A look into the Miami Heat's starting lineup dilemma

There weren't many Miami Heat takeaways from Thursday night's expected game against the Chicago Bulls.

Due to slippery on-court conditions, things quickly turned into half-court trick shots, Heat players shooting from their bench, and a ton of chatting and waiting around before an eventual postponement of the game hours later.

So there was no on-court update to discuss with the team, right?

Wrong.

Erik Spoelstra was forced to turn in his starting lineup card 30 minutes before the game, which sent Kel'el Ware back to the bench, and Tyler Herro back into the starting lineup after a ramp up game as a reserve against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

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Davion Mitchell, Norman Powell, Andrew Wiggins, and Bam Adebayo stayed put in their roles, as the Heat prepared for a slightly smaller Bulls first unit.

This feels like Miami is heading toward a starting group that isn't set in stone over a game by game basis. The next game vs the Indiana Pacers is similar to the Bulls match-up, where Ware most likely remains a reserve.

But what happens on the second night of that back to back?

The Heat head up to Oklahoma City to face a big Thunder team, and if Isaiah Hartenstein returns next to Chet Holmgren, Miami will almost be forced back to their two big lineup.

This partly feels like Ware is just the easiest conversation to have when it comes to sending somebody back to the bench.

Although the team has a 2-3 record with the expected starting group, they've actually had a surprisingly positive output on the floor.

A 121.2 offensive rating and 108.5 defensive rating gives that lineup a +12.7 NET rating. We have to account for playing some weaker and smaller defenses in that stretch, but the point still stands.

The truth of that matter is it doesn't matter who starts when they're facing some of these lower end teams that will continue to pile up in front of them on the schedule. They're currently 14-5 against the league's bottom 15 defenses.

The match-ups are cleaner defensively, they force turnovers, and the scoring never seems to hit a wall.

That wall only pops up against the bigger and better defenses, such as that recent Minnesota Timberwolves match-up. The Heat are 6-12 against the top 15 defenses in the association, which are the only games where the first unit holds some type of importance.

Not only will there be a need to match size, but the offense is heading toward some pretty obvious tweaks that include more screening, as the team tries to unlock Herro and Adebayo next to one another yet again.

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When it isn't Kel'el Ware taking the step back when they're forced to go big, the name to watch move around the board a bit is going to be Davion Mitchell.

Even though Wiggins peaked with that second unit over the last few weeks, I'm not convinced they're going to demote him to a reserve at any point.

Instead, Mitchell can impact off the bench next to Pelle Larsson, Jaime Jaquez Jr, and Nikola Jovic as a pretty strong nine man rotation.

Dru Smith, who Erik Spoelstra has grown to love and trust, would be forced to take a step back in this scenario, as it doesn't seem realistic to lean into Mitchell-Smith back-court minutes.

The reality of the situation is that starting lineups are quite overrated. The real meaningful lineups are the ones that follow that first unit, as finding the correct combinations and match-ups on a minute by minute basis of a 48 minute game is the real key.

Does it seem Ware is knocked out of his starting center role currently? Yes. Should this be set in stone with a fully healthy group? Absolutely not.

With the way things have been trending, feelings can't be involved here and building out the right match-ups need to be at the forefront as the coaching staff explores these answers.