After narrowly missing out on making the playoffs last season, the Miami Heat brought back the same contributors that made last year what it was and then some. How does their overall offseason rank though?
It was truly a tale of two seasons for the Miami Heat last year.
After being cellar-dwellers for the first half of the season, the Heat experienced an unprecedented turnaround at the start of the calendar year, due to the contributions of journeymen additions like Dion Waiters and James Johnson around their (now) longstanding veterans in Goran Dragic and Hassan Whiteside.
However, the Heat fell just short of making last year a true Cinderella season as they missed the playoffs on the last day of the regular season, bringing a close to one of the most memorable seasons for a non-playoff team in recent history.
Even with the disappointing end to the season, the Heat put themselves in a great position to add a notable name in free agency, thanks to the good fortune they earned with their overall Herculean effort put forth under the guidance of head coach Erik Spoelstra.
However, their plan to shoot for the stars didn’t end up coming to be, and rather than tearing it down and going back to square one, the Heat decided to run it all back by re-signing those same journeymen players to multi-year deals at high costs, wiith the only exception being the high-priced addition of Kelly Olynyk.
While it’s not the ambition we’re used to seeing from them recently, the Heat are clearly banking on last year being the start of something new as they hope to embark on a new and prosperous era.
Without further ado, let’s take a look at each and every move the Miami Heat made this summer and grade their offseason in total.
2017 NBA Draft
Although they only held just one pick in this year’s draft, the Heat had a key selection with the 14th overall pick. But with intriguing prospects who filled a need and possessed plenty of upside already off the board by the time the Heat were on the clock, it was unclear who checked all the boxes the Heat were looking for in the players available from an outside perspective.
In the end, Miami took Kentucky big man Bam Adebayo with the selection. On the night of the draft, it was very easy to be puzzled by the pick, since the Heat already have a starting-level big man in Whiteside and further bolstered their big man rotation as they added Olynyk in free agency.
However, the Heat are clearly playing the long game by nabbing Adebayo. While he had his fair share of ups and downs during his lone season at Lexington, Adebayo flashed the skill-set associated with the modern big man, save for stretching the floor.
Although it’s a little foolish to put a lot of stock in NBA Summer League showings, Adebayo’s performance in Las Vegas certainly opened up a few eyes as he stood as one of the most impressive rookies during the event, averaging 17.5 points, 8.3 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game.
Overall, Adebayo may not be in line for a big role instantly, but with the right development as well as right set of circumstances opening up for him individually, he could become a nice complementary piece for the Heat in the years to come.
Grade: B-
Re-signing Dion Waiters
After experiencing a career rejuvenating season in Miami last year, the Heat re-signed Dion Waiters to a four-year, $52 million deal four days into free agency.
Coming to Miami after the Oklahoma City Thunder unceremoniously rescinded his qualifying offer, which made him an unrestricted free agent during last year’s offseason, Waiters took a bet on himself by signing a two-year, $6 million deal. As we know, that bet paid off in a big way for Waiters, as he provided a jolt for the Heat midway through the season.
While his season was just limited to 46 appearances, Waiters was incredibly productive and surprisingly efficient with his play in a more featured role from the month of January onward. From Jan. 1 to the end of the season, Waiters averaged 16.7 points per game on a 53.4 percent true shooting percentage and 27.4 percent usage percentage.
The question on everyone’s mind is if this was just a good three-month stretch (Waiters’ season unofficially ended in mid-March due to injury) or a sign of things to come for the Syracuse product.
The Heat are certainly betting that it will be the latter and Waiters has obviously acclimated quite well since coming to South Beach. But it’s very valid to feel skeptical that his play can reach the same heights it did last year over the course of a full regular season.
Some things will never change with who Waiters is as a player, but if he can prove he can be an above-average scorer who hits shots at a reliable rate from the floor as well as downtown, it would do wonders for his individual ceiling and where the Heat could go in the future.
