Goran Dragic Signs With Nets, But There’s Always Offseason
One of the Miami Heat’s fan favorites, Goran Dragic, recently hit the free-agent market after an unceremonious stint with the Toronto Raptors. After only playing in five games for the Toronto Raptors this season (two starts), Dragic was traded at the deadline for Thaddeus Young.
Swapping with the San Antonio Spurs for Young, Dragic was bought out after the deal with the Raptors and the Spurs was official. This, of course, left him free to sign with whomever he saw fit.
The immediate thought when it all went down was that he would eventually land back in Miami. While that still may be the case, something to touch on a bit later, he has now chosen a new team for the rest of this current season.
Joining one of the teams fighting with the Miami Heat for Eastern Conference supremacy, though the Nets are way down in the standings at the eighth seed and seven games behind the first-place Miami Heat, you can see how this was the choice to go with.
The Nets need another guard capable of getting some offense going, especially while they deal with the inconsistency that has been Kyrie Irving’s in and out nature of play this season.
The Miami Heat always take care of their own. Goran Dragic certainly qualifies and though that won’t be now, there’s always the offseason.
While they should have Ben Simmons active shortly after the All-Star break and while Kevin Durant should be back from injury soon as well, you can never have enough offense but you could also really use some if you are coming off the stretch that the Nets are.
While they did have a huge comeback victory over the Knicks to head to the break and immediately after beating the Kings two days before, they were coming off of an 11-game losing streak prior to the win over the Kings, which featured a close defeat to Miami.
The insertion of more firepower can only be a good thing for them. Dragic certainly is that.
Why couldn’t he have been that for the Miami Heat though? Well, it’s a simple answer.
They have too much right now. It’s not that you can’t always use more, it’s just that they didn’t really have a role to offer him at the moment.
They would have had to reshuffle rotational roles, perhaps throwing off the chemistry and the symbiotic relationship between the Heat’s main guys and the depth that they’ve built up over the course of this year.
It was too risky of a move to make with title hopes this season—real title hopes—and if that’s the reasoning, you can’t argue with it. Goran Dragic would have been a nice addition to the squad, of course.
But it didn’t happen. You always want the best for him, but you don’t want him to win a title this year.
Sorry, Goran. Perhaps, next season though, as there is a better shot for a Miami Heat return then.
