The Miami Heat have officially announced the signing of forward Justin Champagnie, who the Boston Celtics waived on Aug. 1.

The Heat also signed 25-year-old center Brandon McCoy, former USC forward Drew Peterson, former Los Angeles Lakers forward Cole Swider, former Wake Forest guard Alondes Williams and former Villanova guard Caleb Daniels, though they would subsequently waive McCoy and sign 24-year-old forward Jamal Cain to a Two-Way Contract.”

While the terms of the deal for Champagnie weren't officially disclosed, Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald reports that Champagnie and Daniels “[signed] Exhibit 10 contracts,” while noting that the Heat's preseason roster has now reached its 21-man limit. That said, Champagnie's deal with Miami is essentially just a training camp invite at this point, although the Heat do need to address their backend depth on the wings.

Just 22-years-old, Champagnie went undrafted out of Pitt in the 2021 NBA Draft, signing a two-way contract with the Toronto Raptors within the next couple of weeks. Spending the bulk of his rookie season in the G League, Champagnie would average 21.1 points, 8.3 rebounds, 1.2 steals and 1.1 blocks per game for the Raptors 905, showing off the game that led to him being an AP All-American Honorable Mention in 2021 and inspiring confidence about his NBA future.

However, due to injuries and a looming deadline for his contract to become fully guaranteed, the Raptors waived Champagnie in December. The Celtics seem to have waived Champagnie for similar reasons; a desire to clear up a bit of cap room before his contract became guaranteed.

A play-finisher with solid athleticism, three-level scoring, and defensive impact, Champagnie needs to be more polished to earn regular minutes. Nonetheless, he will get a chance to prove he should stick on with the Heat as a deep reserve.

Not intended as an insult, the Heat cares more about heart and basketball IQ than any particular on-court skill, which should bode well for a player that has yet to master any. To that point, it could be the multiple ways that Champagnie can help the Heat — offensively and defensively, on-ball and off-ball — that appeals to them, similar to many of the wings and forwards on their roster.