Where will improvement come from? Who’s the point guard? Questions surround Heat entering camp

Four months after losing to the Denver Nuggets in the NBA Finals, the Miami Heat will begin a new season.

The Heat holds media day at Kaseya Center on Monday before opening training camp at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton on Tuesday in preparation for its Oct. 25 regular-season opener against the Detroit Pistons in Miami. Training camp at FAU will run from Tuesday through Saturday and will be closed to the public.

The Heat spent most of the offseason pursuing superstar guard Damian Lillard, who requested to be dealt to Miami. But the Portland Trail Blazers instead traded Lillard to the Milwaukee Bucks.

So, the Heat moves forward with a roster that includes many of the same faces who were around for last season’s run to the NBA Finals.

[Q&A with Heat forward Nikola Jovic]

[Q&A with Heat wing Caleb Martin]

[Q&A with Heat forward Jaime Jaquez Jr.]

[Q&A with Heat center Bam Adebayo]

Here are some of the questions surrounding the Heat entering media day and training camp:

It looks like the Heat will rely on internal improvement again this season. Where will it come from?

Technically every player on the Heat’s roster hopes to be better this season, but the internal improvement that moves the needle usually comes from the younger players. The Heat’s list of internal improvement candidates is again headlined by Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro. Can Adebayo and Herro take another leap this season? Adebayo wants to be more efficient and Herro will look to make his first NBA All-Star Game. Whether the Heat can accomplish its goals and be even better this season likely depends on Adebayo and Herro’s continued growth.

What will regular season Jimmy Butler look like?

Butler is still the Heat’s best player. He has proven during his first four seasons with the Heat that he’s one of the few players in the league who’s special enough to be the best player on a championship-level team. But Butler also turned 34 in September and has played deep into the playoffs in three of the last four seasons. Butler missed 18 games last regular season, with most of those missed games coming because of a right knee issue. Obviously, Butler must stay relatively healthy this season for the Heat to reach its full potential.

Who will start at point guard?

Kyle Lowry began last season as the Heat’s starting point guard before Gabe Vincent took over and played as the starting point guard during the Heat’s long playoff run. But Vincent left in free agency to sign with the Los Angeles Lakers and Lowry ideally won’t need to play heavy minutes at 37 years old. The issue is Lowry is the only traditional point guard currently on the Heat’s 15-man roster. Despite being a score-first shooting guard, Herro is another option to open this season as the Heat’s starting point guard. In that scenario, Adebayo and Butler can take some of the ball-handling pressure off Herro. Another option for the Heat? Add a veteran point guard still available in free agency like Goran Dragic, who would welcome a Heat return but the Heat has yet to express interest in bringing him back, according to league sources.

Who will start at power forward?

Kevin Love and Caleb Martin appear to be the front-runners for this role. Martin opened last season as the Heat’s starting power forward before the Heat added Love with two months left in the regular season. Love then took over as the Heat’s starting power forward after signing with Miami in the middle of the season. Both bring different skill sets to the position, as Martin features some defensive versatility but is undersized for this spot at 6-foot-5 and 205 pounds while Love is not a versatile defender but is an above average rebounder at 6-foot-8 and 251 pounds. But both are threats from three-point range, which is arguably the most important skill for this position as part of a starting lineup that’s anchored by non-three-point shooters Adebayo and Butler. Other power forward options on the Heat’s 15-man roster include Haywood Highsmith, Nikola Jovic and Jaime Jaquez Jr.

Who will be the backup center?

Finding positive minutes from a backup center is one clear way the Heat can be better this season. Miami was outscored by four points per 100 possessions when Adebayo wasn’t on the court last regular season. The Heat hopes the addition of veteran center Thomas Bryant can help fix that issue this season. Bryant, who signed with the Heat in free agency this summer, averaged 12.1 points and 6.8 rebounds per game while shooting 65.4 percent from the field and 22 of 50 (44 percent) from three-point range in 41 games (25 starts) with the Lakers last season before he was traded to the Nuggets in February. Bryant’s main competition for the backup center job is second-year big man Orlando Robinson. Love is another option for that role who can play both frontcourt positions, albeit a bit undersized for the center spot. Whether it’s Bryant, Robinson or Love, the Heat just wants to win more of the non-Adebayo minutes this season.

Will Jaquez and/or Jovic earn a consistent role in the Heat’s rotation?

After losing two starters from last season’s playoff run in Max Strus and Vincent in free agency and not making any significant additions this offseason, the Heat could use contributions from its last two draft picks. Jovic, the Heat’s first-round pick in 2022, and Jaquez, the Heat’s first-round pick this year, will have an opportunity to compete for spots in the rotation this season. Jovic, 20 impressed this offseason as a member of the Heat’s summer league team and in the FIBA Basketball World Cup with the Serbian national team. And Jaquez could be ready to make an immediate impact as an older rookie at 22 years old after a four-year college career at UCLA.

How will the new faces fit in?

Most of last season’s roster that made the NBA Finals is back, but there are some new faces mixed in. The Heat lost Udonis Haslem (retired), Victor Oladipo (traded to Oklahoma City Thunder), Strus (signed with Cleveland Cavaliers in free agency), Vincent (signed with Lakers in free agency), Omer Yurtseven (signed with Utah Jazz in free agency) and Cody Zeller (signed with New Orleans Pelicans in free agency) this summer. In their place, the Heat added guard Josh Richardson (via free agency), Bryant (via free agency), Jaquez (via draft) and Robinson (promoted to standard contract from two-way deal) to the 15-man roster this offseason.

How will the Heat complete its 15-man roster?

While the Heat’s roster is already at the offseason/preseason roster limit of 21 players, the Heat needs to add at least one more player to a standard contract before the start of the regular season because the new CBA makes it tough for teams to consistently carry fewer than 14 players under standard deals. The Heat’s roster currently includes 13 players on standard contracts. Because of Miami’s salary-cap situation and the new collective bargaining agreement’s punitive rules, the Heat only has minimum contracts to offer outside free agents. The Heat could also promote one of its two-way contract players or Exhibit 10 players to a standard deal to get to 14 players on its 15-man roster, which is considered the more likely route.

The Heat has three players signed to two-way deals (RJ Hampton, Jamal Cain and Dru Smith) and five players signed to Exhibit 10 contracts that essentially represent an invite to training camp (Cheick Diallo, Justin Champagnie, Drew Peterson, Cole Swider and Alondes Williams).