With the way things stand at the moment for the Miami Heat, there's an argument to be made that they may already regret lowballing an offer to Anfernee Simons at the start of free agency.
Especially if they're not able to pry Klay Thompson away from the Dallas Mavericks or successfully pivot to their Plan B, it's a miscalculation that could go a long way in hurting the team's first-year build around Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo.
According to Yossi Golzan, the Heat were only willing to offer Simons the veteran's minimum before he took a $6 million offer from the Philadelphia 76ers. While Simons was reportedly interested in a potential move to Miami, it was their "lowball" offer that eventually pushed him to Philadelphia.
The Heat could've used Anfernee Simons
Projecting forward, especially if the Heat have trouble filling out their roster with capable veteran players, it's a move the Heat could quickly grow to regret. As loaded as the likes of the 76ers, Cavs, and Pistons currently are on paper, the Heat have their work cut out for them in building out a roster that, at least on paper, would rival what those other teams have managed to put together this summer.
It was always going to be difficult for the Heat to quickly build around the new core, especially considering how much they had to give up for Giannis, but passing on a viable option (Simons) for a "what if" scenario (with Thompson) could end up backfiring in a big way.
And no, the Heat are not going to fall short of a championship because they didn't sign Simons, but it's the type of depth move that could end up being a big difference in the long run. Again, this will especially be true if they miss out on other targets.
With the way things are developing, the Heat is going to lack elite depth this season; that's not going to come as a big surprise. While I wouldn't suggest that Simons is the difference in the Heat winning a championship this season and not, it would be equally foolish to suggest that Miami couldn't use a valuable depth piece like Simons either.
If he plays a big role on the 76ers this season, that's only going to pile on even more.
The start of the season may not even be here yet, and the Heat could already be second-guessing some of their decision-making from earlier this summer. Sure, they still get the benefit of the doubt until they fill out the rest of their roster, but the early signs are that they might've already made their first roster-building misstep with Giannis.
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