It may run contrary to every move the Miami Heat have made, or not made, so far this offseason, but I'd argue that the perfect gap year plan could involve taking a huge gamble on Damian Lillard. As a free agent, there's not a ton of financial risk that would come with the move, but with plenty of high-end potential.
The first thing that should be understood is that this isn't a move to win during the 2025-26 season. This would be a signing that would hopefully pay dividends during the 2026-27 season. But, in theory, you sign Lillard to a two or three-year deal and allow him to take his time this upcoming season to fully recover from his Achilles injury.
If there's a scenario he is able to return toward the latter end of the year, cool. I suppose that could be explored. But under this play for the Heat, there's no need to rush him back at all.
The Heat's perfect 'gap year' plan
First, the Heat signs Lillard. They'd need to make another move first to create a roster spot for him, but the front office can figure that out, since they had the great idea of filling their final roster spot with the totally unnecessary move for Simone Fontecchio. But let's assume that's not a complicated first step.
Secondly, the Heat would then proactively embrace the youth movement from a roster-building perspective. That means no more Terry Rozier minutes, whether he's on the roster or not, and the Heat should also work hard to trade Andrew Wiggins and Haywood Highsmith. Can we also forget about the Dru Smith experiment? I understand the coaching staff likes him, but he's not a long-term answer for Miami in any capacity.
Thirdly, the Heat must prioritize the development of Kasparas Jakucionis, Kel'el Ware, Pelle Larsson, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Davion Mitchell, and Nikola Jovic. These players, along with Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo, should be getting the bulk of the minutes this season. I'd argue the Heat should even explore the possibility of trading Herro for a boatload of picks before they have to pay him his extension, but I suppose that may be too overwhelming for this suddenly risk-averse front office.
The ideal scenario for the Heat heading into the summer of 2026
In theory, assuming the Heat doesn't do anything dumb like give Herro his extension this offseason, or sign and trade for Jonathan Kuminga, Miami should have plenty of financial flexibility heading into next summer and a full collection of future first-round picks to trade. At that point, the front office can work its magic and hunt for its next whale.
There's a scenario in which the Heat enter next offseason with a strong young core (with a full year of development), a healthy Lillard, Herro, and Bam, and the salary cap room and draft assets to add a superstar player.
If that's not all of a sudden the goal for the Heat, I'm not sure what better plan the front office would have.