A salary cap crunch could force Miami Heat eyes, Seth Curry’s way.
A ton of Miami Heat talk this off-season has centered around moving center Hassan Whiteside and the many Hail Mary’s the team would have to throw in order to gain roster improvement.
But what happens if there is no progression on the speculation?
Rebuilding the Miami roster will be an almost impossible move. Clearing cap space will be even harder. And avoiding the luxury tax only seems viable by letting their best deep ball shooter (Wayne Ellington) swim in someone else’s free agency pool.
Barring a miracle and absurd trade scenarios aside, the Heat roster could look relatively the same as it did at the end of their short-lived playoff run. As a matter of fact, it would be a step back once you subtract Ellington. However, Bleacher Report thinks they found someone who could fill his 39 percent three-point shooting shoes:
"“To get Seth Curry for the minimum, the Heat would need the rest of the league to freak out about the tibial stress reaction that cost the 27-year-old his entire 2017-18 season. That’s a long shot because several other squads will view Curry’s career 43.2 percent accuracy rate from three-point range as well worth the risk.”"
Bringing in the lesser-established Seth Curry as a designated shooter, has its pros and cons.
On the negative side, he is an undersized 6-foot-2. Sure the league is shrinking, but he is still short for a shooting guard. Most will label that a detriment to the defensive end. However, there are options for cleaning that up.
For as shaky as Whiteside is as a solo defender, he more than shines when it comes to adding help. A returning Dwyane Wade would also likely be used to guard bigger backcourt players off the bench, while Curry tries to stay in front of the point guard.
When it comes to offense, Curry should be able to weave around screens in a similar fashion as Ellington. And surprisingly enough, in his last full season, Curry put up better catch and shoot (40.6 to 39.9) and pull up (44.9 to 38.4) percentage numbers than Ellington did this year.
Just some food for thought, as Miami’s summer is about to get underway.
Next: Miami Heat: Four of the best moments from the 2017-18 season
As far as cheap, hired guns go, Curry may be as good as it gets, regardless of if the Heat execute a roster makeover or not.