Grade: C+
Adding Kelly Olynyk
The Heat set their sights on big names in free agency this offseason, but once it proved to be unsuccessful, there was a question as to whether they would attract a notable name at all.
After retaining Dion Waiters, the Heat did land a rather known name in Kelly Olynyk, a player that hadn’t been associated with the team in the lead up to the signing.
Due to the landmark signing of Gordon Hayward, the Boston Celtics elected to renounce Olynyk’s rights, which made him an unrestricted free agent. That’s where the Heat swooped in and quickly snatched up the Toronto native, inking him to a four-year, $60 million deal (a player option is attached on that fourth and final year).
In adding Olynyk, the Heat are bringing another dimension to their frontcourt on both ends of the floor.
Over his first four years in the league, Olynyk has solidified himself as a stretch-5 who can hit from deep at a very respectable rate. Although he’s mostly known for his play on the offensive end, Olynyk is a capable team defender for a player of his position as well.
At this point, it’s unclear what role will be tasked to Olynyk heading into the season, whether he starts the campaign off the bench or shares time with Hassan Whiteside in the starting lineup.
Nonetheless, Olynyk will be looked on to make an impact in any capacity and if he doesn’t meet expectations due to the price tag that helped lure him to South Beach, there’s no doubt the 26-year-old will meet scrutiny in some form.
Final Grade: C+
Re-signing James Johnson
Being a journeyman for the majority of his NBA career, it was fair to wonder whether James Johnson would ever find a permanent home in the league. After a transformative season with the Heat last year, it appears that Johnson has found just that as he locked down a four-year, $60 million deal to stay with the organization.
Like Waiters, Johnson felt the effects instantly upon coming to Miami. The now 30-year-old underwent a physical transformation after being under the tutelage of the team’s strength and conditioning staff. Those effects quickly translated on the court as Johnson became a beacon of consistency during the Heat’s slow start to the season.
As Miami’s campaign started to turn around at the start of the calendar year, Johnson’s improved play began to catch the attention of people from in and around the league, leading many to tout him as someone who should garner consideration for Sixth Man of the Year.
All in all, Johnson came up short in that regard, but still finished with the most productive season of his career by averaging 12.8 points, 4.9 rebounds and 3.6 assists in 76 games.
After experiencing such a career-altering campaign, Johnson now faces the challenge of having to live up to the standard he set last year as well as living up to his sizable contract. Whether the Wake Forest product will be able to replicate that or top himself even further remains to be seen, but more eyes will be watching him now than at any other point in Johnson’s career.
Grade: B-
Re-signing Udonis Haslem
While other notable players are synonymous with the franchise, no other player has been a member of the Heat for as long as Udonis Haslem. Another year is about to be added to Haslem’s long and storied tenure in South Beach as the Miami native signed a one-year, $2.3 million deal in late July this offseason.
At 37 years old, Haslem’s contributions on the court have been minimal at best and he’s been mostly relegated to an end-of-the-bench type of role in recent seasons. Last year, Haslem only made 16 appearances and only averaged eight minutes in the games he appeared in.
That doesn’t mean he doesn’t carry significance to the team, as Haslem has played an instrumental role in setting the tone in the locker room and has been an upstanding proponent for the culture that has long been associated with the Heat for a number of years.
While you can easily paint it as a ceremonial signing on the Heat’s part, bringing back Haslem for what will be his 15th season is good business for a team that is still looking to establish a lasting and successful formula in a post-“Big Three” and Dwyane Wade era.
Whether it could end up as Haslem’s last season in black and red remains to be seen, but he will stand as the permanent fixture that he’s become for the Heat for at least one more year.
Grade: C-
The departure of Josh McRoberts
Back in the summer of 2014, the addition of Josh McRoberts was filled with plenty of promise after he experienced a solid season with the then-Charlotte Bobcats. However, it was just the start of an ill-fated tenure for the Indiana native that has since come to a close as he was traded to the Dallas Mavericks in early July.
