Five free agent replacements for Willie Reed

Following a breakout season, the Miami Heat are unlikely to be able to retain center Willie Reed. Here we look at some of his potential replacements.

Entering this season, Willie Reed had played in 39 career games and was largely an unknown commodity. But following a breakout season in a backup role to Hassan Whiteside, Reed is set to enter free-agency as a much sought-after player, as reported by Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical.

And unfortunately for the Miami Heat, they are extremely unlikely to retain his services.

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This season Reed played in 71 games, averaging 5.3 points and 4.7 rebounds in 14.5 minutes per game. In five games as a starter filling in for Whiteside, Reed averaged 14.8 points, 8.2 rebounds and 1.6 blocks in 28.5 minutes per game. Over the course of the season, Reed’s rapid improvement was clearly evident, and no doubt caught the attention of opposing teams league wide.

Last summer, Reed signed a two-year, $2.1 million deal which featured a player option for his second year. Now entering free-agency, Reed is bound to become far too costly to re-sign with the Heat. And not only do the Heat have an enormous amount invested in Whiteside, they also face financial challenges in retaining fellow free-agents Dion Waiters and James Johnson.

In the likely even that the Heat and Reed are unable to come to terms, here is a list of potential replacements the Heat may have in mind. The list consists of players most likely to agree to terms on a short-term, low-cost deal.