Miami Heat vice president of basketball operations and assistant general manager Adam Simon believes that the roster will change in this coming offseason.
Miami has the No. 15 overall pick in the first round of the 2024 NBA Draft and No. 43 selection in the second round of the draft, picks that Simon believes the team will use to take the best player available.
“I’m not drafting for the team we have,” Simon said. “I’m going to recommend the players one through 15, one through 58, based on who I think the best players are. Our roster changes. Our roster could change this summer. Our roster will change. It’s just inevitable, free agents, whether some players are with us in two years, three years, five years, 15 years.
“So the last thing I want to do is we pass on a player who was better because we took a player based on need.”
Naturally, Miami’s roster may change just based on some players that are set to hit free agency.
Caleb Martin, Kevin Love, Josh Richardson and Thomas Bryant all have player options for the 2024-25 season that they could decline to hit unrestricted free agency.
Martin will likely be highly sought-after in the market – if he chooses to enter – with one rival front office official believing that he could get a deal near $13 million per season in the offseason.
Haywood Highsmith, who is set to become a restricted free agent, is also a player that could end up leaving Miami’s roster this coming offseason.
For Simon and the front office, it will be key to replenish the roster – or bring some of these players back – if the Heat want to compete for an NBA title in the 2024-25 season.
Miami’s core was ravaged during the offseason following the 2022-23 campaign, as Gabe Vincent signed with the Los Angeles Lakers and Max Strus was sent to the Cleveland Cavaliers in a sign-and-trade.
That forced the Heat to change their rotation, turning to young players like Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Nikola Jovic. In addition, the Heat added veterans like Bryant and Richardson in free agency.
Miami’s financial flexibility is a little more limited than expected entering this offseason after it orchestrated a trade for Terry Rozier during the 2023-24 season. Originally, Miami would have had Kyle Lowry’s contract coming off the books, but since he was moved in the trade, the Heat now have Rozier under contract for the next two seasons.
Simon and president Pat Riley will have their work cut out for them to build the best roster possible around Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo for next season.
