Subscribe
Follow Us
The Miami Heat's 2023 postseason run was flat-out legendary. Heading into the postseason, plenty of folks wrote off the Heat and didn't even think they had a chance of beating Giannis Antetokounmpo and the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks in the first round. But the Heat demolished the Bucks in five games and then went on to beat the New York Knicks in six and the Boston Celtics in seven in the following two rounds to advance to the NBA Finals. The Heat became just the second eighth-seed in NBA playoff history to make it all the way to the NBA Finals.
Miami's postseason run didn't end the way the Heat wanted it to, though: with a championship. Miami lost to Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, and the Denver Nuggets in five games in the NBA Finals and looked outmatched for the lion's share of the series.
The way in which the Miami Heat's 2022-23 season ended was certainly underwhelming, but a productive free-agency period could have helped fans forget about the team coming up short in the NBA Finals. Unfortunately, though, the Heat have lost more than they've gained in free agency thus far.
Max Strus (Cleveland Cavaliers), Gabe Vincent (Los Angeles Lakers), and Cody Zeller (New Orleans Pelicans) have found new homes with other NBA franchises. And the Heat's only notable free agency addition to this point has been veteran wing Josh Richardson.
The Heat made a big mistake by letting one of those aforementioned players walk in free agency this summer. With all of that said, let's look at one big mistake that the Miami Heat made in NBA free agency:
1 big mistake by Heat in 2023 NBA free agency
Letting Gabe Vincent walk in free agency
The Los Angeles Lakers signed Vincent to a three-year, $33 million deal. Considering the league's mid-level exception is around $12 per year, this was a steal of a deal for the Lakers, as during Miami's playoff run, Vincent proved himself to be a quality starting-caliber point guard.
Vincent was a consistent contributor for Miami on both ends of the floor during the 2023 NBA playoffs. Offensively, he provided effective three-point shooting and playmaking. Vincent shot 37.8% from behind the three-point arc in the postseason on 6.1 attempts per contest, an impressive combination of accuracy and usage. And playmaking-wise, Vincent served as a productive secondary playmaker, as he dished out 3.5 assists per game compared to just 1.4 turnovers.
And defensively, while Vincent is far from a lock-down perimeter defender, he was better than most gave him credit for. He was a pretty consistent threat to generate steals during Miami's playoff run, considering his 0.9 steals per game average.
The Heat likely wouldn't have made it all the way to the 2023 NBA Finals if it weren't for Vincent's contributions during their playoff run, particularly on the offensive side of the ball. Hence, Vincent's absence will be felt on the court next season, especially if the Heat don't end up trading for Portland Trail Blazers superstar point guard Damian Lillard sometime this summer.
At this juncture, only time will tell if the Miami Heat will stand pat with their current roster or decide to add more players via trade or free agency. But what's already abundantly clear is that the Heat should have been much more aggressive in pursuing a contract extension with guard Gabe Vincent.
