Youth Movement
As I mentioned earlier, the Heat are a team with some big contracts on their books and some veterans set to leave the team soon.
It reasonable to think that the team will be looking to make some moves this season before the trade deadline and in the subsequent offseason. The only way to move some of their bad contracts, is to add a sweetener to the deal.
That sweetener can either be a draft pick or a younger player on a favorable contract.
The Heat have a handful of young players on their roster that would be attractive additions to trade offers, if the team decides that they are willing to part ways with them.
Justise Winslow, Josh Richardson, and Bam Adebayo are the teams most recent draft picks. All three of them have shown promise in recent seasons.
Jones Jr. and Rodney McGruder are two young players that earned contracts after playing well in the Summer League and G-League. Duncan Robinson and Yante Maten were both signed to the new two-way contracts that were made available to each NBA team this year.
Yes, these four players are largely unproven. However, they could get an opportunity to showcase their talent this season. And if they are able to do so, they could become valuable assets to the team.
But creating more valuable trade assets is not the only incentive to develop the young players on the roster. Some of these young players will make up the core of this team in the future. As some of the old leaders walk away, new leaders on the team must step up.
Championship teams aren’t built solely off of free agent acquisitions.
The best franchises are able to evaluate talent in the draft and G-League, and develop that talent into productive NBA players. Spoelstra has an excellent crop of young players on his roster that are full of potential.
Now, it’s his job to get the most out of that group.
Here’s to another successful year for Spoelstra.