3 Stars on losing teams who should wish to sign with the Heat this summer

OG Anunoby 

The Toronto Raptors inked OG Anunoby to a four-year $72 million contract that started during the 2021-2022 season. His annual average salary is $18 million. He and his contract were unloaded in a trade to the New York Knicks at the start of the new year. The defensive-minded and sharpshooting wing talent isn’t set to be an unrestricted free agent until next summer, but he has a player option heading into this one. If Anunoby opts out of that option, it can make him set to test out the market before the start of next season.

He is sporting current regular season stats of 15.1 points, 3.9 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.0 steals on 48.9% shooting. He has also shot 37.4% from 3-point range and has started to specialize in those corner three balls. Anunoby can play either forward position at a height of 6-foot-7 and a 7-foot-2 wingspan. There should be no doubt in anyone’s mind that this is a “Heat Culture” kind of player.

Although he doesn’t have All-Star nods and does have an injury history, when healthy he does all the things that Miami covets. His two-way versatility backed up by being the 2022-2023 steals champion and All-Defensive member brings facets that Pat Riley and Erik Spoelstra love. His annual salary is also enough to not only replace Tyler Herro’s salary but also get more tax relief. The only problem would be finding out if that interest is mutual.

Yes, there have been injury concerns with Anunoby, most notably this season with New York. But he is a former champion and provides a skillset that is fit for the Heat as opposed to Herro’s defensive limitations who has injury issues of his own, although has made progress on that side of the ball this season. But with New York making strides as a winning franchise, it could be tougher for a player like Anunoby to walk away from.