Complete 2018 NBA offseason grades for all 30 teams

Miami Heat

Key additions: N/A

Key subtractions: N/A

Outside of re-signing Wayne Ellington and bringing up Derrick Jones Jr., the Miami Heat were dead silent this summer. There were no blockbuster trades to shed salary. There were no free agency pursuits of any kind. There weren’t even new rookies to look forward to from the draft.

To that end, being $4.4 million into the luxury tax after quickly flaming out in the first round of the playoffs last year is less than ideal. The Heat had zero wiggle room to pull anything off in free agency, as Pat Riley acknowledged numerous times heading into the summer. The core is what it is for the time being.

Unfortunately, the discontent surrounding Hassan Whiteside and Erik Spoelstra’s small-ball lineups feels like it’s already boiled over. The trade suitors probably weren’t lining up, but not moving him, or Tyler Johnson‘s bloated salary, feels like a failure no matter how daunting that task was.

DJJ showed out in Summer League, and re-signing Ellington was a priority given the ever-important 3-point shooting he provides off the bench. Unfortunately, such a low-key summer where the team failed to improve, add long-term talent through the draft or address its salary cap situation can only receive a passing grade at best — even if everyone knew from the start that’s what kind of summer it’d be.

Grade: C