With the Miami Heat eliminated from the NBA Playoffs, here are three players who won't be coming back next season.
The Miami Heat triumphed through the NBA Playoffs as the underdogs to end all underdogs. While for a moment it looked like the world had crucially underestimated the Heat, motivating them to completely stomp out the Boston Celtics, Boston eventually did wake up and make it interesting, losing in seven.
Miami tackled every test thrown at them in the Eastern Conference but ultimately fell short to the Denver Nuggets who proved to be perhaps even more slept on than the Heat as the most talented and dominant team in the league. Denver won its first NBA title in just five games.
Miami, an 8-seed, went further than it should have based purely on seeding. Only one other team seeded that low (Knicks) has made it to the NBA Finals, and still, no team in such a position has won it all.
With that in mind, the Heat's season is over, and it's looking forward to the offseason. Miami has a relatively stable cast coming back next year, with Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro and (perhaps regretfully) Duncan Robinson all on the books for many years to come.
But some big names will likely not be back next year, and Pat Riley needs to start strategizing on how to fill those roles. Of course, this is the Heat. They'll have no problem doing so, it just might take some creativity.
Honorable mention who will probably be back next year: Kevin Love
I could definitely see Kevin Love signing elsewhere in free agency. Retirement could certainly be on the table for the 34-year-old big man as well. More likely than both, though, is Love finding his way back to the Heat on a new deal for a year or two.
Love has collected his big checks in Cleveland for several years now. Then, he got to ring chase with Miami. He's earned his money, and there's nothing better to do at this stage in his career but play basketball and soak up the great weather in South Beach.
Miami seems to have a knack for taking on players who might otherwise be considered "washed up" and extending their careers. It's gotta be the weather, right?
Heat players who won't be back next year: Udonis Haslem
Udonis Haslem is actually the only player I can say with 99.99% certainty that he won't be back next year as a player. Haslem has already announced that this will be his last year after 20 seasons in the NBA.
Haslem was a storybook for the NBA, a kid who grew up in inner-city Miami and earned his way onto the pro team with his intense play and scrappy mentality. "Heat Culture" would be a scoffable phrase if it weren't for players like Haslem who helped ingratiate that mentality into the very fabric of the organization.
Haslem was with the team for the Dwyane Wade era, the Big 3 era, the Jimmy Butler era, and importantly, the frankly cruddy eras in between that are easy to forget about. He suited up with the stars that didn't come to be like Josh Richardson, Shabazz Napier and Justise Winslow, as well as the stars that proved everything in Miami like LeBron James and Chris Bosh.
The caveat here? It would be a shock to see Haslem stay away from the organization for long. I would be entirely unsurprised if he's hired as a coach or front office person in the coming years.
Heat players who won't be back next year: Max Strus
From undrafted to a legitimate part of a playoff rotation, Max Strus is entering free agency and the wing that shoots 41 percent from the field and 35 percent from beyond the arc is going to get a huge payday.
Shooting comes at a premium in today's game, and Strus is good for two or three long-range balls per game. After balling out on a $1.8 million salary this year, he's due for a huge raise. Very few teams would turn him down for a dollar figure far beyond that. You're looking at something in the $6-10 million range per year for Strus this offseason, I would guesstimate.
Miami certainly would not be opposed to bringing him back, but it's going to be difficult to do so given how well he's platformed himself with his play of late. Miami's payroll next year is already at $173 million, they are projected to be 67 million over the salary cap.
Strus is a luxury signing for a team like Miami who will need to get creative to fill the roles of players like this that they were able to pull out of nowhere and help develop.
Riley and the Heat might need to find more low-cost, high-impact undrafted players or second-rounders to work on to fill these roles given how much money they have doled out already.
Heat players who won't be back next year: Gabe Vincent
Gabe Vincent, for almost identical reasons to Strus, probably also won't be back next year. If anything, Miami will have to decide between one of the two of these players, but based on their cap space there's a very real possibility they won't be able to bring back either.
In the post-Goran Dragic era, Vincent has been everything Miami needed him to be, stepping up as a part-time starter when injuries called for it, and filling his role as an off-the-bench offensive spurt in other scenarios.
Like Strus, Vincent shoots well, 40.2% from the field and 33.4% from beyond the arc. But between those two players, they averaged just 20 points per game in the regular season and also have a low defensive ceiling due to their size.
Miami may instead need to put even deeper trust in Caleb Martin or hope that Duncan Robinson is able to take significant steps forward in his game this offseason.
Vincent has proven to be a viable part of a postseason rotation, including a 29-point performance in Game 4 against the Celtics. Again, he's probably played himself right out of the range that Miami would even be able to think about affording under the salary cap constraints.
