Focusing specfically on Love, he has not played a single game this regular season through four contests due to “personal reasons.” While the reason has not been specified, Love came back to the Heat on a $8 million contract this offseason and looked to continue his role as the back up to center Bam Adebayo.

With him out of the lineup, Thomas Bryant has assumed the position through the four games played while the third option would seem to be Heat rookie Kel’el Ware though he’s received little playing time. Still, the veteran big-man has a lot to offer on the court and has “embraced” his role on the team according to Miami head coach Erik Spoelstra.

“With Kevin, it’s kind of easy. It’s not like rocket science, you’re talking about a highly decorated, multi year all star who has embraced and accepted a role coming off the bench,” Spoelstra said. “If you could get players of his caliber to do that all the time in their mid 30s and bring that Veteran experience, but also the talent like on any given night, he can still be who he was in short bursts. If you can get guys to embrace that, there’d be a whole lot more guys like that that would have an impact around the league. He makes our best players better because of experience and spacing. As we know he’s a fantastic rebounder, but that experience is something that has really helped our group. It’ll be good to have him back.”

Heat’s Kevin Love is a “connector”

Before receiving the new deal, Love declined his player option, but it seemed inevitable that he would come back to the Heat on a new deal. While he is still valuable on the floor, the team also sees Love as a locker room presence as Spoelstra would call a “connector of all connectors.”

“He is a connector. I think this also has been important for our team to develop other connectors and we’d like to say that we need leadership at all levels, and it may look different for other guys, there might be smaller pockets of opportunities to lead depending on who the player is, but everybody can be a leader in the locker room and quite frankly, we need it right now,” Spoelstra said. “While Kevin was out, Thomas [Bryant] really stepped up and provided really quality, winning minutes, and that’s been really encouraging to see. Niko [Nikola Jovic] also has developed into more opportunities, not only starting in the front-court with Bam, but playing some of these games as our reserved five for pockets of the game and that’s been good for us as well. But it’ll be good to have Kevin available along with those guys.”

Heat’s Duncan Robinson a vital component 

Looking at Robinson, he is crucial for the Heat as their premier three-point shooter who is looking for some consistency as he suffered a significant injury in his back that made him miss a good amount of time towards the end of last season. This was evident in the playoffs where Robinson looked like he was limited in what he can do on the court.

However, Robinson should be primed for a solid season after a full offseason of recovery as he even talked about that to The Miami Herald how there is “no limitations.”

“I feel great,” Robinson said. “We took all the necessary steps, seeing who we needed to see. Not restricted in any way. Have [not been limited] for the better part of eight weeks. Playing pickup. No limitations.”

“It’s still a focus and emphasis in terms of what I’m doing in the weight room. [But it] hasn’t given me any issues,” Robinson continued. “It was a rude awakening turning 30 [this past April] and having back issues within a month. Father Time is undefeated.”

At any rate, the Heat look to bounce back against the Wizards in Mexico before returning back home Monday where they host the Sacramento Kings.