Kyle Lowry and Trae Young are moving toward each other Sunday from opposite directions in time. Young is 23, a risen talent, with the future spread before him and Atlanta no matter what happens this playoff series.
Lowry is 36, a pit bull of a point guard, who knows more than any kid. What he primarily knows is this is the moment his championship verve was hired by the Miami Heat for, because no matter how good the No. 1 seed in the East feels it’s not the endgame.
This is the potential arc of an NBA career, Young’s flash to Lowry’s experience, and it’s not a point-guard matchup the Heat need to win to take this series. Lowry playing Young even would be fine. It’s probably not even necessary, considering the Heat’s better talent and depth.
But Lowry versus Young is representative of something more in the shrewd manner this Heat roster is constructed. There’s an age-old question here of playoffs being the platform for veterans to either show their wisdom or offer a whiff of the washed up.
Which will it be coming up for the Heat?
Lowry, Jimmy Butler and P.J. Tucker are the kind of tough, talented thirtysomethings coach Erik Spoelstra and team president Pat Riley have employed through the years to good success. The only thing they’ve employed better are tough, talented twentysomethings.
They have those, too, in Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro. They even discovered young and hungry types like Max Strus and Caleb Martin. The melody of ages has made for a fun team to watch, offered options through the 82 games of a challenging regular season and achieved the No. 1 seed in the East.
Still, here’s the thing about basketball: You really pick a player to win a title as much as a team. For years it was Michael Jordan, then LeBron James. Stephen Curry was at the center of Golden State’s championship runs. Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo might become that guy with a second title this year.
The Heat aren’t built like that. They’re built on a good organization, great depth and a discerning ability to let a different player become the star on any night. That gets to having veterans who fit that idea.
Butler’s brand of passion didn’t work with three other franchises. It has with the Heat for the most part. Lowry led Toronto to a championship three seasons ago. Tucker played a role in Milwaukee’s title last year. Now these three veterans, all starters, are expected to help the likes of Adebayo and Herro on a long playoff run.
With great expectation comes great consequence, too. Succeed, and the parade of applause never ends. But fail in a manner like last playoffs when the Heat were swept in four games? Then the question becomes if this team shifts focus more to Adebayo and Herro as the future this offseason. Or move on entirely considering this season has set up the playoffs as well as possible.
The Heat’s architecture has been at this intersection many times under Riley. There is no such thing as a protected position under his watch, no rule or golden status that wards off change if it’s deemed necessary.
He built with veterans like Brian Grant and Eddie Jones, then disbanded them when they didn’t win. He traded a good, youthful nucleus for the star of Shaquille O’Neal. He saw the possibility of recruiting LeBron and Chris Bosh to join Dwyane Wade before any else.
All you know is everything moves quickly in pro sports. It was two seasons ago the Heat and Lakers were in the NBA Finals. The Lakers got old and got hurt. They didn’t even make the playoffs this year and fired their title-winning coach, Frank Vogel.
The Heat found more youth, married it with more experience and value the No. 1 seed enough to get it in a league that forever discounts the regular season. They were rewarded with a series against Atlanta, too, rather than a more dangerous Brooklyn.
Atlanta has talent, has angles to win. But everything points to a quick series — Heat in five games. They’re better. They’re deeper. Their veterans were hired for this moment, too. Lowry doesn’t need to beat Young. He just needs to help his Heat beat Young’s Hawks.
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