Live updates: Heat vet could miss opener. Spoelstra, Adebayo, Herro dish at Heat media day

Welcome to Media Day for Season No. 36 for the Miami Heat.

We will have updates here throughout the day, as Erik Spoelstra and players answer questions before flying to the Bahamas later on Monday to begin training camp on Tuesday.

We will add new updates to the bottom. Please keep checking back:

ERIK SPOELSTRA’S THOUGHTS

▪ On where things stand after the first-round loss to Boston: “Our season ending meeting was raw, how we were ousted. Boston can say whatever they want to say. They earned it. They were crowned. With that said, you still have to earn it. A bunch of teams are gunning for that title.

“Our guys like that world. You can’t be afraid of the competition and proving it between those four lines. Those are the types of competitors we have in our locker room. It’s our job to get these things together and chip away at the competition. We’ve gotten the conditioning test and the skill work and the drilling.”

▪ Asked how does he keep this core from getting stale, Spoelstra said: “How does anything get stale if you haven’t accomplished what you want to accomplish? The group has had no chance to even get to that point... I want guys to fight for minutes. Make me [make] you play you. I want the veterans to understand that as well. There are not going to be any free tickets handed out because of any kind of reputation.”

▪ Though Udonis Haslem has advocated moving Duncan Robinson into the starting lineup and Tyler Herro to the bench, it doesn’t sound like that’s the way Spoelstra is leaning.

“I’m not going to give you headlines about starting lineup or rotation but I am intentional about seeing what Terry [Rozier], Tyler, Bam [Adebayo], Jimmy [Butler] looks like. We have to see how that group can complement each other and lift this whole group up.”

▪ On the team’s durability issues: “We think it will be better this year. Sometimes you have to breathe that into existence.”

▪ Spoelstra said everybody “will be ready” to go for training camp, from a health standpoint. Josh Richardson will participate but isn’t ready for full contact after last season’s shoulder injury. Everyone else will be a full participant.

Terry Rozier, coming off last April’s next injury, is “ready to go. This is the most work he’s put in in a long time. I’m really excited about the possibilities for Terry. For whatever reason, he’s a forgotten guy. We will fortunate he’s with us and healthy. I’ve seen him put in the work and the type of talent he is and how he can impact winning.

▪ Spoelstra said Jimmy Butler “is in a good place coming into this camp. He’s prepared himself. First few weeks was getting his body right from the injury.

“He’s spent a great deal of time working and preparing. We were in contact. He’s at a point where he needs me to coach this team at a high level and coach him and push him to higher levels. And I need him to be at his highest level as a player and a leader. That goes for everybody else.”

▪ On signing guard/sharp-shooter Alec Burks: “Alec was somebody we felt really fortunate to be able to get. Veteran player but a guy that has proven he can be so explosive offensively. Those guys are dynamic to find. Has positional size. We wanted veteran experience from the wing position. He’s been a Heat killer over the year. We try to get some of those guys on our side.

▪ On center and rookie first-round pick Kel’el Ware in summer league from afar, while Spoelstra was coaching on the U.S. Olympic staff: “That was fun watching him. We watched more film on him to prepare for the draft. That was unique, comparing experience from Oregon to Indiana. In London and Paris, every morning I would get the summer league games sent on my lap top. I started watching it and the whole staff started looking over my shoulder and watching. Great watching his progress,... playing with motor and physicality and consistent intention. You can see the talent level. Size, touch, knack for rebounding that’s unique.”

▪ Spoelstra cracked that he was Adebayo’s “workout coach” during their Olympics and their chats after those sessions.

“He proved even more on that stage what kind of winning player he is. I really enjoyed seeing how the players on that team viewed Jimmy and what a winner he is. Everyone respected him going into it. The coaching staff absolutely loved him going into it, the way he impacts winning...

“He will have to do even more of that, being the face of the franchise.... It’s about having career best in everything,... as a leader,.. defender. He will continue to grow offensively because of his work ethic.”

▪ On Chris Quinn being named associate head coach, Spoelstra said he essentially has served that role for four years: “He’s worthy of being a head coach in this league right now. He knows how to relate to the guys in our locker room, relate to met. He’s a Miami Heat guy.”

▪ On Herro: “He’s going to have big time help this year with other guys available and healthy and really prepared this offseason. Tyler did everything I asked him to do this offseason. We were in constant contact when I was overseas. He’s so skilled. He worked on the specificity of what we’ll need for this team. He worked on his body. He looks different. It’s more about the functional strength.”

▪ Spoelstra said there’s no need to install a new offense after Miami finished 21st in offensive rating last season. But... “the offense we need to improve, we need to innovate. We need to do some things subtly better. There has to be some sophistication, some added new innovation to bring out the best in everybody. We have offensive talent everywhere you look. It should be a group that brings out a higher level.”

BAM ADEBAYO WEIGHS IN

▪ On his vision for the quartet with himself, Butler, Herro and Rozier: “To be healthy. For all of us to be healthy and win ultimately. That’s the biggest goal for all of us.”

▪ Adebayo cracked: “I didn’t choose to be captain. UD forced me into this role.”

▪ Adebayo on Ware: “I got somebody out there that’s seven feet. He will be a great addition to our team. I’ve seen the kid grow from the time he got drafted until now.”

▪ On his three-point shooting: “Spacing the floor makes life easier for Jimmy, Terry, Tyler to get to the basket. Makes it easier for drive and kicks.

▪ What is his main motivation? “Winning. Being the top dog at something, being able to win.”

TYLER HERRO WEIGHS IN

▪ Asked if he would be OK going back to the bench (and does not sound like Spoestra is leaning that way at this time): “Whatever they say I am [a starter or sixth man] what I am. We are going to let the best coach in the league decide and one of best GMs ever to decide... I’m willing to do whatever it takes to win a championship.”

▪ Herro said his summer involved “getting stronger, get my mind right preparing for this long season. Trying to stay healthy is a big thing for me this season.”

▪ Herro said he has gone from 189 to 201 to get stronger. “Heaviest I’ve come into camp in my career. Trying to keep the weight on and stay healthy, I think that will help being more durable, having a little bigger frame.”

HEALTH UPDATE

▪ Every Heat player who has been dealing with injuries (Nikola Jovic, Dru Smith, Terry Rozier) has been cleared for contact work and five on five work except Josh Richardson, who sustained a season-ending shoulder injury last February.

Richardson said he will be “on the court a little” in training camp but isn’t sure if he will be ready for the Oct. 23 opener against Orlando.

“Real frustrating,” he said. “Five up days and then can’t move your arm. It’s crazy. Constant process. I’m patient.”