The Miami Heat is coming off one of the busiest weeks of free agency in recent history, securing a total of 13 players for the 2021-22 NBA season.
While NBA teams can have a maximum of 15 standard-contract players on their roster, it’s acceptable to keep that number to 14 players, which is how the Heat operated for most of last season. The only free agent left from the Heat’s 2020-21 season is veteran Udonis Haslem.
Will the 41-year-old forward take the last open spot?
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It’s largely expected for the Heat to retain Haslem with a one-year veteran’s minimum contract. Haslem joined the Heat in 2003 and remains the oldest active player in the NBA. Despite little playing time, he’s found himself a niche role as the team’s leader and mentor.
After the Heat were swept by the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round of the playoffs, Haslem didn’t hesitate to say he’d return for a 19th NBA season. “If I take an offseason, I might as well retire,” Haslem said. “So I don’t have an offseason. Straight from the season, I’m going back into the gym.”
Based on the workout videos shared on his Instagram, Haslem made good on his promise to stay fit and ready this summer.
It Will Be Difficult to Fill the Final Roster Spot With a New Veteran
GettyUdonis Haslem #40 of the Miami Heat looks on before the game between the Milwaukee Bucks and the Miami Heat during Game Two of their Eastern Conference first-round 2020-21 NBA playoff series.
While there’s a strong argument that Haslem should be removed from the active roster and be hired as part of the official coaching team, it must also be noted that finding another skilled veteran to take the bench spot is no easy feat.
Sun Sentinel‘s Ira Winderman surmised, “While several veterans remain available for such spots, there is more to filling out the process than salary and roster space. There also is the reality of seeing potential limited or, possibly, no action. Some veterans can show up, practice hard, and deal with sitting on the end of the bench. Some cannot, and would arrive with greater expectations.”
“Consider that Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, Kyle Lowry, and Duncan Robinson will all claim significant minutes, and that P.J. Tucker and Markieff Morris signed with an expectation of playing time,” Winderman continued. “Then there are Tyler Herro and Dewayne Dedmon, as well as the eventual return of Victor Oladipo. So it comes down to whether a veteran who is added is willing to live the life of 10th man. Some are. Many are not.”
Nemanja Bjelica Hated Being a Bench Warmer in Miami
Case in point, Nemanja Bjelica, who agreed to a one-year deal with the Golden State Warriors this past week, seemed pretty thrilled to leave Miami.
Warriors beat reporter Connor Letourneau tweeted on Friday, “Nemanja Bjelica on last season: ‘I wasn’t injured, I just didn’t play… Sometimes it’s hard to accept that this is a business. Finally, I’m in a winning organization. There is no better place to be than here. There’s no excuses.”
Bjelica also said he didn’t lose any sleep about leaving Miami. “It took less than a minute. I just said yes. I didn’t think one second. To be part of this historic organization is pretty exciting,” Sun Sentinel’s Ira Winderman tweeted.
The 6-foot-10 Serbian native only played 11 games with the Heat after being traded from the Sacramento Kings on March 25. In exchange, Miami sent the Kings Chris Silva and Moe Harkless.
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