Heat's Josh McRoberts: Begins live practice

McRoberts (foot) said that he was a full participant in Monday's practice, Manny Navarro of the Miami Herald reports.

Analysis:

McRoberts was sidelined for the entire preseason with a stress reaction in his left foot, but in resuming full-contact work Monday, he finally seems to be making tangible progress in his recovery. The big man will need several practices to get his conditioning up to full speed and show the Heat that his foot injury is a thing of the past, so he's not a candidate to suit up for Wednesday's season opener against the Magic, and figures to miss a few games beyond that. McRoberts intimated that once he does return, he's expecting to see most of his minutes as a small-ball center, meaning that he'd battle with Willie Reed for playing time behind starter Hassan Whiteside. With that in mind, it doesn't seem as though McRoberts' eventual return would dramatically alter the Heat's rotation at power forward, where Derrick Williams, Luke Babbitt and James Johnson have been seeing time during the preseason.