Former Miami Heat guard Gabe Vincent reportedly rejected the New York Knicks to hold out for a Miami return, gambling on a final roster spot despite the Heat’s hesitation to extend an offer.
The Miami Heat are just about wrapped up with their offseason moves. They made one of the biggest moves of the offseason by sending four players and picks for Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bobby Portis of the Milwaukee Bucks. In just the last couple of weeks, they signed Klay Thompson and Nick Richards while also bringing in Tim Hardaway Jr. on a one-year deal earlier this offseason. Now, there is one remaining roster spot available. Miami could opt to hold that spot open for flexibility purposes for later on this season or they could add someone to fill it. If the latter is the direction they go, one name has been floated around for the last number of weeks.
Gabe Vincent has been sitting in unrestricted free agency for the last couple of months and is interested in reuniting with the Heat. However, the Heat have reportedly not offered a contract to the veteran for a reunion despite All-Star Bam Adebayo advocating for the guard's return to the franchise. Even with the guard not having an offer from the franchise, he is still holding out hope for a reunion and recently turned down an opportunity to join the New York Knicks, according to NBA insider Marc Stein.
The Knicks just won their first NBA title since 1973 and over the last week, the franchise added multiple veterans including John Konchar, Bruce Brown Jr. and James Wiseman on training camp deals. Vincent could have been another name added to the list but with the Heat's lack of backup guard play, he seemingly remains optimistic Miami will reach out to him in the coming weeks before the start of the preseason. Vincent. 30, is not the same player he was during the 2023 playoff run where he fully broke out but has familiarity with the city and Erik Spoelstra's system.
The Heat could certainly use another point guard behind Davion Mitchell. To make Adebayo happy, this could be a strong decision by the Heat front office if they decide to go this route. Keeping your star players content is one of the most important things to do as a franchise and to fill the 15th roster spot, there are far worse options than a guard who has experience playing under Spoelstra. That roster spot presumably would not earn a ton of minutes unless the team becomes decimated by injuries. Maybe give him a training camp contract and see if he can beat out Dru Smith for a spot?
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