Miami Heat's Offseason: The Final Roster Puzzle Piece
The Miami Heat have spent the past week crossing items off the offseason checklist with ruthless efficiency.
Klay Thompson? Shooting and championship pedigree.
Nick Richards? Size, rim protection, a real backup 5.
One box remains unchecked — and it’s the one that can’t be hidden in May and June.
Who runs the offense when Davion Mitchell doesn’t?
A Roster With One Question Mark
Right now, Mitchell projects as the starting point guard. Behind him, the depth chart bends quickly out of shape.
Dru Smith can handle some of the load, but he’s still more stopgap than solution. Thompson, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Pelle Larsson are built to work off the ball. They finish possessions, they don’t organize them. Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo can initiate from the frontcourt, but asking them to constantly manufacture structure from the elbows and the high post is a heavy tax over 82 games.
Miami still lacks one more trusted ball-handler. Someone who can get the team into sets, steady second units and keep the offense from fraying when Mitchell sits.
That’s where Ben Simmons enters the conversation.
The Ben Simmons Gamble
Simmons, 30, is trying to drag his career out of the injury wilderness after sitting out last season. Sacramento Kings general manager Scott Perry flew to Florida this week to watch the former No. 1 pick work out, according to Sactown Sports 1140’s Carmichael Dave. The early review from someone in the gym: Simmons “looked fantastic.”
That word travels fast in a league always hunting for value.
For Miami, he represents exactly the kind of calculated risk that has defined the Pat Riley era. On a veteran minimum deal, the downside is manageable. The upside? A 6-foot-10 playmaker who can still bend a game without taking a jumper.
No one in Miami should be expecting the three-time All-Star version from his Philadelphia days. That player is gone. The explosiveness, the nightly triple-double threat, the franchise centerpiece expectations — all of it belongs to another chapter.
But the Heat don’t need that star. They need a role player with elite tools.
Defend. Rebound. Create.
Fit, Flaws and a Narrow Lane
In his last NBA season, 2024-25, split between the Brooklyn Nets and Los Angeles Clippers, Simmons averaged 5.0 points, 5.6 assists and 4.7 rebounds across 51 games. The box score no longer screams star, but the outline of a high-level connector remains.
The problem hasn’t changed: shooting.
His reluctance to shoot and lack of range helped fuel his decline and still demand careful lineup construction. Put Simmons on the floor with Antetokounmpo and Adebayo for long stretches and the spacing could collapse. Driving lanes close. Help defenders camp in the paint. The margin for error tightens.
But Miami has quietly reshaped its roster to absorb that weakness.
Thompson gives Erik Spoelstra one of the purest shooters the sport has ever seen. Hardaway, Andrew Wiggins and Simone Fontecchio offer more perimeter threats. Richards’ arrival means the Heat finally have a conventional center behind Adebayo, freeing them from using Simmons as a small-ball 5 out of necessity.
Spoelstra, one of the league’s most inventive coaches, could instead deploy Simmons as a second-unit initiator and point forward. Let him grab and go. Let him guard up and down the lineup. Let him run pick-and-rolls with shooters spotted around him and one of Giannis or Bam as a vertical threat.
That role still sits vacant.
Richards Changes the Equation
Richards’ signing did more than shore up the front line. It changed how Miami can think about its final roster spot.
Before he arrived, another big man sat near the top of the wish list. Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reported that the Heat wanted to use their 14th spot on a power forward or center, with Richards high among the candidates.
That need is now addressed.
Slot No. 15 can be something different. A swing at upside instead of insurance.
Around Antetokounmpo and Adebayo, the roster has already taken on a new shape. Thompson brings shooting and playoff scars. Richards brings length and rebounding. The remaining hole is clear: one more creator who can keep the offense from wobbling when Mitchell is on the bench or swallowed by a tough matchup.
Simmons checks that box — if his body holds up.
Risk, Reward and Reality
The risk is real. Back problems derailed his career, and he hasn’t played an NBA game since 2025. He recently told Men’s Health that nerve pain pushed him to step away before this summer’s attempted comeback. Teams don’t forget that kind of medical file.
If his workout in Florida truly impressed, Miami won’t be alone in the chase. Sacramento, searching for veteran stability behind rookie guard Darius Acuff Jr., can offer Simmons a clearer path to minutes and perhaps a larger role.
The Heat counter with something different.
A defined supporting job on a contender. A coaching staff that has a track record of squeezing value out of unconventional, once-doubted players. A roster now balanced enough — thanks to Richards — to absorb a specialist who comes with both limitations and upside.
For the veteran minimum, Simmons offers size, defense and playmaking at a price that matches Miami’s appetite for risk.
The Heat have filled their needs at shooter and center. One question remains: do they trust their culture enough to bet their last roster spot on one of the league’s most complicated talents?
