Jimmy Butler plays, rotation clues, other takeaways from Heat’s preseason opener vs. Hornets

Five takeaways from the Miami Heat’s 111-108 loss to the Charlotte Hornets to open the preseason on Tuesday night at Spectrum Center:

After not playing in a preseason game last year, Heat star Jimmy Butler played in this year’s preseason opener.

This is a change from last season’s approach, when Butler was held out of each of the Heat’s five preseason games.

The Heat wants a more-available Butler this season and apparently that extends to the preseason, as he logged 15 minutes Tuesday in his first preseason game action since Oct. 12, 2022.

Butler finished the contest with 11 points on 3-of-6 shooting from the field, 1-of-2 shooting on threes and 4-of-5 shooting from the foul line, three rebounds, two assists, one steal and one block.

How many of the Heat’s five preseason games will Butler play in this year? He hasn’t played in more than two games during a single preseason since he appeared in five preseason games at the start of his first season with the Heat in 2019.

Butler, 35, can become an unrestricted free agent next summer with a $52.4 million player option in his contract for next season.

With the Heat’s leading duo of Bam Adebayo and Butler playing, most of Miami’s projected starting lineup began Tuesday’s preseason opener on the court together.

The Heat began the preseason with a starting lineup of Terry Rozier, Alec Burks, Butler, Nikola Jovic and Adebayo.

With Tyler Herro also expected to start but out Tuesday because of a strained right groin, Burks appeared to be the placeholder for Herro. The Heat expects Herro back soon, but it remains to be seen whether he’ll be able to play in a preseason game this year.

If Herro can’t log any game action during the preseason, the Heat’s projected opening night starting lineup of Rozier, Herro, Butler, Jovic and Adebayo will enter the season without ever playing in a game together. Because of the Heat’s injury issues last season, this combination never played together after the Heat traded for Rozier in late January.

As for Tuesday’s preseason game, the Heat’s starting lineup of Rozier, Burks, Butler, Jovic and Adebayo was effective. This unit closed the night with a plus/minus of plus-12 in 15:35 together.

This Heat lineup played the first 7:53 of the game together, outscoring the Hornets 21-12 during that stretch.

This group then returned to the court to play the final 7:42 of the first half together, outscoring the Hornets 25-22 during that span.

The Heat’s starters on Tuesday did not play in the second half.

Jovic, who looks to be on track to begin the season as the Heat’s starting power forward, finished the preseason opener with nine points on 3-of-5 shooting from the field and 1-of-2 shooting from three-point range, two rebounds, three assists and one steal in 16 minutes.

Burks recorded eight points on 3-of-3 shooting from the field and 2-of-2 shooting on threes, three assists, two steals and two blocks in 15 minutes in Herro’s place.

Rozier, who played in Charlotte for the first time since the Hornets traded him to the Heat in late January, contributed seven points on 3-of-10 shooting from the field and 0-of-3 shooting on threes, four rebounds, two assists and one block in 16 minutes.

The Hornets were led by star guard LaMelo Ball, who totaled 24 points, six rebounds and five assists in 23 minutes on Tuesday.

“It was good to get that game conditioning in,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said following the preseason opener. “It always feels a little bit different no matter how many years you’ve played. Our guys have been working extremely hard, but it was good to face somebody else.”

Herro was not the Heat’s only projected rotation player unavailable on Tuesday. But the first preseason game still offered a glimpse at what the full rotation could look like on opening night.

Along with missing Herro, the Heat was also without Jaime Jaquez Jr. (left groin strain) and Josh Richardson (right shoulder surgery rehab) for the preseason opener. Herro and Jaquez are considered to be locks for the Heat’s rotation when healthy this season and Richardson will compete for consistent minutes.

Without those three potential rotation players, the first five off the Heat’s bench were Duncan Robinson, Haywood Highsmith, Pelle Larsson, Dru Smith and Kevin Love.

Love was the first big used off the Heat’s bench when Adebayo went to the bench, which is noteworthy considering the Heat used its first-round pick this year on 7-footer Kel’el Ware and veteran center Thomas Bryant is still on the roster.

Larsson (drafted in the second round this year) and Smith (on a two-way contract) also played early minutes on Tuesday, but they could be pushed out of the rotation when Herro, Jaquez and Richardson return.

Bryant, Ware, Josh Christopher, Caleb Daniels, Keshad Johnson and Isaiah Stevens all entered for the Heat in the second half.

The lineup of Stevens, Daniels, Christopher, Johnson and Ware closed the game for the Heat and came close to forcing overtime despite falling behind by seven points with 5:46 left in the fourth quarter.

With the Heat trailing by three points with seven seconds to play, Miami called a timeout to draw up a play. But Ware missed what would have been a game-tying three-pointer from the left wing as the final buzzer sounded.

Nassir Little and Zyon Pullin were the only available Heat players who did not appear in Tuesday’s game.

It appears that Adebayo’s three-point surge from late last season will continue this season.

After shooting just 1 of 14 (7.1 percent) on threes through his first 54 appearances last regular season, Adebayo shot 14 of 28 (50 percent) from three-point range during his final 17 regular-season games. He closed last regular season with career highs in three-point makes (15) and three-point attempts (42).

It’s early and it’s just the preseason, but it seems clear that Adebayo is really ready to make the three-pointer a regular part of his offensive arsenal.

After shooting 5 of 11 on threes in Monday’s “Red, White & Pink Game” intrasquad scrimmage, Adebayo began the preseason by shooting 2 of 5 from three-point range in 17 minutes on Tuesday.

Adebayo closed the game with 13 points, six rebounds and one steal while only playing in the first half.

The Heat’s two 2024 draft picks flashed their potential in the preseason opener.

Larsson, who the Heat selected with the 44th overall pick in the second round of this year’s draft, finished his first NBA preseason game with 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting from the field and 2-of-2 shooting on threes, two assists and one steal in 16 minutes.

Larsson also impressed in Monday’s intrasquad scrimmage, totaling 21 points on 10-of-16 shooting from the field and 1-of-6 shooting on threes, four rebounds and nine assists.

After Monday’s scrimmage, Spoelstra called Larsson an “elite role player.” That’s high praise for a second-round pick who has yet to play in an NBA regular-season game.

“He’s been steady and consistent pretty much all of camp, all of September, and most of the summer as well for that matter,” Spoelstra said of Larsson. “He’s a very good role player and I mean that as the highest compliment.”

Whether Larsson can earn a spot in the Heat’s rotation this season remains to be seen, but his ability to make an impact on both ends of the court without needing the ball in his hands is a trait that has caught the coaching staff’s attention.

Ware, who the Heat took with the 15th overall pick in the first round of this year’s draft, didn’t enter Tuesday’s game until there was 4:36 left in the third quarter. But he made the most of his playing time, recording 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the field, 1-of-3 shooting on threes and 2-of-4 shooting from the foul line, five rebounds, one assist, two steals and four blocks in 17 minutes.

“Right away you noticed him defensively,” Spoelstra said of Ware. “While he’s still learning our system, what it shows and what we’ve been emphasizing to him is you still have to make plays.”