Miami Heat: Assessing the Milos Teodosic rumors
By Joe Hulbert
The Miami Heat are one of a host of teams being linked with Milos Teodosic. He would be a great addition, but other players would have to be moved in order to accommodate him.
It was recently reported by Brian Lewis of the New York Post that the Miami Heat have serious interest in Serbian point guard Milos Teodosic of CSKA Moscow. The 30-year old has been a long-term target of the Brooklyn Nets and the Sacramento Kings, and Miami is expected to provide a worrying blockade for both of these teams, as he wants to join a winning team.
Teodosic would not be guaranteed a starting spot in Miami due to the excellent Goran Dragic, but he would likely play a lot of minutes. Dragic is more than capable of playing off the ball, as he shot 40 percent from beyond the arc last season.
On the whole, the links are not too surprising as Miami has been known to explore every possible avenue in order to make its roster as competitive as possible, and it is in need of a backup point guard.
Schematically, Teodosic is a good fit in the Heat’s pick-and-roll heavy offense, which is based on driving to the paint and creating open looks on the perimeter. Teodosic is a wizard of a passer, and he would be surrounded by effective perimeter options such as Tyler Johnson, Josh Richardson and Goran Dragic in South Beach.
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The Heat have a lot of cap room, but Teodosic is reportedly asking for a contract in the region of $25-30 million spread over the course of three years. For a person of his reputation, this could turn out to be a bargain, but Teodosic’s arrival on such a salary would make it more difficult for the Heat to approach a max free agent, or retain James Johnson and Dion Waiters this summer.
Let’s say hypothetically that Teodosic signs a three-year, $27 million deal with Miami. Spread evenly, this would leave the Heat with around $27 million in cap room if they renounced all their free agents and did not guarantee the contract of Wayne Ellington (though such moves seem unlikely with Pat Riley having expressed an interest in re-signing James Johnson and/or Dion Waiters).
Essentially, Teodosic would be a great fit in the Heat’s offense, but if he demands the money than he is reportedly seeking, the Heat would struggle to land a near-max player, or bring back James Johnson and Dion Waiters.
In my opinion, the Heat should do all in their power to sign Teodosic, as his amazing passing would be a great fit with a young and quick bench unit that will include the likes of Josh Richardson, Justise Winslow and Rodney McGruder.
He is a pick-and-roll master, and someone who could elevate the play of everyone else. To put it simply, the Heat need creators, as their bench unit struggled because Tyler Johnson and Josh Richardson are better off-the-ball than they are as creators or pick-and-roll players.
Most of the talk this summer surrounding Miami, is over which star they will chase, with both Gordon Hayward and Blake Griffin being linked to the team. While the team does need to try and land a star in this offseason, it also needs to make sure it surrounds its current players with the best possible role players.
Miami should know as well as anyone the value of great role players, as Ray Allen, Shane Battier and Mike Miller all played vital roles in elimination games in the Heat’s two championships in 2012 and 2013.
Teodosic would get a larger role with a team like Sacramento, but he would be playing in an offense that suits his skill-set in Miami, and he is a player who could help the likes of Justise Winslow and Josh Richardson unlock more offensive potential. Teodosic clearly wants to come to America to win, and the Heat would be a great place for him to do this.
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The Heat should do all they can to bring Teodosic over, but it is clear that this is not a move that can simply be done on its own, and other assets will have to be moved around in order to make this work. For a guy in the prime of his career, and someone with such a unique skill-set, the Miami Heat should do all they can.