If there's one thing NBA fans know the Miami Heat for, it's their recurring ability to go out and find players, whether through the draft or free agency, that are less heralded and turn them into legitimate rotation players that help win games in high-stakes environments. So far this offseason, it does not feel like the Heat have been able to pull off that kind of feat.
For clarification, I'm not considering Kasparas Jakucionis as part of this discussion. He may have been drafted lower than expected at 20th overall, but his talent was still apparent. Jakucoinis was tabbed as a top 10 pick by many analysts, and I still stand by my statement that he'll turn into an excellent player in due time.
What I'm more so speaking of is the kind of player one would categorize as more unknown or that no one else seemed to have interest in. Think guys like Haywood Highsmith in terms of players currently on the roster, and in the past, guys like Gabe Vincent or Max Strus.
Miami hasn't yet found their next unknown star role player
All of those I just named originally joined the Heat on a temporary deal. Vincent began on a two-way contract, Strus on a training camp deal, and Highsmith on a 10-day. It's been Miami's calling card in the past to radically transform the value of these types of players, thanks to the genius of their scouting department as well as the training staff.
Maybe during this past season, you could say that getting Davion Mitchell was a pickup of that ilk for Miami, given that his value has shot up so much since he joined the Heat at February's trade deadline. But at the end of the day, it's simply been more of a career renaissance for him than a situation where Miami went and found an unknown guy. After all, Mitchell was the ninth overall pick in 2021.
So in the grand scheme of things, it feels like Heat fans are still waiting around to see if history will repeat itself once again. Perhaps the one lone hope in this department would be the undrafted rookie out of the University of Michigan, Vladislav Goldin, who put up a solid performance at Summer League. But it still feels like he has a lot to prove to earn the status of Miami's next big steal.
Overall, it's still been a more than solid offseason for the Heat. Re-signing Mitchell, and making trades for Norman Powell and Simone Fontecchio were all slam-dunk moves. But in this one department, which has always been Miami's trademark, there's still a bit of a question mark.