Despite coming into this offseason already above the tax line, the Miami Heat are among the most talked about teams as free agency approaches. That is in part due to them patiently waiting for Damian Lillard to potentially come available on the trade market, but also because they will see a pair of key contributors to their Finals run last year hit the market.
Gabe Vincent and Max Strus are in line for big paydays this summer after strong performances in the playoffs, and it seems unlikely that both will be back in Miami next season. Strus is the most likely to leave, as he figures to have lots of interest from the numerous teams looking to upgrade their wing depth with more shooting, as Jake Fischer of Yahoo indicates Indiana, Orlando, Detroit, and Cleveland all figure to pursue Strus at the full mid-level or above.
Vincent returning is very much in the cards, depending on how the point guard market elsewhere shakes out, but in terms of external roster upgrades for Miami, Fischer noted a somewhat surprising potential Heat target he’s heard rumblings about: Christian Wood.
Wood is coming off of a year in Dallas where he posted strong offensive production — 16.6 points and 7.3 rebounds per game on 51.5/37.6/77.2 shooting splits — but he was not trusted at all by Jason Kidd on the defensive end, which limited him to 25.9 minutes per game. As such, Wood doesn’t exactly fit the mold as a “Heat Culture” guy, but his offensive skillset is tantalizing for a team that could use more scoring punch from their frontcourt and severely lacks depth behind Bam Adebayo. It would be quite the bet by the Heat that their program can get the most out of Wood and keep him engaged on both ends, but if his value is so low that he’d be available at the kind of number Miami can afford this summer, it might be a high-upside flyer for a Heat team without many real options to upgrade their roster on the free agent market.
