3 Keys for Heat on Wednesday night against Wembanyama's Spurs

The Miami Heat continue to charge along in this injury-ridden pre-season, while the Wednesday night official injury report has yet to be released. A lot of the young guys who were expected to get run for an extended period of time, such as Kasparas Jakucionis and Pelle Larsson, have yet to suit up in the pre-season.

But as Miami awaits those recoveries, all eyes remain on the primary players working into shape in an adjusted offensive system, as well as the training camp guys trying to prove themselves into roster status.

So here are some keys for the Heat tonight:

1. We remain on Kel'el Ware watch.

The Victor Wembanyama-Kel'el Ware match-up was a duel that had many people talking back in January. It was sort of Ware's break-out game into rotation status, and eventually starter status, as he put up 25 points and 10 rebounds against the Spurs' Wembanyama. Ware has been a hot topic this pre-season, but the reason we remain on Ware watch is due to the most recent call-out by head coach Erik Spoelstra. The last time he made comments like the ones on Monday night, Ware responded in Summer League with a strong offensive performance that "impacted winning." So could the Wemby match-up help him rise to the occassion? Will these Spo comments increase his energy? We shall see very soon.

2. After some lineup copy and pasting, is this the night we see change?

Keeping an eye on Jaime Jaquez Jr's level of play to begin the pre-season was always going to be a priority. Do things look like last season again? Or could a rookie year remake be occurring? The issue with replicating his rookie year success has a lot to do with the role he's playing. And to be completely honest, this starting lineup position next to Norman Powell, Andrew Wiggins, Nikola Jovic, and Bam Adebayo doesn't seem to be maximizing his offensive skill. It's pushing him into an off-ball role yet again. He started the second half on Monday night without the main guys and we simply saw him playing at a much higher level. There's a simple swap that makes sense moving forward: Dru Smith for Jaime Jaquez. Smith's game is best when he has better players around him and never demands the basketball offensively. Jaquez off the bench with Ware, along with some training camp guys, feels like the next rotation move.

3. A Bam Adebayo offensive game should be coming.

hea — Oct 6, 2025; Miami, Florida, USA; Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo (13) drives to the basket against Milwaukee Bucks center Myles Turner (3) during the first quarter at Kaseya Center. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images | Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

Bam Adebayo's first two pre-season games have been interesting. The bare numbers would show he's 1 for 8 from the field through two games, but he's also been to the line 12 times and playing passive to get the new guys acclimated. "I'm old enough to realize it's early, but I want guys to be comfortable," Adebayo said on the matter. "My job right now is really a lot of teaching...They know when we start incorporating the offense, I'm gonna shoot the ball." So with all of that said, we're approaching a point soon where they're going to be leaning more and more into the main guys and the structure of the offense. And when that time comes, aggressive Adebayo will need to continue working that short jumper to open up the perimeter guys even more.