Before Jimmy Butler arrived in Miami in 2019, the Heat were a middle-of-the-pack team when it came to playmaking. Their best playmaker at the time was Goran Dragic, who wasn’t necessarily looked at as a pass-first point guard. In the 2018-2019 season, the Heat averaged 24.3 assists a game, which is good for 17th in the league.
The two seasons after that, with Jimmy as the primary playmaker, the Heat rose to the top 10 in assists per game. Jimmy posted a career-high in assists last season with 7.1. The emergence of Bam Adebayo as a playmaker also helped to evolve this offense into one of the league’s best. Bam averaged over 5 assists a game during Jimmy’s first two seasons with the Heat.
This season, with the acquisition of Kyle Lowry, the Heat currently stand at 6th in the league in assists. In addition, Lowry himself ranks 6th overall in the league with 8.3 assists per game, which would stand as the second most assists in his career. Miami hasn’t had a bonafide pass-first point guard in quite some time, seeing as the last time a PG for the Heat averaged over 8 assists was Tim Hardaway in 1998. Now, Lowry’s awareness and passing ability has elevated Miami into a top-tier playmaking team.
With Kyle Lowry currently away from the team due to personal reasons, the Heat have looked to others to pass the rockmore often. In the seven games since Lowry’s absence, Jimmy Butler has averaged 8.1 assists a game. Jimmy is in real contention for Player of the Week as the Heat went 3-1. Another contributor who has stepped up their passing game has been Gabe Vincent. Vincent, who only averages 3.2 assists on the season, has been a suitable substitute for Lowry. In the last seven games, Gabe has contributed 4.9 assists while also averaging 14 points a game. While a lot of emphasis is being placed on Miami’s defense this season, the way that their offense has turned into a playmaking machine needs to be noted as well.
