On the heels of the news that Gabe Vincent will sign with the Los Angeles Lakers on a three-year, $33 million deal, the Miami Heat have created a somewhat unexpected hole at point guard in the early parts of free agency.
Free agent guard Gabe Vincent has agreed on a three-year, $33 million deal with the Los Angeles Lakers, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium. Vincent’s agent, Bill Neff, negotiated the new deal for a tremendous undrafted success story.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 30, 2023
Despite Vincent’s departure, the Heat still prefer to move Kyle Lowry’s contract. All signs point to Miami’s point guard spot looking much different next season than it did during their 2023 NBA Finals run.
With that in mind, here are five free-agent point guards that the Heat can pursue on minimum contracts.
Patrick Beverley
The 34-year-old point guard is known for his defensive tenacity and trash-talking, but he’s also a career 37% 3-point shooter (although that has dipped the last few seasons). Beverley, who is on track to join his fourth team in four seasons, is at the journeyman point of his career, but the Heat could do worse for a stopgap option at point guard.
Dennis Smith Jr.
**Update: Dennis Smith Jr. signed with the Brooklyn Nets.
After nearly finding himself out of the league, Smith bounced back with Charlotte last season and proved he can be a backup point guard in the right spot. He emerged as a downright awesome defender, using his athleticism to hound opposing ball-handlers and logged nearly two steals per 36 minutes. The problem is on the other end: Smith shot 41% overall and 21.6% on 3s. Yikes. But the Heat have taken uber-athletic players from Charlotte and helped develop them into all-around contributors in the past. Perhaps they could do it again.
Cory Joseph
The 31-year-old Joseph has played for championship teams in San Antonio, lottery teams in Detroit and middling teams in between. Even at his advanced age, Joseph is still a helpful player, comes to a team with plenty of experience and savvy and can run the offense in a pinch. It doesn’t hurt that he shot 40% from 3-point range over his last two seasons.
Jamaree Bouyea
A slightly built, score-first point guard, Bouyea was among the most impressive Heat players in last year’s Summer League. He spent this past season in Sioux Falls, where he was one of the G League’s top players (first-team All-Rookie and second-team All-G League). He’s a small target on defense at just 6-foot-2, 180 pounds, but he has fast hands to create turnovers. He still needs to develop his outside jumper (31/9% from 3 last season) but, if he does, could be a real scorer at the NBA level.
Dru Smith
Another guard from Miami’s G League pipeline, Smith appeared in five games for the Heat last season before getting waived and being picked up by the Nets for the remainder of the season. At 6-foot-3, 200 pounds, Smith is more of a combo guard. He shot 38% on 3s and averaged 4.8 assists per game in the G League last season.
Don’t sleep on: Goran Dragic, Derrick Rose, Michael Carter-Williams, Aaron Holiday, Ish Smith, George Hill, Ty Jerome, John Wall.