The Miami Heat have had a slow burn this offseason, but does that mean there are no more moves for the team to make?
Basically, P.J. Tucker left the Heat and Nikola Jovic, the No. 27 pick, was the only important acquisition from the NBA Draft. To compound things, Tucker was traded to a conference foe.
Sure, Tucker is already 37 and could finally start to slip in his production and efficiency. The fact, however, is the Heat lost their starting power forward for nothing.
From this vantage point, the Heat are worse now than they were at the start of the summer.
Even if Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo's continuing improvement could make up for Tucker's loss, they'd still be short of his leadership and championship experience.
Having said that, have the Heat made at least one good move this offseason? Let's see.
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Heat's Best Move Of 2022 NBA Offseason
Re-signing Victor Oladipo
Because it's still way too early to see how Nikola Jovic will develop, we're constrained to evaluate the Heat's re-signings in the 2022 offseason. For sure, their best re-signing was Victor Oladipo.
Victor Oladipo and the Heat have agreed on a one-year, $11M deal, per @ShamsCharania pic.twitter.com/Xkv58hzy4o
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) June 30, 2022
The two-time All-star is definitely one of the most intriguing acquisitions of the summer. He averaged 12.4 points per game last season — the lowest of his career. On the other hand, he did put career-best numbers in field goal and three-point shooting. Maybe we're seeing someone who can thrive as the best player on Miami's second unit?
It's also worth noting that Miami reworked his initial one-year, $11 million contract into a two-year pact for $18 million. This lower salary gives the Heat more leeway to avoid the luxury tax and maybe make another acquisition in the coming weeks and months.
Speaking of possible acquisitions, the Heat are undoubtedly a strong candidate for Kevin Durant. He would transform them from a club that appeared to have taken a step back to maybe the league's top title contender.
The Heat's season grade would surely improve if they were able to somehow get Durant, who has also expressed that Miami is one of his top choices. It would take a lot of wheeling and dealing for that to happen, but it can still happen.
And it might not even have to be during the offseason. Keep in mind that the Nets have a high asking price for KD. Other teams just are not yet prepared or willing to pay up. Besides, Durant still has a few years remaining on his deal, and if the Nets do not move him, there's little he can do.
As such, if the Heat are unable to get Durant, they will need a fallback strategy to upgrade their roster. Again, they look worse now than they started offseason a few weeks ago. Losing P.J. Tucker hurts them in terms of defense and experience, and they got nothing in return.
The Head also re-signed Dewayne Dedmon and Caleb Martin, but neither significantly moves the needle for the team this coming season.
The two-year, $9 million contract with Dedmon seems acceptable, though it's a touch more than any team would like to pay for a backup center. He averaged around 6 points and 6 rebounds for Miami last season.
Martin, meanwhile, put up career-highs in scoring rebounding, field goal shooting, and steals last season. A week ago, he re-signed with the Heat on a 3-year, $20 million deal. We'll see what kind of impact he can make for this team, but he certainly won't completely make up for losing Tucker.
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