The Miami Heat have landed their shooter. Now, if the recent reporting holds true, they need another big. After the big move for Klay Thompson, the overwhelming belief is that the Heat will target a veteran big man to close out their offseason.
Now that the Heat have likely made their last significant move of the offseason, it's all about filling out the roster before the start of training camp. But even with two roster spots left, the overwhelming belief is that the Heat will only fill one of them.
Miami Herald's Barry Jackson is reporting that the Heat are leaning toward signing a big man with that 14th roster spot, leaving the 15th spot open to sign an in-season buyout candidate ahead of the final push for the playoffs.
“Heat prefers a big man with 14th spot. There is definite Heat interest in Nick Richards but a couple of others in the mix, too. Richards must decide what he wants to do, with Heat among multiple teams interested.”
The Heat will likely add a big man before the start of training camp
This pretty much falls right in line with the vast speculation that has linked the Heat to Nick Richards over the last couple of weeks. But, as Jackson notes, it's far from a foregone conclusion that Richards will be the signing.
There are a few other big men out there that the Heat can choose from, and there's an expectation that a few more could join the free-agent marketplace when the stretch-and-waive deadline hits on August 29.
Again, there's no guarantee that any quality bigs will end up joining the free-agent market, but what's the point in the Heat rushing to make a move now when they don't have to? Training camp is still roughly five weeks away, and the Heat should be taking their time in filling out this final (for the time being) roster spot.
Whether they sign a player now or up until the day before camp, there's no question that they could use another big man. Adding depth to the frontcourt could play a big role in preserving Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo over the course of the regular season. Even with Bobby Portis and Nikola Jovic, another traditional center could serve a role for the Heat.
They wouldn't even need to be an everyday contributor right away. It's all about finding a veteran big who could buy minutes and potentially a couple of spot starts here and there.
After the move for Thompson, it'd be surprising if the next one isn't signing a big man. That's seemingly where all the arrows are pointing next.
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