The Miami Heat were looking to make significant upgrades during NBA free agency as they plan to sign the likes of Kyle Lowry, Luol Deng, Marcin Gortat and others. Gortat and Lowry are gone now, and Deng isn't very likely to join South Beach either.
The Heat are now targeting former New Orleans Pelicans forward Anthony Morrow now, ESPN's Marc Stein reports:
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The Orlando Magic were also reportedly targeting Morrow until signing Ben Gordon to a two-year contract. The Oklahoma City Thunder are the only other team interested in Morrow, Stein reports.
https://twitter.com/ESPNSteinLine/status/484787428608458752
The Thunder have basically been interested in the same type of free agents Miami has been. Both squads are looking to upgrade so they can get back to the NBA Finals.
For Pat Riley and the Heat, though, they now see the writing on the wall that they likely have to go back to what they've been doing the past four years: targeting veterans for cheap.
https://twitter.com/ESPNSteinLine/status/484788696932048898
The Heat could have easily gotten guys like Ben Gordon, Avery Bradley and Jodie Meeks. But the market this year has these players getting paid pretty high.
I mean, Gordon is going to get paid about $5 million a year! Bradley is getting $8 million and Meeks is getting about $6 million. About two or three years ago, people would have mocked at that.
It is why the Heat have to go back to the old drawing board and sign scrubs and old veterans. Luckily for them, Morrow is not entirely someone you'd call a veteran or scrub.
Morrow is 28 and is coming a season where he averaged 8.4 points per game. He was much more successful for the first few seasons of his six-year career until he regressed in the 2012-13 season with the Dallas Mavericks and Atlanta Hawks.
Morrow improved this year with the Pelicans. With more playing time, he can look like the Anthony Morrow of old that was averaging around 13 points per game along with being a solid 3-point shooting threat.
But is this even enough for LeBron to stay? Adding guys like Morrow won't turn the Heat into a team that can beat the likes of the San Antonio Spurs they got destroyed by.
It's one of the many reasons why James isn't on the same page with the Heat Big Three as well as why he's already looking at other teams that are interested in him.
