Miami Heat: Briante Weber is back at it with the team

Having already spent time with the Miami Heat in 2016, Briante Weber is back with the team.

The Miami Heat seem to have an affinity for bringing back players who have already spent time with the organization.

The best example of this is probably Michael Beasley, who the Heat actually drafted in 2008 as the No.2 overall pick. He competed in Miami until July 2010, when he was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves. However, he wasn’t gone from South Florida for long; the franchise welcomed the forward back, signing him to a one-year deal for the the 2013-14 season. Doing so again in February 2015, this time on a 10-day contract, after he spent a year playing overseas in China for the Shanghai Sharks.

The same can be said for Luke Babbitt, who was originally brought on in July 2016 via a trade with the New Orleans Pelicans, only to then return in February 2018 in a trade yet again, after spending time with the Atlanta Hawks.

And now?

Now they’re once again signing Briante Weber, by way of a spot on their training camp roster.

The former Virginia Commonwealth University point guard has quite a history with the organization, starting as far back as 2015.

Having suffered a torn ACL and MCL during his senior year of college, the 25-year-old hasn’t had the easiest or straightest path to the league. Although he shined as a Ram, earning the conference’s Defensive Player of the Year award for three seasons and leading the nation in steals during his junior season (averaging 3.46 a game), his injuries made teams nervous.

And unfortunately, he went undrafted in 2015.

Still, the Heat liked what they saw. So they invited him to join their fall training camp in September. But he couldn’t pass the physical until October. Eventually, they still signed him to a contract, but waived him just five days later, in order for him to join their G-League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce, in order to further develop.

It worked.

A few months later, he was completely in the zone, giving performances like scoring 26 points on February 27, against the Maine Red Claws.

Which led to once again signing with the Heat in spring 2016.

Since then, Weber has played for four NBA teams (the Golden State Warriors, the Charlotte Hornets, the Houston Rockets and most recently the Memphis Grizzlies, marking his second stint with them) and two G-League ball clubs (returning to the Skyforce and also seeing time with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers).

And has been a free agent since his 10-day contract with the Grizzlies expired in March 2018.

Obviously, the Virginia-native has yet to find his footing in the league, having played in only 40 games, averaging 3.0 points, 1.7 rebounds and 1.4 assists per contest, in 12.3 minutes of play.

So the question now is, can this next step in his career finally take him to the next level?

On the one hand, Miami has been here with Weber before. And although he’s always seemed promising, for one reason or another, things never ultimately panned out.

But the Heat are embracing a youth movement, and have only gotten better at developing young talent. On top of that, and perhaps more importantly, the 2018-19 roster is still missing a true point guard to back up Goran Dragic, with Tyler Johnson not exactly fitting the bill.

One thing is for sure though, Weber deserves nothing but respect for continuing to grind it out and hone is craft.

Could Weber find some stability in the Miami Heat? Fingers crossed.