offense, and see who is most suited for the role.

At the end of the day, barring any trades, the most likely scenario might absolutely be that “PG by committee” situation.

On paper, who will be slotted in that official starting PG position? My opinion is Tyler Herro.

NBA TV also went that same route, creating a projected team depth chart for the upcoming season:

Although Herro did not do particularly well in that exact role years ago, this is a different time and situation.

Herro has gotten much better since then, and is still continuing to take leaps in his game.

Also, like how it was mentioned before, just because Herro could be the starting PG on paper it doesn’t mean he is stuck to that position only.

Spo told media that this team is leaning towards “position-less basketball”, and the team could see multiple different options bringing the ball up on a possession-to-possession basis.

Basically everybody in that projected line up has ball handling abilities except Kevin Love.

Lowry should still absolutely have a role on this squad, but maybe a bench role like how he embraced and played well in the last playoff run is the safest option at this stage of his career, at now 37 years old.

Is Herro indeed going to wind up as the starting PG? Will Josh Richardson start? Will Kevin Love, Caleb Martin, or even Thomas Bryant be the starting big next to Bam Adebayo?

Heat fans won’t get a clear answer on all of this probably until pre-season, and that’s if the team stays healthy going into the regular season as well.

Spoelstra went with a training camp and pre-season starting five of Lowry, Herro, Butler, Adebayo and Omer Yurtseven last year. Just to see Yursteven go down with injury indefinitely before the regular season even came around.

Health is part of the game, and the ongoing PG situation in Miami has been hit with a lot of injuries over the years.

Even with the uncertainty on the exact line up and rotation, Spo is arguably the best coach in the entire association.

He will figure it out and put this team in the best position to succeed.