Is Spo on way out?

There’s a growing disenchantment in the way the Miami Heat has performed so far in the NBA this season and Fil-Am Erik Spoelstra, the league’s second-longest tenured head coach after San Antonio’s Gregg Popovich, may be running out of time to justify his ability to turn things around.

Before Miami’s game against Washington the other day, the Heat ranked No. 13 of 15 teams in the Eastern Conference with a 7-17 record. Miami is one of four Eastern teams with less than 10 wins. The others are the Wizards, Brooklyn and Philadelphia. In the West, there are six teams with less than 10 victories – Denver, Sacramento, New Orleans, Phoenix, Minnesota and Dallas.

Cleveland leads the East with a 17-5 mark. The power balance in the East shows 10 teams with at least .500 winning records while only seven are at that mark in the West where Golden State is the frontrunner at 21-4. From all indications, it appears Cleveland and Golden State are headed for a rematch in the finals unless San Antonio and the Los Angeles Clippers intervene.

Spoelstra, 46, has been the Miami head coach since Heat president Pat Riley announced his appointment in 2008-09. He’s in his ninth year on the job. Popovich, in contrast, is in his 21st season with the Spurs. Their longevity assumes more significance when it’s noted that 16 teams have changed coaches in the last two years. They’re two of a kind.

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Spoelstra, who got married to his long-time girlfriend and former Miami Heat cheerdancer Nikki Sapp last July, has failed to advance the Heat to the playoffs only once in eight seasons. That was in 2014-15 when Miami slumped to a 37-45 record. Spoelstra has led Miami to four finals, winning twice in 2011-12 (over Oklahoma City, 4-1) and in 2012-13 (over San Antonio, 4-3). The losses were to Dallas, 4-2, in 2010-11 and to the Spurs, 4-1, in 2013-14.

LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh were the anchors on Spoelstra’s two championship teams. Now, the Big Three are gone. James is with Cleveland, Wade with Chicago and Bosh was not medically cleared to play this season because of recurring blood issues. Bosh, 32, played in only 53 games last season. He’s been bothered by blood clots in the lung and leg so that doctors are reluctant to give him the go-signal to resume playing. Bosh will likely be waived by Miami in February and the 6-11 beanpole said he wants to play for another team next season. But which team will take a chance on a player whose medical clearance is questionable?

Without the Big Three, Spoelstra has struggled to make the Heat as competitive as it was before. His forever assistant Dave Fizdale has moved to Memphis and Spoelstra is battling to stay alive with a staff made up of former player Juwan Howard, Chris Quinn and Bill Foran.

In the offseason, Miami lost Wade, Joe Johnson, Luol Deng and Gerald Green and took in Wayne Ellington, Luke Babbitt, James Johnson and Derrick Williams. Wade, Johnson, Deng and Green averaged a combined 52.6 points for the Heat last season so that’s a huge vacuum to fill. Wade’s exit was particularly painful because Miami’s offer to renew his contract was only $4 Million less than Chicago’s two-year $47 Million bid. The Heat could’ve upped the ante just a little bit more to keep Wade but didn’t. Someone goofed and Riley took the blow on the chin.

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“Dwyane left and so the buck really stops here,” said Riley. “I’m not trying to fall on the sword for anybody. I have great regret that I didn’t put myself in the middle of it, get in a canoe and paddle to the Mediterranean if I had to.” Miami let Wade escape on a boat to Chicago.

Miami’s top two players today are 6-3 Slovenian point guard Goran Dragic, 30, and 7-foot center Hassan Whiteside, 27. They’re both late bloomers. Dragic averaged only 4.5 points as a rookie with Phoenix in 2008-09 while Whiteside played only a game for Sacramento in his forgettable NBA debut in 2010-11. After a woeful showing in his first two NBA seasons, Whiteside saw action in Lebanon and the Chinese minor league. He worked his way back to the NBA in 2014-15 with Miami.

Last season, Whiteside overachieved in averaging 14.2 points, 11.8 rebounds and a league-high 3.7 blocked shots. To reward him for his efforts, the Heat management signed him to a four-year $98 Million contract starting this season. He earned less than $1 Million last year so the upgrade was mind-boggling. Dragic averaged 14.1 points last season. He’s athletic and fundamentally sound but he’s no Wade. Whiteside and Dragic need help to take the Heat to the playoffs but even if Miami advances, the two won’t be able to bring the team far. The 14-man roster is young, averaging 26.8 years, with Dragic and Udonis Haslem, 36, the only players 30 or over. Aside from Whiteside (17.3) and Dragic (18), the other Heat players averaging in double figure points are 6-4 Dion Waiters, 25 (14.2), 6-4 Ellington, 29 (13.8), 6-4 Tyler Johnson, 24 (13), 6-7 Justice Winslow, 20 (11.6) and 6-6 Josh Richardson, 23 (10.9). Two starters 6-4 Rodney McGruder, 25 (6.2) and 6-10 Josh McRoberts, 29 (4.3) aren’t big-time scorers. Offense has been a problem this season as the Heat is averaging only 100.2 points, No. 25 in the 30-team league.

If and when Bosh is cut, Miami will free up salary space to look for top-rate talent. But by then, Spoelstra may no longer be around. The Heat is hemorrhaging at this point and if the bleeding continues, Riley may be forced to make a coaching change. Spoelstra could be the sacrificial lamb in the cleansing and that would be tragic because it isn’t his fault the team has been left with so-so talent.