The Miami Heat may have lost two key players this offseason, but Goran Dragic believes they still improved after the NBA draft and free agency.
Miami acquired Jimmy Butler from the Philadelphia 76ers, pulling off a four-team trade with the Los Angeles Clippers and Portland Trail Blazers that also landed them Meyers Leonard. In the process, however, they had to send Hassan Whiteside to the Blazers and Josh Richardson to the Sixers.
Despite losing two solid starting players — and Dwyane Wade who retired after the 2018-19 season — Dragic still likes what the Heat got in return. Not to mention that they also drafted two promising rookies in Tyler Herro and KZ Okpala.
“I still think most is still the same team,” Dragic told Anthony Chiang of Miami Herald. “We lost two players [Josh Richardson and Whiteside], but I feel like now more playing time is going to get more guys, like Bam [Adebayo] and Tyler Herro, he’s really a great rookie. I was watching him in summer league. And of course, with the addition of Jimmy Butler, I think we’re a better team.”
Obviously, getting Butler is already an upgrade for a Heat team that missed the 2019 playoffs. As Dragic also noted, with the departure of Whiteside and Richardson, other players like Bam Adebayo, Kelly Olynyk and Derrick Jones Jr. will likely get a bump on their minutes in the upcoming season.
Rookies Herro and Okpala will need to prove themselves and earn minutes, but they have a perfect opportunity with the Heat who are establishing their young core while also trying to compete for the playoffs.
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