The Miami Heat are signing familiar face Dru Smith to a three-year deal on the heels of trading Haywood Highsmith to the Brooklyn Nets in a salary dump. If you find yourself confused, well, you're not alone. Miami continues to send mixed messages about its intentions for next season, and ranks among the league's most unpredictable teams as a result.
Are the Heat trying to compete in the wide-open Eastern Conference on the back of admittedly enviable depth? Does their intent to duck the tax now despite having all season to do it imply they’re leaning into a gap year? Is this all about preserving financial flexibility and assets for a run at Giannis Antetokounmpo? Are they merely obsessed with rostering guards who aren’t primary playmakers? Do they simply not care about deepening their collection of proven size behind Bam Adebayo?
Answer these questions however you like. Miami is leaving its immediate and long-term directions open for interpretation.
Perhaps the team’s eventual stance on Tyler Herro extensions will be telltale of where they’re headed. For now, the Highsmith trade and Smith signing invite a world of questions, along with plenty of skepticism.
Dru Smith doesn’t fill the Heat’s biggest need
Everyone who has followed the Heat over the past few years knows they—and specifically, Erik Spoelstra—have a soft spot for Smith. It’s not hard to understand why. His positional malleability and intensity at the defensive end typifies their culture, and he’s got some of the best hands in the NBA:
Well hello, Dru Smith. It's been a good showing for him so far. pic.twitter.com/7ILuYxfx5Y
— Nekias (Nuh-KY-us) Duncan (@NekiasNBA) October 31, 2024
Still, Miami is most desperate for additional playmaking, and frontline size. Smith brings a little of the former, and none of the latter. Pelle Larsson and rookie Kasparas Jakučionis could provide the playmaking. Nikola Jovic and Kel’el Ware could deliver enough size up front alongside Bam Adebayo. But there’s an emphasis on “could” for a reason.
These options are not certified solutions. They are varying degrees of mystery boxes. Counting on any combination of them is not indicative of a squad fully committed to making the playoffs.
And yet, the Heat’s highway-robbery heist for Norman Powell, along with their pursuit of Kevin Durant, nods to just the opposite. So it’s curious that they would move an injured Highsmith (before they needed to), and then add more ambiguity in Smith. His defense may tantalize, but he now has ACL and Achilles tears in his rear view.
Miami’s plan remains a mystery
We needn’t pretend that mid-August transactions featuring career role players or fliers will define the Heat’s big-picture direction. The order of operations and logic here are just…weird.
Why attach a second-round pick to ship out Highsmith when you might have gotten one for his services once he’s healthy? If you are moving him, why add another guard to a rotation already featuring Herro, Powell, Larsson, Jakučionis, Davion Mitchell, and maybe Terry Rozier? Larsson and Jakučionis offer plenty of size, but they’re not what you’d call wings. They certainly aren’t bigs.
Miami is trying to remain competitive, flexible for trades, and a bastion of player development all at once. It's a gutsy, if slightly incoherent, gamble. Or perhaps a sign the Heat aren’t done wheeling and dealing this summer. Whatever they’re doing, it’s interesting. We’ll have to wait and see whether it’s also effective.