Heats headcoach Eric Spoelstra names 3 heat player whose roles aren’t guaranteed after the All-Star break [Full story link in comment]

Heats headcoach Eric Spoelstra names 3 heat player whose roles aren’t guaranteed after the All-Star break [Full story link in comment]

The Miami Heat are 30-25 at the All-Star break following Wednesday night’s road win/loss to the Philadelphia 76ers.

Injuries to Terry Rozier and Josh Richardson, as well as Jimmy Butler’s excused absence from the team to attend to a family matter, have created a speed bump in Miami’s momentum. But Butler should be back after the break and Rozier and Richardson are expected to return within a few weeks.

Erik Spoelstra will have a tough time deciding who is in and who is out of the Miami Heat’s rotation for their final playoff push.

The Heat are deep, but head coach Erik Spoelstra has opted to shorten his rotations in advance of this final playoff push. Even with the injuries, Spoelstra played just eight players before garbage time of Tuesday’s win in Milwaukee. That continues a trend of Spoelstra going with his best players as the Heat attempt to climb the Eastern Conference standings.

That playoff push will ramp up into high gear when the season resumes on the other side of the All-Star break. Spoelstra will experiment less and rely on his most trusted players more.

Here’s a look at which players could find themselves outside of the Heat’s rotation over the final 27 games.

Thomas Bryant

This one isn’t too surprising, considering that Bryant is already spending most games on the bench. Spoelstra has basically been going with two bigs, Bam Adebayo and Kevin Love, since mid-December.

Bryant was Adebayo’s primary backup for the first two weeks of the season but lost playing time to Orlando Robinson. Then, both Bryant and Robinson were benched when Kevin Love was moved to the second unit.

Lineups with Adebayo and Love at center have been a plus, so unless one of them is injured, Spoelstra has no reason to mix things up. Adebayo is the anchor of Miami’s defense, and Love’s chemistry with Jimmy Butler has become an essential part of the Heat’s offense.

Haywood Highsmith

Highsmith played important minutes against the Bucks and 76ers this week, but that was because Miami was missing three rotation players. When the Heat are healthy, there may not be room for Highsmith to get on the court.

Miami’s healthy rotation consists of Rozier, Tyler Herro, Butler, Caleb Martin and Adebayo, with Josh Richardson, Duncan Robinson, Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Kevin Love coming off the bench. That’s nine.

Highsmith may be Miami’s second-best defender (behind only Adebayo), but he doesn’t offer enough offensively to stay on the court. Opponents can play off of him and crowd Miami’s ball-handlers, putting even more of a strain on the league’s 22nd-ranked offense.

He is among Spoelstra’s first options to enter the rotation when looking for injury replacements, but if/when the Heat get healthy, he’ll be watching most games from the sidelines.

Nikola Jovic

Despite his breakout performance against the Celtics on Tuesday night, Nikola Jovic probably doesn’t have a spot in the night-to-night rotation.

Heat fans have been clamoring for more Niko, but at 20, he’s still not ready to be relied on as a full-time starter or rotation player. He’s still too shaky defensively and streaky in terms of his offensive production.

A return to the bench shouldn’t be considered a step back for Jovic.

“He’s been making progress for multiple years,” Spoelstra said earlier this week. “It’s not something that happens overnight, and it’s not something that’s been linear.”

Jovic has gotten much better since his rookie season, and the Heat remain confident in his potential, but most of his work will have to continue behind the scenes in hopes of earning a rotation role next season.

Unless something drastic changes, it’s safe to assume that Bryant (and Robinson) will be used only sparingly over the next 27 games.