The Miami Heat and Philadelphia 76ers were two of the teams to have strong showings during free agency
The Miami Heat had an fantastic offseason by signing former Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo.
It caused many folks to question if the Heat had the best effort during the NBA free agency season. According to The Athletic, the Heat had the second best behind the Philadelphia 76ers.
Here's what The Athletic wrote: “Pat Riley never flinches. He hunts stars... Miami bagged the Greek Freak to reset the Heat as legit contenders... Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo will be a terror defensively... Spo, though, always figures out the best way to use whatever he's got every season. He'll do so again.”
The Heat had bigger plans with hopes of landing LeBron James after he decided to leave the Los Angeles Lakers last month. Despite many reports saying James was a favorite to land with the Heat, he decided to sign with the Philadelphia 76ers.
While a James pairing with Heat stars Bam Adebayo and Antetokounmpo would have been great, he may have made the right decision. The 76ers now have one of the best starting lineups in NBA history after adding James.
Let's look at it:
Center Joel Embiid
Forward LeBron James
Forward Jaylen Brown
Guard Tyrese Maxey
Guard VJ Edgecombe
The good news for the Heat is they still have time to make another move. The bad news is it may be too late for anything to happen. Once the James made his decision, the Heat began scrambling.
Now, they are trying to find another superstar to pair alongside Antetokounmpo and Adebayo. Among the limited possibilities are DeMar DeRozan, Klay Thompson and Bradley Beal.
These are all players who the Heat had interest in before but now all of them are perhaps past their prime. DeRozan may be the best option because he still averaged 18 points last year with the Sacramento Kings.
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Shandel Richardson is the publisher of HeatRoundtable. He can be reached at [email protected]
