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CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – DECEMBER 19: Lonzo Ball #2 of the Chicago Bulls is seen near the end of the game against the Los Angeles Lakers at the United Center on December 19, 2021 in Chicago, Illinois. The Bulls defeated the Lakers 115-110. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
The march toward media day and training camp is on, but the Miami Heat<\/a> may not be finished with what has already been a wildly successful offseason.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Heat has addressed multiple roster concerns this summer, starting with the need for a legitimate superstar. Miami welcomed Giannis Antetokounmpo<\/a>, and his buddy Bobby Portis<\/a>, from the Milwaukee Bucks<\/a> in a blockbuster trade in June. The team also beefed up its frontcourt depth and added plenty of sharpshooting around its stars.<\/p>\n The final order of business may be to pick up another guard to shore up the backcourt depth behind Davion Mitchell<\/a>. The Heat has been linked to plenty of guards this summer, including Victor Oladipo, Gabe Vincent<\/a>, Ben Simmons<\/a> (before he signed with Sacramento) and Lonzo Ball<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Lonzo Ball an Option for the Miami Heat?<\/p>\n \n While it is true that addressing every area on the roster in a single offseason is often unrealistic, the Heat could walk into late October with a virtually complete roster. But that can only happen if the Heat takes a chance on one of the remaining free agents, including Ball, a former No. 2 pick in the NBA<\/a> Draft.\u00a0<\/p>\n But according to Heat insider Ira Winderman, Ball doesn\u2019t appear to be an option<\/a> for Miami at this time.<\/p>\n A subscriber asked Winderman, \u201cNobody talks about Lonzo Ball being available. He can be the playmaker the Heat need. They can add him on a non-guaranteed contract\u00a0 or two-way, and if they get him back to form, he could be the puzzle piece to get the championship.\u201d<\/p>\n Winderman\u2019s response: \u201cFirst, Lonzo Ball has been in the NBA too long to qualify for a two-way contract, which is limited to those with three or fewer seasons of service. And while the Heat do have an open roster spot, the preferred path for any upgrade at this point likely would be on ready-to-go talent, not necessarily a player who may or may not still have it. Keep in mind that Lonzo has been available to any NBA team since he was dealt by the Cavaliers<\/a> to the Jazz<\/a> in February and then immediately waived.\u201d<\/p>\n Why Not Ball?<\/p>\n The Heat has $2.5 million to spend below the apron, allowing it to hand out one more minimum contract.\u00a0<\/p>\n Ball, who is still just 28, has the skillset the Heat could really use: an unselfish, pass-first point guard who excels in transition. At least that was the case when Ball was at his best.<\/p>\n As many fans have come to understand, Ball\u2019s career has been derailed by injuries. And a whole lot of them.\u00a0<\/p>\n He was once viewed as the future of the Lakers franchise \u2014 Magic<\/a> Johnson even said Ball\u2019s number would get raised to the rafters one day \u2014 but only lasted two seasons. He was, arguably, at his best with the Chicago Bulls<\/a> before major injuries took their toll; Ball was sidelined over 1000 days with severe knee trouble.\u00a0<\/p>\n Maybe a player with that history isn\u2019t the Heat\u2019s cup of tea. After all, Miami has players it hopes to develop, as Winderman has often noted, so taking a chance on someone like Ball or Oladipo, though they may be former stars with proven track records, may not be the move.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tAdel Ahmad<\/a> Adel is a writer with over five years of experience covering the NBA. His work has appeared on various media platforms, both national and local. More about Adel Ahmad<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – DECEMBER 19: Lonzo Ball #2 of the Chicago Bulls is seen near the end…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":392308,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[123,125,124],"class_list":["post-392307","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/392307","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=392307"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/392307\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/392308"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=392307"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=392307"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=392307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/GettyImages-1060559042.jpg\")
GettySACRAMENTO, CA \u2013 NOVEMBER 10: Lonzo Ball #2 of the Los Angeles Lakers<\/a> in action against the Sacramento Kings<\/a> at Golden 1 Center on November 10, 2018 in Sacramento, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw\/Getty Images)\n<\/p>\n