The Miami Heat knew that they needed to have certain pieces back into the fold. While they missed on one, they brought back the most important piece.
The Miami Heat knew where their bread had been buttered. Well, that’s at least what their first deal of the day indicated as NBA Free Agency opened.
Almost as soon as that hour approached, or even slightly before, Goran Dragic made it known that he would be returning to the Miami Heat. Here is how he did it.
https://twitter.com/Goran_Dragic/status/1329922868885458944?s=20
On top of all of those signs though, there were more. Here is what happened in his home country, per Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press.
The Miami Heat lost Jae Crowder to the Valley of the Sun, but they kept their resident fire-breather. Welcome back home Goran!
"Goran to AP on the billboards the Heat placed in Slovenia: ““I was in the car with my wife and her brother and they drove me past those billboards. I didn’t know. … They just said, ‘Look to the right.’ And when I saw myself, saw what they said, it really touched my heart.”"
That wasn’t even it though. The Miami Heat dynamo also spoke about how Jimmy Butler had pressed him about coming back.
His “brate”, “brother” in Dragic’s native tongue of Slovenian, wanted to be sure he got The Dragon back to Miami. Here is another blurb from Reynolds that tells this story.
"More Goran Dragic to AP: Jimmy Butler called him last week and (half-seriously, we think) suggested physical violence could be coming his way if he didn’t return to Miami. “Jimmy’s a tough guy. … I didn’t want him chasing my ass,” Dragic said."
What a guy! What a duo!
I am glad that they are ours. Their relationship and what they have come to mean to each other is not only representative of the Miami Heat Culture, but it helps shed a little light on what makes this team a special one.
The Miami Heat were not able to keep Jae Crowder, who fled to Phoenix for the security of a three-year deal, but they kept the most important piece. Welcome back home Dragon!
It just wouldn’t have felt right without it! We can’t wait to see you back out there, healthy and ready to go!