Three Heat players have been joined at the hip all season

Embracing change has been a theme for the Heat early in this season with the revolving door of players in both the starting lineup and the rotation.

Bam Adebayo and Norman Powell have each missed stretches to start the year, while the Heat never seem to skip a beat with their high level depth down the line.

Tyler Herro obviously missed the first 17 games of the season, before returning a night ago against the Dallas Mavericks.

Pelle Larsson and Kel'el Ware have bounced around the rotation a bit to start the year, as their roles have fluctuated, yet it hasn't really impacted their results as we've seen as of late.

Kel’el Ware in his last three games;

60 points
48 rebounds
— Brady Hawk (@BradyHawk305) November 25, 2025

But there is a certain trio that can't seem to get away from each other, and it's occurring in the second unit.

Jaime Jaquez Jr, Dru Smith, and Simone Fontecchio have been consistent staples of the Heat rotation, as they share the floor late in the first quarter and into the start of the second quarter, often running the offense into a positive direction.

That trio has actually logged the most minutes together on the entire team, posting a near plus 8 NET rating with a 110.2 offensive rating and 102.4 defensive rating.

Why have they been so effective aside from role security? Each of them just know what's needed from them every night.

Smith is a guy who doesn't make many mistakes. He's going to get after it on defense, get the ball to where it needs to be on offense, and hit the necessary shots whenever that ball does find him.

Fontecchio just finds a way to be effective in ways that transcend a pure specialist. Embracing the fast transition style, mixing in hard paint attacks for finishes in the lane, and drawing fouls on jump shots consistently with the flying close-outs that he forces.

Then there's Jaquez Jr: the glue to all of this. His scoring punch has been so reliable, and his growing role has allowed his sidekick role guys to actually 'be' role guys.

Jaime Jaquez Jr. has made the third-most layups in the league this season, per Synergy.

T1. Jaylen Brown (73)
T1. Franz Wagner (73)
3. Jaime Jaquez Jr. (72)
T4. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (71)
T4. Giannis Antetokounmpo (71)
— Wes Goldberg (@wcgoldberg) November 25, 2025

He's been as dominant as ever on the attack, even ranking third in total layups, just one field goal short of Jaylen Brown and Franz Wagner.

There's a difference between having a good bench core, and a reliable one. Yet, Erik Spoelstra seems to have both that he can rely on at the moment, and it's began with these three names.

With the team trending in the healthier direction, that list of reserves is only expanding. With both Larsson and Ware possibly dropping down to the "B" team pretty soon, it'll lead to some very interesting decisions.

But for now, you just can't get much more secure than Jaquez, Smith, and Fontecchio heading to the scorers table to pick-up for some of the team's All-Star starters.