Dru Smith or someone else behind Davion Mitchell for Heat?

Q: Ira, who’s our backup point guard? – Stephen.

A: You mean sort of the question that was attempted to be asked before Saturday night’s exhibition against the Timberwolves (and was quickly swatted aside by Erik Spoelstra)? If Dru Smith were healthy, instead of dealing with a calf strain, that likely would have been asked and answered with the preseason rotation. Then, it was Pelle Larsson taking on the role during the preseason opener, only to be limited since by illness. That opened the door for Tre Donaldson to start against Minnesota and Ryan Conwell to finish. The thought here remains that there won’t be a definitive backup point guard and that Spoelstra will instead seek ballhandling and playmaking elsewhere in the rotation. But also keep in mind that the Heat open the regular season with three games in four nights, so it’s not like you can run Davion Mitchell into the ground from the outset.

Q: Ira, you confuse us sometimes. Was your piece on Ron Conwell suggesting he will or won’t be in the rotation? – Edd.

A: Neither, since only Erik Spoelstra knows that answer, and even then it probably would take some time to formulate a definitive answer. The point was to show that while Ryan is capable of doing NBA things at the moment, the reality is that on this Heat roster he arguably, at the moment, stands no better than 13th or 14th man. And on NBA rosters, the 13th or 14th men don’t typically play. That said, it’s not as if NBA injuries, and even injury epidemics are not typical. So, yes, he likely will get his chances, but it certainly won’t be a given at the start of the season.

Q: Next week’s game is more important. Let Pelle Larsson rest. He shouldn’t even have played the last game we had. He didn’t look like himself in that game. – Dee.

A: And he basically has taken himself out of consideration for Wednesday night’s exhibition against the Nets at Kaseya Center. The good news with Pelle Larsson is whatever he had likely is not considered contagious, considering he has been back around the team on the practice court in recent days.