Did Miami Heat Center Secure Roster Spot After Solid Preseason?

The Miami Heat's regular season begins Wednesday when the team hosts the Minnesota Timberwolves. The preseason concluded Friday night and the Heat have until Monday evening to reduce their roster to the 15-player standard contract limit. The Heat made a lot of additions to the new-look roster this offseason, the biggest one obviously being Giannis Antetokounmpo who was brought in as part of one of the biggest blockbuster deals of the decade thus far.

Miami also added a bunch of veterans in subsequent moves to help build out the depth. One signing, in particular, was made to help the frontcourt situation. The Heat signed longtime backup center Nick Richards to a non-guaranteed contract in August. Over the years, he has been one of those players who many expected to take a leap but never did. With that said, he has been a solid rebounder off the bench for his entire career.

The non-guaranteed aspect of his signing was not entirely enthusiastic for his odds as being the backup center, especially when the Heat also brought in Bobby Portis in the blockbuster deal with Milwaukee earlier this summer. Vladislav Goldin is another player who could outperform Richards throughout the season and force Richards to become a trade candidate by the deadline, especially with this lone season under contract. However, Richards has plenty of experience and may have shown enough in training camp to earn the role prior to the regular season.

The Heat would first need to guarantee his contract before the regular season. In the final preseason game, Richards flirted with a double-double, posting nine points, 11 rebounds and three assists in only 18 minutes while even hitting a three-point attempt. Outside of Goldin, along with some Portis minutes, there isn't too much competition when it comes to backup play in the frontcourt. If the Heat are conservative with overloading their stars, especially to begin the season, Richards could come close to receiving 15-17 minutes a night.

Last season, the Heat ranked fourth in the NBA by averaging 46.3 rebounds and had a total rebounding percentage of 49.9 percent. Kel'el Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Norman Powell each averaged north of at least three rebounds a game. However, Ware and Jaquez were sent to Milwaukee in the blockbuster Antetokounmpo deal while Powell signed with the Chicago Bulls in free agency. Their absences leave a void on the rebounding side but with Antetokounmpo, Portis and Richards coming in, the team could find themselves near the top of the league again in terms of rebounding totals.