The Miami Heat have struggled at the start of this season entering tonight’s contest at a measly 3-9 on the year. This has sparked a lot of doubt on the team and honestly for good reason. They have not lived up to their standards nor what they thought this team could be. Though it is still early in the season, as tonight is just the 10th game of the year, it was clear changes needed to be made. Heat head coach Erik Speolstra has realized this and made a lineup change for tonight’s game against the Sacramento Kings

The Miami Heat Change the Starting Lineup

The starting lineup for the Miami Heat has been the same for the first 9 games but due to the lackluster start a change has been made. Andrw Wiggins has been replaced by Pelle Larsson in the starting five. This means the starters are now Davion Mitchell, Klay Thompson, Giannis Antetkounmpo, Bam Adebayo, and Larsson.

Though this lineup has only played limited minutes together this year, the metrics massively favor this group over the previous lineup. Larsson fits well with the other starters and helps both sides of the ball significantly.

One of the reasons is his shooting has been reliable this year entering this contest above 40%. This might not continue all season long, but it does give the defenses something to worry about on the perimeter. In contrast Wiggins is shooting below 30% through the first 9 games. That 10% difference is massive.

On the defensive end Larsson adds a grit to the defense. He is a good individual defender but how he plays is infectious. His physicality rubs off on the other players and helps them elevate their game. With Larsson, Mitchell, Adebayo and Antetokounmpo on the court Miami now has 4 elite defenders that work well together.

What Happens to Andrew Wiggins Now?

There really is no way around it, Wiggins has been abysmal this season. His shooting percentages are horrendous, but it is more than that. People focus on the shooting, but players go through rough stretches frequently. I am not as concerned about that as I am about the defense.

Wiggins was expected to help make the Heat’s defense spectacular pairing him with three elite defenders. He has historically been a great perimeter defender and a versatile weapon. This season he has been lack luster at best. He has been among the worst in the NBA in opponent field goal percentage, and has not been stingy at all at the point of attack. It's not just Cooper Flagg beating him off the dribble; it was a player twice Flagg's age, Brook Lopez, doing so the other night.

I would expect Wiggins to come off the bench to see if he can find a rhythm that way; this way, he will be lined up against lesser players and can be used at times as more of a primary scorer. He still is a talented player that has shown over the course of his career he can be a contributor on good teams. This is certainly not the end of Wiggins in Miami just yet, but if things don’t turn around all options must be explored.  

With Larsson starting, expect to see rookie Ryan Conwell Jr. continue to get minutes off the bench to provide a little more playmaking and creativity to that unit. But Spoelstra will also stagger his groups some, until he finds the right fits.