Miami Heat Having A “C-” Offseason While Waiting On Kevin Durant
By Noah Decker
The Miami Heat haven’t found themselves immune to what has, generally, been a slow offseason for the NBA in terms of signing players. The whole league is anticipating stars becoming available for trades.
The most significant among those is Kevin Durant. Many teams, including the Miami Heat, have risked their free agency in order to maintain the flexibility to trade for stars like Durant.
Bleacher Report noticed this. As a result, they graded the Heat’s offseason a C-. They believe that the Miami Heat did little to improve their chances of reaching the NBA Finals after missing the series by one game in this previous season.
Their biggest issue was the loss of P.J. Tucker, who was a key starter for Miami last season. Although Bleacher Report gave the Heat credit for re-signing Victor Oladipo and drafting Nikola Jovic, they believe that the Heat deserve a poor grade for this offseason, unless they can acquire someone like Kevin Durant.
They are, unfortunately, correct in their assessment of the Miami Heat’s offseason so far. The Heat were a great team last year that was capable of winning a championship.
The Miami Heat have had a slow offseason and Bleacher Report has taken notice, grading their offseason a C-. Here is why their grade is the right one.
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That no longer matters this year, especially when you lose an extreme effort guy like Tucker.
Miami needs to be making moves to improve their roster like other teams. The current Heat roster will not reach the NBA Finals, especially with other teams like the Celtics adding more talent to their team.
If the Heat can acquire Kevin Durant, their season grade would jump from a C- to an A+. However and although Miami is one of Durant’s preferred destinations, it is not a certainty that they will add him.
In fact, it is not even certain that he will be traded this offseason. Durant still has a few years left on his contract and the Nets have a steep asking price that other teams are not ready to meet right now.
The Miami Heat need a backup plan if they are not going to get Durant. Right now, that plan is either moving very slowly—or it doesn’t exist at all.
The Miami Heat still have time to improve their offseason, with or without Durant. It may not translate into a championship, but there are solid free agents and other role players who could become available that would help the Heat win.
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For now, their offseason has been a slow and painful journey. Hopefully, it ends in victory.