Heat Notes: Love, Zeller, Home Stretch, Spoelstra

New Heat power forward Kevin Love unpacked the thinking behind his decision to sign with Miami, per Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald (subscriber link). Love inked a rest-of-season deal worth $3.1MM with the Heat after reaching a contract buyout agreement with the Cavaliers. He will be an unrestricted free agent this summer.

“I felt it was a great opportunity for me to come here and just further what the Heat has had in place for so long and help them with size and shooting and rebounding and everything that are strengths in my game,” Love explained over a Zoom chat with several Miami reporters. “A lot of things factored into it. But for me, I think it was that role of being able to be myself and play to my strengths on a team that could really use it.”

As Chiang notes, the 6’8″ big man will help add some size and shooting in the frontcourt for a Heat team desperate for both. Chiang writes that there is a possibility Miami eventually starts Love over 6’5″ Caleb Martin.

There’s more out of South Beach:

• The Heat’s other new post-trade deadline addition, center Cody Zeller, also spoke on Wednesday about joining the team, Chiang writes in another piece. Zeller, who signed a prorated veteran’s minimum contract to play for the club this season, is not quite sure how he will fit into the team’s roster just yet, as he told reporters in his own Zoom call. “I’ll do whatever role they want me to,” Zeller said. “I feel like I’m healthy. I can help a team if I’m called on. I’ll fit in wherever they need me.” While still with the Trail Blazers, Zeller suffered a patellar avulsion fracture in his right knee in January 2022 that required surgery. “I talked a lot with coach [Erik] Spoelstra and Pat Riley when I came to work out here about how I’ve hated playing the Heat throughout my whole career because you always know it’s going to be a tough game, you always know it’s going to be hard-playing guys, it’s going to be a physical game… So it’s kind of fun for me to be on the other side of it to be able to add to that and to kind of be able to be on the other side of it.”
• In another Herald article (subscriber link), Chiang writes that the 32-27 Heat have a lot of lineup elements, including incorporating Love and Zeller, to sort out over the home stretch of the 2022/23 season as the seventh seed in the East prepares for a playoff run.
• Miami head coach Erik Spoelstra will need to tinker with his team’s rotation and even its starting lineup as the club gears up for the postseason, opines Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel. Though Winderman anticipates that Martin will retain his role as the team’s starting power forward over Love for the immediate future, he does think the team will take a look at whether to start Gabe Vincent over Kyle Lowry, how much run Victor Oladipo will receive as a high-upside reserve, and who will ultimately be the team’s primary backup center.