NEW YORK _ This is the week Erik Spoelstra gets to view the work of the NBA's other mad scientists.
No sooner had the Heat signed Jimmy Butler in July, then Spoelstra gathered the team's coaching staff and began formulating. And re-formulating.
Just as the Brooklyn Nets and Kenny Atkinson had to do when they added Kyrie Irving.
Just as the Toronto Raptors and Nick Nurse had to do when Pascal Siakam was elevated into the role of departed Kawhi Leonard.
Just as the Boston Celtics and Brad Stevens had to do when Kemba Walker was brought in in place of Irving.
With the Heat's three-game trip to take them to Brooklyn, Toronto and Boston, starting Sunday against the Nets at Barclays Center, it will afford Spoelstra the opportunity _ paternity watch allowing _ to see how the other side reinvented, albeit with Irving missing Sunday's game due to an ongoing shoulder issue.
For Spoelstra, who went from guiding a playoff also-ran, to the championship Big Three of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, to the post-LeBron era, it made the offseason both rejuvenating and relentless, as he sought angles to maximize both Butler and the supporting pieces.
"Every roster is different," he said during a quiet moment outside the Heat locker room at AmericanAirlines Arena. "Every time we've had to do it, it's a totally different process. So some of it is the same. Some of it, you're trying to maximize his strengths. That's probably the most important thing. And that's what the summer's for, to go through exhaustive research.
"We did that as a staff. You know what? That was, in a lot of ways, an exhilarating process, of really digging into a new player and finding out what his strengths are and figuring out different ways that we think he can fit and help the returning guys, and then incorporate in new guys, and then trying to maximize him, along with everybody else. And then once you get into camp, there's always a couple new, interesting surprises or things that will motivate you to pivot."
The pivoting remains ongoing for Spoelstra, mostly due to early-season injuries muddling the mix. But it's not as if every permutation wasn't already put under the offseason microscope.
"It was fun this summer," he said, "because we had basically a similar team for three straight years. And you're doing that same process, but, in large part, it's 60, 70 percent the same. And you're just trying to tweak it and change it to improve it."
That wasn't the case once Butler signed off on his four-year, $142 million contract.
"This process started basically once we signed him to ink," Spoelstra said. "It was an everyday process of watching film, diagramming, getting on the board, arguing, watching every different variation of him in a Bulls uniform, Timberwolves and Sixers uniform, just to see how he's changed as a player, as well."
That led to reconfiguring what already was in place, with Goran Dragic envisioned as a reserve, Kelly Olynyk as spot-up spacer, Duncan Robinson as contributor.
"For the guys that are returning, you know, that's natural," he said of meshing their games to the new leading man. "I think everybody came in with an open mind to understand that even if you're returning to this team, there'd be a slightly different process."
Just as the process has changed for the Nets, Raptors, Celtics, with their new leading men.
"I almost look at it, the last two or three seasons, like every team is particularly different," Spoelstra said. "This year was 150-plus players changing teams. That makes things dramatically different. There's very few teams where you say, 'OK, this looks very much like last year's version of this team.'
"So you almost have to start over with everybody, which I think makes it very interesting."
