Bill Simmons didn’t exactly leave much room for optimism when he sized up the Miami Heat’s closing group on the Sept. 22 edition of “The Bill Simmons Podcast” with Zach Lowe.
“Who’s playing defense on this team?” asked Bill Simmons.
“Who’s guarding Jayson Tatum? Andrew Wiggins?
OK. Andrew Wiggins did guard Jayson Tatum well four years ago.
So Giannis, Bam, Andrew Wiggins, Davion Mitchell and Pelle Larsson, that’s my crunch time five with maybe Klay Thompson in there. Welcome to the play-in.”
That was the challenge in one sharp burst: Miami can name defenders, but can it actually finish games with a lineup that bothers opponents at both ends?
The Heat do have real defensive muscle at the top of the roster. Bam Adebayo owns six career All-Defensive selections, while Giannis Antetokounmpo has five and a Defensive Player of the Year award.
On paper, that gives Miami a sturdy base. In practice, the details get messy fast.
A matchup like Jayson Tatum shows why. It is not just about the first defender.
It is about who deals with the screen, who protects the rim behind the action, and whether the defense can stay connected when the offense tries to drag one assignment away from the others. With Wiggins on Tatum and Adebayo on the screener, Miami could switch and still keep Antetokounmpo available as a helper.
But an opponent could answer by forcing Antetokounmpo’s man into space or dragging a smaller defender into the play.
That is all hypothetical, not a coverage Miami has officially announced. Still, it explains why Simmons’ criticism is more complicated than a simple “who guards Tatum?”
debate. The Heat can point to individual defenders.
The real question is whether the whole structure survives when an opponent starts moving pieces around.
The offense brings its own tension. Looking at the 2025-26 regular season numbers individually, Andrew Wiggins shot 41.4% on 4.9 three-point attempts per game, and Davion Mitchell hit 39.5% on 3.3 attempts. Bam Adebayo was at 31.7% on 5.5 attempts, while Giannis Antetokounmpo shot 33.3% on 1.3 tries per game.
Those figures matter because they complicate any easy assumption that Miami’s perimeter players can simply be ignored. Wiggins and Mitchell make that risky. Adebayo’s volume adds another wrinkle: even when the shot itself is not the main attraction, the defense still has to respect what happens if he lets it fly.
The numbers, of course, do not tell the whole story. They do not show how tightly each shot was contested or how a playoff defense might respond. But they do underline the central issue: if a defender helps on Antetokounmpo, the next pass has to produce something before the defense gets back in place.
That is where Larsson enters the picture in Simmons’ imagined five. His role would depend on whether he can make the right decisions when the ball comes his way, not just on who he is assigned to guard.
There is also another way to get both big men involved. An Antetokounmpo-Adebayo pick-and-roll could force the defense into a tough choice. If two defenders go with the ball, the screener can catch and make a decision closer to the rim.
That kind of action gives Miami an alternative to spacing one big man out and letting the other attack alone. But it only works if the other three players are in the right spots and their defenders react the way Miami wants.
Even a cut can be useful, but it can also clog the same lane the ball handler needs if the timing is off. The Heat’s offseason work and team time together should help, but only actual possessions will show whether that chemistry holds under pressure.
Simmons’ five is not Miami’s only possible closing group, either. The Heat also have Klay Thompson and Tim Hardaway Jr. on the roster, which opens the door to different combinations.
Any change comes with a trade-off. Swapping out a guard keeps the frontcourt pair intact but changes ball-handling and defensive responsibilities.
Taking out a bigger player affects spacing and shifts more of the rebounding and interior work to whoever stays on the floor. And depending on whether Miami needs a stop or a bucket, a timeout could create room for another tweak.
So the Heat do not need one permanent answer for every late-game situation. The real test behind Simmons’ skepticism is simpler than that: can Miami put together a five that gets stops and still generates good shots when the game tightens?
The defense gives them a reason to believe. The shooting mix gives them a reason to keep asking questions.
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Nembhards appeal is easy to understand for a team that values organization and decision-making in the backcourt. He spent four seasons in college and then got his first NBA taste with Dallas, where he earned a standard contract and flashed some playmaking ability. If he does hit the open market, Miami will have to decide whether his upside is enough to make him part of the mix, and whether the fit is right before other teams get involved. [Read more 🡒]
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Now in Milwaukee, Jakucionis appears headed for a bigger opportunity, which is exactly what can make the long view of a blockbuster trade tricky. His college and NBA tape point to a guard who can handle the ball, make plays for others and stay engaged defensively, so the Heat may eventually be judged not just on landing Giannis, but on how much young upside they were willing to include to get him. [Read more 🡒]