Miami Heat: Does Pat Riley have the right approach to 2021 offseason?

Miami Heat president of basketball operations Pat Riley has held his offseason plans close to the vest. Riley told the media during his annual season-ending press conference that the team has several different directions it could go this offseason when he was asked what he planned to do with their cap space.

Although Pat Riley didn’t disclose any ideas about what the team plans to do during the off-season, we got a glimpse of how the team would approach this summer. They planned to target mid-to-high tier players as Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald stated, on June 17th, that the team had Kyle Lowry at the top of their free agency board.

Is it the right strategy for Pat Riley and the Miami Heat to be targeting mid-to-high tier players in NBA free agency this offseason?

The team would continue to be linked to mid-to-high tier players over the next month as they were tied to players like Damian Lillard, Brandon Ingram, and Bradley Beal. But is it the right idea for Riley to be targeting mid-to-high tier players this off-season? The answer is: not necessarily, as the team runs an offense centered around dribble handoffs and pick and rolls.

They were second in dribble handoffs, averaging 8.3 per game. Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra handed 42.2 percent of the team’s possessions to Duncan Robinson and Jimmy Butler as they averaged 3.5 per game. On the other hand, they were 22nd in pick and rolls, averaging 17.9 per game. Butler was responsible for 36.9 percent of those possessions as he averaged 6.6 pick and rolls per game.

The Miami Heat offense contributed to the rest of the roster having to spend most of the minutes as floor spacers. Trevor Ariza took 59.3 percent of his shots from behind the arc last season, averaging 4.8 per game. 83.3 percent of those shots were catch and shoots, as he averaged 4 per game.

Ariza wasn’t the only player who was subjected to the role of floor-spacer, as Kendrick Nunn took 48.6 percent of his shots from behind the arc, averaging 5.7 per game. More than 70 percent of those threes were catch and shoots as he averaged 4.2 per game.

Most of the Miami Heat’s targets would be able to succeed in this role. For instance, Kyle Lowry converted 39.7 percent of his catch and shoots on 3.5 attempts per game since 2013. Catch and shoots accounted for 50 percent of his shots, as he shot 38.7 percent from behind the arc on 7 attempts per game.

Kyle isn’t the only player who has the skill set to succeed in this role, as Bradley Beal has made 40.4 percent of his catch and shoots on 3.9 attempts per game since 2013. Catch and shoots were responsible for 62.3 percent of his shots as he shot 37.6 percent from behind the arc on 6.2 attempts per game.