While Miami Heat are focusing on making sure they don’t get swept by the Milwaukee Bucks during the first round of the playoffs, the franchise is already facing precarious position when it comes to the offseason.
The Heat’s roster stayed mostly intact following last year’s playoff run in the bubble, but it’s safe to assume the team will look vastly different following this summer’s free agency period.
While it’s difficult to imagine the Heat without sharpshooter Duncan Robinson and guard Kendrick Nunn, they both become restricted free agents once the season ends, and according to Bleacher Report‘s Grant Hughes, two NBA teams should make it their No. 1 priority to snatch these ballers up.
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Hughes reported that the Indiana Pacers should focus on stealing Nunn away from the Heat. “Nunn is more of a combo guard, which would work just fine with [Malcolm] Brogdon, [Caris] LeVert and TJ Warren all capable of orchestrating the offense. Ideally a backup, Nunn’s comfort on and off the ball would make it easy to blend him into starter-led groups when not running the second unit,” Hughes wrote.
“At 14.6 points per game on 59.6% true shooting with the Miami Heat in 2020-21, Nunn validated his status as a quality rotation scorer at the guard spot.”
GettyDuncan Robinson #55 of the Miami Heat reacts after hitting a basket against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden on March 29, 2021.
As for Robinson, Hughes believes he is exactly the kind player that the Memphis Grizzlies needs. This season, Memphis ranked 27th in three-point attempts and 21st in accuracy from behind the line.
“Robinson is an ace tough-shot maker who can tie defenses in knots with his constant sprinting around the floor,” Hughes wrote. “He drained 41.7% of his catch-and-shoot threes this season, a down year, which included a 37.7% hit rate against tight coverage.”
While it’s largely assumed the Heat will pay up to keep Robinson in South Beach, if the Grizzlies clear some cap space to add him to the roster, “it will be worth the trouble,” Hughes noted.
Bleacher Report Suggests that Miami Pursues Lakers’ Talen Horton-Tucker
GettyTalen Horton-Tucker of the Los Angeles Lakers.
While numerous reports have Miami making a final push to add Kyle Lowry to their roster this summer, Hughes believes the No.1 player for the Heat to target is restricted free agent Talen Horton-Tucker.
Why should the Heat try to snatch Tucker from the Los Angeles Lakers? Because “in the spirit of Miami’s ambitious free-agency past, this is a plea for it to go big with an offer sheet for Talen Horton-Tucker, a wing with combo-guard skills who just feels like a ‘Heat Culture’ guy, Hughes wrote.
“THT could replace [Goran] Dragic’s minutes if the veteran guard doesn’t return while also adding much more two-way reliability in the backcourt—in case Herro’s mildly disappointing second season is an indication he’s not the budding star he appeared to be in 2019-20.”
In order to make salary space for Tucker, the Heat would have to decline the team options for Andre Iguodala and Dragic. But if Miami lets both Nunn and Robinson go in free agency, there will be more than enough cap space freed up.
“If the prospect of [Bam] Adebayo, [Jimmy] Butler and THT strangling the life out of opposing offenses doesn’t excite you, maybe check for a pulse,” Hughes wrote.
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2 Miami Heat Players Expected to Be Snatched in Free Agency: B/R