Scouts assess Heat’s options, Penny Hardaway dishes on Achiuwa and Miami’s Dragic gesture
When teams are permitted to begin speaking with free agents on Friday evening, the Miami Heat figures to approach some of the top unrestricted free agents and see if any would be amenable to taking its $9.3 million midlevel exception.
That top free agent group includes Danilo Gallinari, Serge Ibaka, Montrezl Harrell, Fred Van Vleet, Joe Harris, Davis Bertans, Christian Wood and Jerami Grant.
The odds are against Miami landing any of those. Though they have interest in Gallinari, the Ringer reports he could be headed to Atlanta.
What if the Heat cannot land Gallinari or the other aforementioned high-end players? I asked two scouts who then should be Plan B with Miami’s midlevel exception. This question was posed to the two scouts before the Heat selected Memphis power forward/center Precious Achiuwa with its first-round pick Wednesday.
Here’s what the first scout said, keeping in mind that some of these players would warrant only a portion of the midlevel exception:
“To me, [Phoenix center] Aaron Baynes would be a nice choice. If he’s your second or third big, you’re in good shape. If you have Baynes and Kelly Olynyk [behind Bam Adebayo in the power rotation], you are ahead of the game. Baynes has improved his shooting a lot, is smart, can defend big guys, sets great picks. He’s a tough guy, fits right in culturally. I would recommend him; he would be one of the first people I would call.
“Marcus Morris is not a bad option if you want more shooting. He can’t guard threes [small forwards], but he plays not only four [power forward], but some five [center] too.
“Paul Millsap would be fine, too. To me that would be a viable option. He showed he had a little left this season. He’s not a great shooter, but he can help you, probably off the bench.”
The other scout said Baynes, Morris or Millsap would all be fine, but he would also put 6-6 shooting guard Glenn Robinson III high on his list if he worked for the Heat.
Robinson averaged 11.7 points and shot 39.1 percent on threes for the Warriors and 76ers last season.
“Robinson fits their system, has length, versatility, shooting, and I think Miami could get more out of him than some teams have,” the scout said.
That scout also suggested Utah shooting guard Jordan Clarkson, a proven bench scorer who could have numerous suitors after averaging 15.2 points and shooting 36.8 percent on threes last season. The Jazz wants to keep him.
Both scouts said Miami should look hard at Derrick Favors if he’s willing to take the midlevel, though that would be position overlap with Achiuwa. One scout said Favors “can supplement what they have with rebounding and screen setting.”
What about center DeMarcus Cousins, who has played in 78 games since 2017?
Both scouts said it’s worth considering but “personality issues” and obviously the injury history would give them pause, and the full midlevel would be excessive at this point in his career.
Some other unrestricted free agent names that were mentioned by one of the scouts: Thunder center Nerlens Noel (7.4 points, 4.9 rebounds for OKC but has never made a three-pointer); Milwaukee guard Wes Matthews (7.4 points, 36.4 percent on threes in 67 starts for Bucks, and players shot only 40.2 percent against him) and Detroit’s Wood (13.1 points, 6.3 rebounds, could get more than midlevel somewhere).
The Heat is believed to have some interest in Matthews, with the Lakers among potential suitors. But the second scout said he would be leery of Matthews: “He’s been on the decline the last couple of years.”
With a defensively-skilled big having been added in the draft, adding a wing with the midlevel exception — or a stretch power forward — would make the most sense to me.
The other wings available in unrestricted free agency: Garrett Temple, Austin Rivers, Rodney Hood, Avery Bradley, DeMarre Carroll, Langston Galloway, Brandon Knight, Jordan McCrae, Justin Holiday, Reggie Jackson, Josh Jackson, Jeff Teague, E’Twaun Moore, D.J. Augustin, Elfrid Payton, Wayne Ellington, Michael Carter-Williams, Alec Burks, Kent Bazemore, Bryn Forbes, Marco Bellinelli, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Emmanuel Mudiay and Shabazz Napier.
To me, among wing players, Clarkson, Robinson, Temple, Rivers, Hood, Matthews, Bradley and Moore make a lot of sense for Miami from that list.
Other unrestricted power rotation players who will be available beginning Friday night: Bismack Biyombo, Tristan Thompson (could end up rejoining LeBron James with the Lakers), Mason Plumlee, Jeff Green, Patrick Patterson, JaVale McGee, Markieff Morris, Jahlil Okafor, Bobby Portis, Mo Harkless, Marc Gasol and Ian Mahinmi.
Keep in mind that the Heat will be about $45 million below the tax line, giving Miami enough space to re-sign Goran Dragic and Crowder (while staying over the cap and using their Bird Rights), use its full midlevel exception and likely have a bit left over. But Miami likely will stay a few million under the tax line to give itself a cushion should an opportunity arise to trade for a high-end player during the season.
PENNY HARDAWAY ON ACHIUWA
University of Memphis coach Penny Hardaway played in only 16 games with the Heat in his final NBA season, but he spent enough time with the organization to know it’s the right place for first-round pick Precious Achiuwa.
“When Precious got chosen by the Miami Heat, I was so excited for him because I’ve played in that organization,” Hardaway said during a Friday morning appearance on 790 The Ticket’s Tobin & Leroy show. “First-class organization, he’s built for that culture by being serious, by being tough, by being tough minded mentally. Nothing is going to break him.
“He can guard one through five. It’s a defensive franchise, they want you to go out there and defend and knock people down and be nasty. That’s what he can do. And he’s very athletic, he’s very fast. When he got chosen by the Heat, man, that’s the one team that he needed to get chosen by.”
The Heat selected the Achiuwa with the 20th pick in the first round of Wednesday’s draft.
Achiuwa (6-9, 225), who turned 21 in September, averaged 15.8 points while shooting 49.3 percent from the field and 13 of 40 on threes, 10.8 rebounds, one assist and 1.9 blocks as a freshman at Memphis last season. He won American Athletic Conference Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year honors.
“I’ve spoken to him about the culture,” Hardaway said. “It’s the best culture that I’ve seen on that level because coach [Pat] Riley and coach [Erik Spoelstra] hold you accountable with every single thing that you do. They love on you and they treat you like you’re supposed to be treated. But when it comes to the work, there are no exceptions. There’s no mediocrity anywhere. He’s ready for that. He’s a mature kid.”
What is Achiuwa’s NBA potential?
“I think he can definitely evolve into a Defensive Player of the Year,” Hardaway said. “Then he can be more of a Bruce Bowen-type player, where he can knock down treys but then stop the other team’s best player. He’ll definitely work and grind to get to that point.
“He will be a spot-up shooter that can knock down open shots at a high clip at some point in his career because he just works so hard. But his ceiling is All-Star on the defensive level, being the best defensive player in the Eastern Conference in the NBA. He’ll thrive with that because he can guard one through five. He can move his feet and he can be that guy.”
▪ It’s no secret the Heat wants free agent guard Goran Dragic back.
But the organization is making sure Dragic knows just how much it wants to re-sign him when free agent negotiations open Friday at 6 p.m. by taking out three billboards in his home country of Slovenia that show its appreciation for him.
One of the billboards read (translated from Slovenian to English): “Your other family is always with you.” Dragic has spent most of the offseason in Slovenia.
▪ The NBA announced Friday that Heat owner Micky Arison is among five team governors who have joined five players and two coaches as the inaugural board members of the National Basketball Social Justice Coalition.
The National Basketball Social Justice Coalition was created as an organization that will lead the NBA family’s collective efforts to advance equality and social justice.
Here’s our Thursday night piece with more Heat free agent nuggets.
This story was originally published November 20, 2020 at 10:48 AM.
