Miami Heat: Patience is gone; Heat making a move to win now
By Liam Clark
After a strong opening day to the free agency period, the Miami Heat are showcasing their aspirations to win now.
Despite not making it out of the first round this past postseason, losing to the eventual championship-winning Milwaukee Bucks, the Miami Heat had, naturally, begun questioning their team.
While they made it to the NBA Finals in the 2019-20 season, the Heat was unable to show the same fight due to a variety of reasons.
Unafraid to shake up the status quo for a chance of winning, Pat Riley and the front office began this free agency period with a splash by completing a sign-and-trade deal for Toronto Raptors star Kyle Lowry. While already 36 years old, Lowry brings a star point guard to Miami with the point guard making it to numerous All-Star teams throughout his career.
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Lowry brings grit to an already defensive-minded squad that includes the likes of Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo, who the Heat have locked down for the foreseeable future. The addition of PJ Tucker also aids their defensive-minded team, with both Lowry and Tucker bringing championship experience to the young Heat team.
Both Lowry and Tucker can also provide shooting for the team. Lowry is a good long-range shooter and Tucker has been consistent over the last few years from the corner 3. The Heat also retained sharpshooting Duncan Robinson as he was signed to a long-term deal.
While Miami made some great moves, they also lost several players including loyal point guard Goran Dragic, young big Precious Achiuwa, Trevor Ariza, and likely Andre Iguodala; the Heat have improved, and kept their main pieces with lucrative long-term deals.
A team consisting of Lowry, Adebayo, Tucker, Butler, Tyler Herro, Robinson, and Dewayne Dedmon (who signed back with the team) is likely to be a difficult team to play against. While the Heat still has moves to make, it seems the front office is looking at building a team that can make their way back to the NBA Finals and go all the way.
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Only time will tell whether Miami will be able to make their way back to championship glory sooner rather than later; the Heat have improved vastly already and it will be interesting to see how the rest of Free Agency pans out.