When the Boston Celtics signed Mike Conley Jr. at the start of free agency, there were many Miami Heat fans who were quick to poke fun. In fairness, especially as one of their biggest rivals, how could they not?
The Heat had just acquired Giannis Antetokounmpo (while beating out the Celtics in that race), and then Boston traded Jaylen Brown. Their next move was signing Conley near the start of free agency. This is not a knock on Conley, but at this stage of his career, it's just not viewed, in a vacuum, as a significant move.
However, looking back, that's exactly the small signing that the Heat just completely whiffed on this offseason. Especially considering how thin their point guard room is heading into the start of the season, I'm sure there are many Heat fans who would embrace a Conley-level addition at this point in the offseason.
Many of those that were quick to crack a joke about this seemingly irrelevant move by the Celtics.
Will the Heat regret adding a veteran point guard?
Of course, this is not necessarily about the Celtics, but more about whether the Heat will end up regretting not adding another veteran point guard before training camp. Of course, this is under the assumption that there isn't any move coming for the Heat.
Right now, Dru Smith is considered to be the primary backup behind Davion Mitchell at the lead guard position. While a solid player, there may be some fair questions about whether Smith could be a consistently good enough backup behind Mitchell.
In fact, there may even be questions about Mitchell as the full-time starter. Even though the team will never admit any of those concerns, they're certainly a reality that Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra is going to have to work through.
And because of that, that's why it's never wise to poke fun at a move that a team might make early on in free agency.
Conley hasn't played a minute for the Celtics yet, but I'd imagine there are many Heat fans already regretting their decision to mock such a move. Because, deep down, there's no question that the Heat would've benefited from such an offseason addition.
It remains to be seen what type of role Conley's going to play for the Celtics this season, but he'd be a solid backup option for the Heat right now. When you think of it that way, maybe it wasn't that forgetful a move by the Celtics.
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