One of the biggest surprises to start this season for the Miami Heat has been the two-way success of this group’s bench core. No doubt this team was known to have a decent amount of depth, but it’s coming from many areas that didn’t obtain as many expectations.

For starters you have Jaime Jaquez Jr who is the headliner of this second unit. Ball is in his hands for the majority of his minutes, currently averaging just under 16 points a game, and showing real growth as a passer while averaging the second most assists a night on the team with 4.0 per game.

Simone Fontecchio has been one of the larger surprises when it comes to filling it up as a scorer in more ways than just catch and shoot threes. “We want him to have the utmost green light that you can have,” Erik Spoelstra said on Fontecchio’s current level of play for this team.

And of course with Kel’el Ware seeming to find his role as this team’s starting center once again, it leaves Nikola Jovic as a sticking point off the bench. This has been one of the more interesting developments since it was expected that his usage would be much higher, but the recent success of Jaquez Jr has pushed Jovic as more of an off the catch threat again.

With all of that said, there’s one key piece of the second unit that I’ve yet to mention: Dru Smith.

Erik Spoelstra on Heat’s bench:

“It’s a really gritty group. It’s a competitive group. Where you think you may have advantages if you’re the other team, they make up for it with their activity and their toughness. They have a lot of belief and spirit about them that’s great.… pic.twitter.com/F2BsRjTijG

— Hot Hot Hoops (@hothothoops) October 27, 2025

As you look over the advanced metrics of this team over the first three games (yes, a smaller sample size), Dru Smith finds himself in 4 of the 6 best two-man NET ratings on the Miami Heat.

His positive pairings consist of playing next to Jovic, Bam Adebayo, Norman Powell, and Jaquez Jr as you go down the inflated NET rating numbers.

He’s somewhat been the unsung hero of that second unit. The exceptional positional defense against players like Ja Morant and Jalen Brunson is just the tip of the iceberg, since he’s also 4 for 8 from three in these last two games along with 16 points.

With Jaquez and Jovic being two guys in many of these lineups needing to operate on the ball as previously noted, it leaves Smith playing off the ball a ton as he continues to capitalize. It’s one of the reasons that Erik Spoelstra has been such a supporter: he doesn’t make many mistakes and he can play many different roles without blinking.

Simply, the Heat are going to need this second unit to keep giving this positive punch, especially as they await the return of Tyler Herro. The Heat lead the league in field goals made from their bench and are second in overall points.

Each and every one of those scorers deserve their credit, but don’t let the underlying impact of Dru Smith go unnoticed.