As Heat explores Adebayo-Yurtseven frontcourt, what needs to happen for pairing to work?

Centers Bam Adebayo and Omer Yurtseven didn’t play much together last season, and it’s still up in the air if that will change this upcoming season. But Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra and his staff are giving them an opportunity this preseason to prove that the two-big look should be a regular part of the rotation.

With Jimmy Butler, Victor Oladipo and Gabe Vincent out for rest purposes, the Heat started an Adebayo-Yurtseven frontcourt in a 121-111 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves to open the preseason on Tuesday night at FTX Arena.

An aggressive Bam Adebayo, and other takeaways from the Heat’s preseason opener

The results weren’t great, there were clear issues on both ends of the court and everybody involved admits the Adebayo-Yurtseven pairing is a work in progress. In the end, the Heat was outscored by nine points in the 20 minutes that Adebayo (6-9, 255) and Yurtseven (6-11, 275) played together in the preseason opener.

“They’re working on it. That’s why we’re spending a lot of minutes [with this lineup],” Spoelstra said, with the Heat set to begin a road back-to-back set on Thursday against the Brooklyn Nets at Barclays Center (7:30 p.m., Bally Sports Sun and ESPN). “They’re not going to play this many minutes together, if they play together. We’ll figure that part out. But that takes more time than some of the space or speed lineups. That’s why we’re dedicating time to that now in the preseason and in training camp.”

The Heat also struggled during Adebayo and Yurtseven’s limited time together last regular season, as opponents outscored Miami by 13 points in 18 minutes.

But Heat coaches used training camp in the Bahamas last week to give the double-big lineup another shot, knowing the team will need to rely on internal improvement and new ideas to take another step forward after returning 13 players from last season’s season-ending roster that reached the Eastern Conference finals.

“I think we truly drilled it this training camp,” Yurtseven said when asked about his on-court chemistry with Adebayo. “It’s way more fluid than I thought it was going to be and I think our coaches have done an amazing job guiding us on what works, what doesn’t and what we should pay attention to make sure everything is smooth and fluid.”

For the Adebayo-Yurtseven frontcourt to be a sustainable pairing, coaches and players agree that offensive spacing must be a priority.

Naturally as big men, Adebayo and Yurtseven’s first instinct is to play around the paint. But when they’re on the court together, one must stand by the three-point line when the other is near the basket to create the proper spacing for the offense to function.

“I think one of the main things is realizing where each other is on the court,” Yurtseven said. “Also, the fact that we’re both capable of assaulting the rim. I think that’s a big thing for us to pay attention to when we both want to do it. If somebody else is driving and Bam is crashing and I’m going, it’s too crowded in there. So if Bam is going, I have to space out. Or if I’m going, Bam has to space out and vice versa. I think that’s the biggest thing is to make sure that one of us is spaced out, one of us is assaulting.”

Adebayo pointed to on-court communication as an important part of his partnership with Yurtseven.

“It’s growing pains at this point,” Adebayo said. “We’ve been at this lineup for training camp and [Tuesday]. So it’s steps, it’s building blocks. I feel like all of it boils down to communication. Once we start communicating and getting on the same flow and on the same page, I think it will be a better look and a better feel for all of us.”

Along with communication, Yurtseven and/or Adebayo will need to hit threes to improve the spacing when they’re on the court together. The issue is that Yurtseven shot 1 of 11 and Adebayo shot 0 of 6 from three-point range last season.

But Yurtseven and Adebayo worked hard this offseason to become better outside shooters, and they both hit one three-pointer in Tuesday’s preseason opener.

“O hasn’t been in this system for six years. So it’s on me to make sure we got the proper spacing,” Adebayo said. “Making sure he’s in his spot, so we can have cohesive triggers and so we can both benefit off of that.”

Making the combination work on the defensive end is another challenge, with the Heat having to tweak their scheme when Yurtseven is on the court.

Instead of switching nearly every action like when Adebayo is the lone big man on the court, the Heat usually plays Yurtseven in drop coverage against pick-and-rolls to protect the paint. Yurtseven isn’t nearly as versatile defensively, which forces Miami to use him differently than Adebayo.

“When O is in the game and I’m in the game, it’s more so we’re sending the offense to O,” Adebayo said. “He’s 7-1 and then you have me help side and then you’ll have Jimmy and then Kyle [Lowry]. You have guys that make plays on the defensive end. When O is in the game, we want him to be 7 feet, we want him to try to block everything and it’s our job to have his back. When he’s out the game and I’m at center, it’s one through five switch.”

At times Tuesday, the Timberwolves looked to target Yurtseven’s defense in space and had success doing it.

“He works on a 1,000 pick-and-rolls defensively in practice every single day,” Spoelstra said of Yurtseven. “[Assistant coach Malik Allen] just drills him and drills him and drills him. He’s becoming more nuanced in that zone coverage. But there’s certainly room for improvement, particularly when guys get going. It’s one thing to be in a drop and then you just have to adjust as it goes. But we’ll continue to work on that.”

The Heat has had success playing Adebayo alongside another big man before. Partnerships with Meyers Leonard and Kelly Olynyk produced positive results in recent seasons.

But the Adebayo-Yurtseven frontcourt is still in the experimental phase, as Spoelstra and his staff use preseason games and practices to gauge whether it’s a realistic option in the regular season.

“I would love to play more with Bam,” Yurtseven said. “I think especially going up against bigger teams. If the other team tries to go big to bully us, now we have a chance to be the bully.”