Throughout his three years in Miami, the 30-year-old McRoberts experienced many hardships, the biggest being the numerous injuries he dealt with in each and every season of his stint. The numbers speak for themselves as McRoberts only appeared in 81 total games over his three seasons in Miami.
As if his place with the team wasn’t already questioned before, McRoberts’ name was regularly attached in trade rumors over the last couple of seasons as the Heat were reportedly looking to shed his salary off the books.
By trading McRoberts as well as a future second round pick and cash considerations, the Heat received second-year big man A.J. Hammons from the Mavericks. Hammons only has 163 minutes of NBA experience under his belt at this point and it would be fair to assume that he’ll likely see the majority of his minutes with the Heat’s G League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce.
Nonetheless, the writing was clearly on the wall and by getting McRoberts’ salary off the books, the Heat gained a little more financial flexibility, which helped ease some of the moves they made this offseason.
Grade: C
The addition of Mickey
A move made well past the fireworks of free agency, the Heat added former Boston Celtics big man Jordan Mickey on a fully guaranteed deal worth the minimum and with a team option for the 2018-19 season.
Spending his first two seasons with the Celtics, Mickey was seemingly slated to become a bigger part of their plans at one point in time, but he was an unfortunate casualty with their heavy maneuvering to make room for their big free agent addition Gordon Hayward on their books, a move that felt inevitable since Mickey’s contract for next season had been fully non-guaranteed.
Miami Heat
Up until this point in his career, Mickey’s opportunities on the NBA level have been scarce as he’s only amassed 198 total minutes of play over his first two seasons. With that said, Mickey has shown plenty of promise playing as a member of the Celtics’ G League affiliate, the Maine Red Claws.
In 35 total appearances across the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons, Mickey averaged 18.6 points on 52.5 percent shooting from the field and 40.4 percent shooting from deep, along with posting 9.7 rebounds and 3.8 blocks. Mickey’s productive and efficient play helped earn him a spot in the then-D-League All-Star game in Toronto for the 15-16 season.
Now with the Heat, Mickey will face a similar set of circumstances of trying to break through the team’s fully stocked frontcourt. Between Hassan Whiteside, Kelly Olynyk and Bam Adebayo, Mickey’s window of opportunity to shine is very limited and it’s easy to envision him being the team’s fourth big on their depth chart, possibly just ahead of veteran and Heat lifer Udonis Haslem.
There’s no doubt that Mickey possesses a unique skill-set, one that’s theoretically suited to earn him NBA minutes in some capacity. However, the question will be whether what he’s shown on the G League level can translate to the NBA level and an even bigger question will be whether he’ll be afforded a big enough chance to prove exactly that while with the Heat.
Final Grade: C-
Overall
By deciding to run it all back for the next few years to come, the Miami Heat certainly took an approach that they hope will yield them immediate success.
After what they were able to accomplish at the start of the calendar year onward, there’s no knocking the Heat’s overall competitive spirit and the program they’ve established that has clearly affected the performance and well-being of any player that has been on their roster for the better.
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But as it stands now, the Heat don’t have that singular star to build around that could take them back to the heights they reached in the earlier part of this decade.
That’s not a bad thing by any means and there’s always the possibility that they could throw their hat in the ring if another star player potentially pushes a move out of their current home.
However, that’s a much harder thing to achieve with the flexibility they relinquished by signing the likes of Johnson, Olynyk and Waiters to the deals they agreed to in the first few days of free agency.
Could any player on this roster break through the mold and go on to become a legitimate star? There’s always a chance that could happen and it would be very fitting if that were to come to fruition, as it’d be keeping with last year’s theme.
No matter how that all shakes out, the Heat stand to leapfrog their way into the top half of a depleted Eastern Conference. That is if their winning ways from the second half of last year translate over into this upcoming season.
Next: San Antonio Spurs: Complete 2017 offseason grades
Where they go beyond that, much less who becomes something far more valuable than they currently are, stands as the biggest question mark that looms over the Heat franchise as a whole.
Final Grade: C+