The Miami Heat may have gotten a little too comfortable laughing at the Boston Celtics’ Mike Conley Jr. signing.
When Boston brought Conley in at the start of free agency, plenty of Heat fans were ready with the jokes. That reaction made sense on the surface.
Miami had just landed Giannis Antetokounmpo after beating out the Celtics for him, and Boston followed by trading Jaylen Brown before turning around and adding Conley. It didn’t look like the kind of move that was going to shake the league.
But the way this offseason has unfolded makes that signing look a lot more useful than it did in the moment.
The Heat’s point guard depth is thin as the season approaches, and that’s where the Conley conversation starts to hit harder. If Miami doesn’t make another move, the current setup leaves Dru Smith as the main backup behind Davion Mitchell at lead guard.
Smith is a capable player, but there are real questions about whether he can hold that spot consistently. There are also fair questions about Mitchell as a full-time starter, even if the Heat would never say that out loud.
That’s the part Miami fans may be reconsidering now. What looked like a minor Celtics addition has turned into the kind of veteran point guard insurance the Heat could use themselves.
Conley still hasn’t played a game for Boston, so this isn’t about proving the Celtics right on the court just yet. It’s about fit, and right now he looks like the sort of backup option Miami could have used heading into training camp. In that light, the move that got laughed at early in free agency doesn’t look so easy to dismiss anymore.
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Instead, the Heat moved in a very different direction, sending Herro to Milwaukee as part of the deal that brought Giannis Antetokounmpo to South Florida. The decision says plenty about how aggressively Miami viewed its next step, and it leaves the bigger question hanging over the roster now: how much of the present the Heat were willing to sacrifice to chase the kind of centerpiece that changes everything. [Read more 🡒]
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Gabe Vincent is currently a free agent and has been mentioned as a possible fit for Miami because of what he has already shown in a Heat uniform, along with his ability to space the floor. After being traded from the Lakers to the Hawks last season, he is still waiting on his next NBA opportunity, and Miami remains one of the more natural landing spots if the team decides it wants even more guard depth. [Read more 🡒]
Warriors Could Revisit A Steph Curry Reunion Fans Barely Got To See
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Another veteran drawing attention is Seth Curry, who remains a free agent while weighing a return to the Warriors and a chance to share the floor with his brother Steph Curry again. For Miami, it is part of the broader late-summer picture around the league, with former All-Stars still looking for the right landing spot and a few situations left open as camp gets closer. [Read more 🡒]