Miami Heat Roundtable: 2017-18 offseason staff takes

Who is one free agent who is now off the market that you wish they would have signed?

Tachauer: Obviously, seeing James back in the 305 would have been incredible (here’s my theory on how it could still happen) but otherwise I didn’t really have my eye on anyone. I do still think Jamal Crawford could be an interesting addition though…

Nurse: I would say no one, because what the team is missing is the one thing the free agency class was devoid of (outside of Kevin Durant and James): quality small forwards.

Gewirtz: I feel like this is a trick question, but assuming we are talking in a perfect world, James. Who would not want the best player on the planet on their team? A return to the Heat would have blown up #HeatTwitter and #NBATwitter all in about five seconds and it would have been entertaining to see.

Rahming: Since realistically I didn’t want any of the taken free agents, I’m going to go with a hot take on this one: DeMarcus Cousins. In a Candyland scenario, we would’ve signed him to the same one-year deal the Golden State Warriors did, with an understanding that he could calmly work his way back from injury while simultaneously acting as a fire underneath Whiteside. If we liked what we saw at the 2019 trade deadline, we could trade Whiteside somewhere that wants him or better yet, keep them both until season’s end and if Whiteside doesn’t pick up his player option, offer Cousins a long-term deal.

Ebrahim: Seth Curry. I definitely saw him as a good Ellington replacement; he’s a high upside guy, even though he’s coming off injury. He’s younger than Ellington and signed for much less. He’s also a bit more of a ball handler and shoots really well from range (small sample size though), so I would’ve like to see them take a chance on him.

Shofner: With the current state of limbo that the Heat payroll is in, I don’t condone them suffocating themselves more by going after any top shelf free agent names until they sort that mess out. Hopefully, they can rid themselves of Whiteside’s contract and, by the time they move on from Chris Bosh’s remaining salary, they can position themselves to make more of a splash in next year’s offseason which includes many fruitful options such as Klay Thompson and Jordan. With that being said, if money wasn’t a current ordeal, Paul George would have been a name that could gravitate other big name players to Miami in the future. Since we don’t live in a perfect world, I like the way Miami is handling this current mini-rebuild.