Even if it feels like half the Miami Heat fan base is against a potential signing of DeMar DeRozan, it seems as if things could be slowly heading in that direction.
According to NBA insider Jake Fischer, the Heat are "still" considered the favorites for DeRozan as we slowly enter the dog days of the NBA offseason. This is interesting timing considering the whispers that DeRozan does have other suitors and that Miami is "prioritizing" Klay Thompson.
However, in the end, there are still many around the league who believe DeRozan will ultimately end up in Miami. Only time will tell whether that will end up happening or not.
“Miami Heat have been a DeRozan landing spot for years now, there’s been so much connectivity between him and the Heat and I do think the Heat seem to be the most likely scenario for DeMar DeRozan right now…Miami is probably his best bet…those other spots really don’t have spending power…”
How the Heat could make a DeMar DeRozan signing work
On paper, it may be difficult to envision how the dynamic between DeRozan, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Bam Adebayo would work. After all, it's fair to assume that if the Heat are going to be successful, they're going to need to surround their dynamic duo with a lot of shooting.
Dating back to his days in Milwaukee, the best Bucks teams around Giannis almost always had elite shooting. Whether it was Khris Middleton, Brook Lopez, or Jrue Holiday, the Bucks always seemed to have a consistent threat from deep on the floor next to Giannis.
However, even as the Heat explore ways to improve their shooting via other avenues, there's still a path to Miami making it work with DeRozan. He's not a shooter. He's far from an elite one. But what he does offer in the mid-range is also something that the Heat don't necessarily currently have on their roster.
DeRozan may not be a consistent 3-point threat, but he has proven to be an extremely productive (and efficient) player everywhere else on the floor. He'd offer some much-needed volume scoring for the Heat, particularly if he were to embrace a role off the bench.
The fit next to Bam and Giannis in the starting 5 is questionable. However, DeRozan off the bench could be quite lethal. If he can keep his level of consistency up, similarly to what he was able to do this past season in Sacramento, there's reason to believe he could be somewhat of a missing piece for this team.
Would DeRozan accept such a role? Would he be willing to play for the minimum? What other moves would the Heat want to settle before they crossed that bridge?
There are still plenty of questions to be answered before this even becomes official, but it does seem as if there's at least some momentum toward it happening. Maybe it's time for Heat fans to prepare for it.
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