The Miami Heat have already made their offseason statement, but one issue still hangs around this roster: where does the next wave of perimeter shooting come from?
That question matters more now because Miami’s shooting profile changed fast. Last season, the Heat finished 11th in team three-point percentage, but the pieces that helped drive that number are gone.
Norman Powell, who shot 38 percent from deep, left for the Chicago Bulls in free agency. Tyler Herro, Kel'el Ware and Kasparas Jakucionis, all of whom shot north of 37 percent, were moved to the Milwaukee Bucks in the blockbuster Giannis Antetokounmpo deal.
Miami has brought in some veteran stop-gaps to steady the rotation, and the preseason is in the books. With the regular season set to begin this week, the group looks fairly defined. Still, if the Heat want more pop on the wing, they may need to look outside the current mix.
One possible answer: Los Angeles Lakers guard Dalton Knecht.
Knecht, 25, has taken a winding path to the NBA. He started at Northeastern Junior College in the NJCAA and spent two seasons there from 2019-2021, averaging close to 24 points in his second year. That performance pushed him to Division I, where he played two seasons at Northern Colorado from 2021-2023.
His biggest breakout came in 2024 at Tennessee, where he played for Rick Barnes in his final college season. Knecht helped the Volunteers win an SEC championship and reach the Elite Eight of the 2024 NCAA men's basketball tournament. He also picked up major hardware along the way, earning consensus first-team All-American honors and SEC Player of the Year.
That run put him in the first round of the 2024 draft, where the Lakers made the call.
Knecht flashed early in Los Angeles and earned a real spot in the rotation as a rookie. He shot 37 percent from three-point range that season, but his situation changed in February 2025 when the Lakers agreed to send him to the Charlotte Hornets in the Mark Williams deal. The trade was later rescinded after Williams failed his physical, sending Knecht back to Los Angeles.
From there, things got rocky. The source material notes that the Lakers did not seem to value him highly after the trade fiasco, and his confidence appeared to suffer. He was assigned to the G-League to open his sophomore season and had an uneven year after that.
Now the Lakers could move him again, and Miami fits as a team that could use him. The Heat’s current three-point shooting wings are Tim Hardaway Jr. and Klay Thompson, both proven from deep but both over 30. If Miami wants a younger option who can help the perimeter attack, Knecht makes sense as a trade target, especially since the Lakers are not expected to demand much in return.
In Other News...
Heat Roster Cuts Just Clarified Who Fans Should Keep Watching
The Heat have trimmed their preseason roster down to the point where the next phase of the season is already coming into focus. Miami waived four developmental players, Ezra Ausar, Kylor Kelley, Gabe Madsen and Bez Mbeng, after the preseason wrapped up, clearing the way for the team to get closer to the leagues 15-player standard contract limit.
For now, the move mostly shifts attention to Sioux Falls, where all four players are expected to land with the Skyforce and continue their development in the Heat system. It is the kind of roster housekeeping that rarely makes noise on its own, but for Miami it also serves as a reminder of which young players remain on the radar as the organization starts sorting out its regular-season depth. [Read more 🡒]
Heat Could Still Find One Veteran Who Changes Their Rotation
With the roster cutdown deadline closing in, the Heat have already trimmed a few young prospects and are still looking at ways to tighten up the back end of the roster. That has naturally turned attention to a familiar pool of recently waived NBA veterans, the kind of players who can step into a rotation without needing much ramp-up time if the fit makes sense.
Among the names floating around are Pat Connaughton, Jeremy Sochan and Bruce Brown, all of whom bring some combination of experience, versatility and lineup flexibility. Miami has not made any official additions yet, but the fact that these veterans are even in the conversation suggests the front office is still weighing whether one more proven piece could help settle the rotation before the deadline passes. [Read more 🡒]
Ryan Conwell Is Forcing A Tough Heat Rotation Decision
Ryan Conwell has done enough in preseason to make the Heat think a little harder about how they want to handle the back end of the roster. The second-round pick, originally selected by the Thunder and then sent to Miami right away, has shown the kind of promise that can make a draft-night gamble look smarter in a hurry, even with the Heat loading up on veterans and reshaping the group around the edges.
The tricky part now is figuring out where he fits in the short term. Miami has enough established pieces that Conwell may not have a clean path to consistent NBA minutes right away, and the most realistic route could start with a run in the G-League before he works his way into a regular role. For a team that likes competition and development, it is the kind of decision that can shape how quickly a young player becomes part of the rotation picture. [Read more 🡒]