Predicting where Miami Heat’s free agents will land this offseason
By Cory Sanning
Where will the Miami Heat’s nine free agents land this offseason? Let’s break it down, player by player.
It was another whirlwind season for Pat Riley and the Miami Heat. A campaign that began with tremendous promise (some even predicting an upset against the Cleveland Cavaliers in the conference finals) certainly didn’t pan out the way The Godfather had planned.
For the second consecutive season, Miami lost its leading scorer in Chris Bosh due to recurring blood clot issues. The Heat would also battle injuries to emerging young center Hassan Whiteside–which would ultimately be their downfall–and lost the electric Tyler Johnson until midway through the first round of the playoffs.
Needless to say, a seven game loss to the Toronto Raptors in the second round was definitely not in Riley’s agenda. Flashback performances from Dwyane Wade (averaged 27.3 points on 49 percent shooting for the series) kept the Heat afloat through six games, but without the league’s leading shot blocker and a top tier power forward sitting on the bench, Miami would eventually give in, which now brings us to what could be one of the more fascinating offseasons in Heat history.
Of the players currently on the roster, nine will be free agents this offseason. Of those nine, we find key contributors such as Whiteside, Luol Deng, Tyler Johnson, Joe Johnson and South Beach legend Wade. We all know where no. 3 is most likely headed, but questions remain: Will Miami have enough cap room to retain both Whiteside and Deng? Will Iso-Joe keep his talents in South Beach? What about Amar’e Stoudemire and Gerald Green?
Time to dig in, we have a rather large plate to finish.
Next: 9. Dorell Wright