MIAMI — It’s not defeatism, and, ultimately, the Miami Heat will be (or at least should be) represented at the 2022 NBA All-Star Game.
But for a team in the midst of a breakthrough season, this is when the all-for-one approach has its drawbacks.
At times, the answers have been different to each: Who is the Heat’s best player? Who has been the Heat’s best player to this stage? Who is most deserving of an All-Star berth when factoring in contribution to winning, availability and, yes, because this is the world we live in, statistics?
Those are the decisions currently being sorted through by East coaches, as they select the seven conference reserves. From there, at least one additional selection will be made by NBA commissioner Adam Silver, with Kevin Durant expected to miss the Feb. 20 game in Cleveland due to his knee injury.
And, indeed, time and place could be a factor for additional Silver selections, when considering this most basic of premises: Who the heck wants to be in Cleveland on Feb. 20?
For now, you start with the Eastern Conference starters selected through the combined fan-media-player vote.
That has Durant, Joel Embiid and Giannis Antetokounmpo as the frontcourt starters from the East, and DeMar DeRozan and Trae Young as the backcourt starters from the conference.
From there, coaches are charged with selecting at least three frontcourt selections, two backcourt selections and two wild-card choices. Silver then will fill in the blanks.
Based on the remaining pool, it appears, at least from this perspective, that Jimmy Butler stands as the likely and only choice from the Heat.
And even then, that happens only if Heat’s depth of contributing talent doesn’t get in the way, splitting the vote.
To some, Kyle Lowry might be viewed as the player who has brought it all together this season, the difference from the Heat last season being a competitor and this season a contender. To others, the re-emergence of Tyler Herro might be viewed as the story of the Heat resurgence. And Bam Adebayo’s relentless two-way effort certainly has the respect of coaches.
So a few coaches go for Butler, a few for Lowry, a few for Herro and a few for Adebayo and the vote winds up split — all perhaps instead forced to merely deal with sand, sun and snub.
And that’s the rub ... even Heat players aren’t sure how they would split the vote.
To Adebayo, it should be Butler, Lowry and Herro.
“I think I missed too many games, but we’ll see what happens,” he said. “But those three for sure. I feel like they get the nod.”
Herro said a team standing atop the East merits multiple berths.
“We’ve got four, five guys that you could argue to be in the All-Star Game,” he said.
As it is, the best Heat shot could be with Erik Spoelstra, provided the Heat are leading the East at next Sunday’s cutoff for that decision.
“We have some other guys that I think it would be terrific to see them in that All-Star Game,” Spoelstra said, noting how particularly meaningful it would be for younger players. “We’ve also had some injuries, so I don’t know how that all works. But, yeah, I think that’s a cool experience, especially for players, guys like Bam and Tyler. I think that’s a fun things to look back on.”
Because of the competition at guard, the Heat’s best shot for an All-Star berth could be in the frontcourt, especially considering the need for a Durant replacement.
Among the competition for Lowry and Herro among what could be five East backcourt reserve berths are, Toronto’s Fred VanVleet and Chicago Zach LaVine, who appear to have crafted undeniable All-Star resumes. From there, there also are Milwaukee’s Jrue Holiday, Brooklyn’s James Harden, Boston’s Jaylen Brown, Cleveland’s Darius Garland and Washington’s Bradley Beal.
Among the East frontcourt competition for Butler (and a lesser degree Adebayo, considering the seven weeks missed with his thumb injury) are Boston’s Jayson Tatum, Cleveland’s Jarrett Allen and Toronto’s Pascal Siakam.
Considering neither conference leader, the Heat in the East, the Phoenix Suns in the West, have an All-Star starter, coaches seemingly would have an obligation to reward success.
Among the six teams that have broken away from the pack in the East, the starting lineup has a representative from the Nets (Durant), Bulls (DeRozan), 76ers (Embiid) and the Bucks (Antetokounmpo).
That leaves only the Heat and host Cavaliers so far without a representative. With Durant out, it also leaves the Nets not spoken for.
So in addition to LaVine and VanVleet, it would make sense, out of respect to team success, to add Harden in place of Durant, have Butler as a Heat representative and either Garland or Allen from the Cavaliers, with Allen an easier choice based on the limited remaining East frontcourt options.
From there, two spots remain from the coaches’ vote, which will be announced Thursday. Tatum would appear to merit one, Holiday possibly the other.
Then will come Silver’s commissioner’s replacement for Durant.
So figure on Butler, with a potential Heat plus-one added later in the process among Silver replacement selections
But also appreciate that collective success can mean split ballots.
