Over the past few weeks, the Miami Heat have acquired Victor Oladipo, Trevor Ariza, and Nemanja Bjelica. They’re also parted with Kelly Olynyk, Meyers Leonard, Chris Silva, Moe Harkless, and Avery Bradley. While the Heat has strengthened their guard and forward spots, they’re still missing a quality backup, big man. Miami had hopes of signing LaMarcus Aldridge in the buyout, but the forward decided to sign with the Brooklyn Nets.
Precious Achuiwa is currently the backup big behind Bam Adebayo. However, the young big has regressed a bit. And that’s beyond the foul shooting. The Heat have versatile forwards but what happens when Bam has to miss a game? The best choice at the moment is starting Achuiwa but he’s undersized and foul prone. Miami needs a true backup big, one who can start in case Bam is out. The team had that with Kelly Olynyk and Meyers Leonard.
So where does the team go from here?
It might include taking a flier on Demarcus Cousins, who has been sitting on the free agent for a month now. Like Bam, Cousins has the ability to orchestrate the offense from the elbow. He can occasionally shoot the ball from the outside but is in no way a stretch big. There’s also a huge question about his defense. He lacks mobility on that end and that’s not a good fit for the Heat’s switching defense. Other options include Dewayne Dedmon, John Henson, Ian Mahinmi, and Kyle O’Quinn.
With Andre Drummond, LaMarcus Aldridge, and Gorgui Dieng signing elsewhere, options are dwindling for the Heat. They need to act soon.
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