The Heat's two longest-term stars have slipped in one statistic

If sharing is caring, should we care if the Miami Heat as a whole are sharing, but that's not reflected in their two longest-term stars' statistics?

The Heat, with the new free-flowing read-and-react drive-and-space-and-dish limit-the-screens offense, are averaging 30.2 assists compared to 26.4 last season, up from 14th in the NBA to second. Everyone has eaten at some point this season, and Davion Mitchell in particular has spiked as a playmaker, leading the team with a career-high 7.8 per game. Jaime Jaquez, Jr., resurgent until a health-related setback recently, is second with 5.2.

So where are Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro on the Heat list, after the two longest-tenured players have been among the team's consistent leaders year after year after year?

Adebayo is seventh with 2.5. That is his lowest-average since his second season, way back in 2018-19 when he played 82 games but started only 28, used largely as a backup to Hassan Whiteside.

Herro has played only five games since returning from ankle surgery, so the sample size is small. But he hasn't appeared as consistently comfortable in some aspects of the offense as his teammates, and they are still adjusting to him. He had 20 points (he's cleared that in every game and is now at 23.8 game) in Wednesday's loss in Dallas, but all of those points were in the first half, and he didn't have a single assist.

The guard is now averaging just 2.2 assists while playing his typical allotment of minutes.

That's ninth on the Heat.

Typically, it's a good thing when more players are involved in the playmaking, and Miami has gotten assist pops from Pelle Larsson (3.4) and Dru Smith (3.0) as well as Mitchell. But for Andrew Wiggins (3.0) to be ahead of both Adebayo and Herro, when passing is one of Wiggins's greater talents, seems problematic.

Adebayo isn't being used as a hub as much as in past seasons. Herro isn't being double-teamed as much, which again sounds like a good thing and could be -- and may be even more true if Norm Powell and Herro ever play enough together and Powell commands additional addition. But Herro did become quite adept at developing passing counters to tighter coverages, and that hasn't been put to use of late.

Some of the issue Wednesday was just Heat players missing shots, so Herro didn't get a couple of assists he could have.

But this may be a stat to watch.

When the playoffs come, teams are more reliant on their most experienced players. The ball figures to be in the hands of Herro and Adebayo more often, and they will need to make the right plays.