With the NBA Free Agency market still in play, the Miami Heat decided to make some moves of their own. The Heat re-signed James Johnson and Dion Waiters, but also signed a free agent in Kelly Olynyk (pronounced O-lin-nik).
Miami lucked out in signing Gordon Hayward, who formally announced that he was playing for the Boston Celtics on July 4, which led to them looking for other options to invest into during the offseason. This would also be the third time in four years that a highly sought after free agent eluded them, starting with LeBron James in 2014, Kevin Durant and Dwyane Wade in 2016, and now Hayward. As alluring a destination Miami is, the Heat organization may have use to a different approach to secure a free agent come next summer, especially the ones with one year contracts to different teams or those who are in the final year of their contracts.
With the re-signing of Johnson and Waiters, Miami retained the vital members of their core that was responsible for their remarkable second half of the regular season, leading to a 13 game win streak and finishing with a .500 mark record of 41 and 41. Should Johnson and Waiters continue to pick up where they left off with their improvement on both ends of the floor, the Heat would definitely get more bang for the bucks they’ve spent on retaining Johnson and Waiters.
As for the signing of Kelly Olynyk, the Heat gain yet another big man among their ranks. Olynyk, who played all four of his seasons with the Celtics, averaged 9.5 points and 4.7 rebounds per game during his tenure. Olynyk is also best known for his performance in Game 7 of the NBA Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Washington Wizards, scoring 14 of his career high 26 points in the first 8 minutes of the fourth quarter.
With Olynyk going to the Heat, he would be a much developed player than he was back in Boston. Miami has a knack for making any player’s skill, better than it once was, with the likes of Tyler Johnson, Rodney McGruder, Wayne Ellington, and the aforementioned Johnson and Waiters. Either way you look at it, Olynyk is in good hands with the Heat.
Miami may have a lot of bigs at their disposal, but they’re still lacking in areas that needs some attention like the small forward position. Currently, their only small forward is Justise Winslow, but if they move James Johnson down to the small forward position, it could help. Another thing that can help the Heat is if they sign another small forward to balance out their roster like C.J. Miles for example. The Heat are still making moves and it’s only a matter of time before they can get into gear for the upcoming season.
The Heat Check Magazine 