It has been a relatively quiet free agency period so far for the Heat, who agreed to re-sign Davion Mitchell on Saturday and worked out a sign-and-trade deal sending Duncan Robinson to Detroit, but haven’t made any veteran roster additions outside of Simone Fontecchio, who will be sent to Miami in that trade with the Pistons.
According to Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald, Miami are content to “let our young guys show what they can do” this fall, with a full training camp together. As Jackson explains, the Heat believe they can’t accurately judge the current group based on last season’s results due to the Jimmy Butler chaos, changing roles, and Andrew Wiggins‘ health issues, among other factors.
The team also believes that its young prospects – Kel’el Ware, Jaime Jaquez, Nikola Jovic, Pelle Larsson, and Kasparas Jakucionis – all have a chance to be “really good players,” with some of them set to take on increased roles this season, Jackson writes.
The Heat are remaining open to taking a bigger swing if a star hits the trade market, but would only be aggressive if a player in his prime is available, Jackson continues. That’s why Miami wasn’t willing to go all-in for Kevin Durant, with multiple sources telling the Herald that the team never thought it was close to landing the 36-year-old forward.
Whether or not the Heat have the assets to beat out rival suitors if an in-his-prime star such as Giannis Antetokounmpo is on the trade block is a fair question, Jackson notes
