The Miami Heat haven’t had a great summer.
After re-signing Hassan Whiteside to a big contract, they ended up getting into a tough negotiation process with Dwyane Wade and lost him for nothing. They’ve had to settle on a combination of Dion Waiters, Wayne Ellington and Tyler Johnson as alternative options, which may be better down the road for the organization but it’s also tougher to sell to the fan base now. They’ve also had some frustrations with the return process of Chris Bosh from his serious blood clot issues the past two seasons.
The bad news and trouble keep coming for the Heat. Shams Charania of The Vertical is reporting Heat guard Josh Richardson has a partially torn MCL in his right knee and will be out indefinitely. The timetable for his return is based on the rehab process for Richardson, so we’ll know more about it at a later time.
Toward the second half of Richardson’s rookie season in 2015-16, the second-round pick looked to be a gem and a steal for Pat Riley and the organization. The 40th pick in the 2015 draft averaged 6.6 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 21.3 minutes. His defense was a huge part of the Heat’s second-unit success defensively, and the guard who shot just 31.8 percent from 3-point range in four seasons at Tennessee knocked down 46.1 percent of his 3-pointers as a rookie. It wasn’t a small sample either with him taking 115 total 3-pointers despite coming on late in the season and playing only 52 games.
He wasn’t going to be a starter this season (most likely) but his ability to switch between two or three positions, defend all over the floor, and stretch the court for a team that needs 3-point shooting will be sorely missed if this drags into the regular season. Training camp for all NBA teams is about three weeks away.
Courtesy: CBS Sports
