3 players who won’t be back next season

The Miami Heat were one win away from reaching the NBA Finals for the second time in three years. Here are three players who won’t be back next season.

That intense heat ended the regular season with the best record in the entire Eastern Conference. They beat the Atlanta Hawks and the Philadelphia 76ers and secured a place in the Conference Finals where they faced off against the Boston Celtics. If they won the series, they would reach the NBA Finals for the second time in three years.

Instead the heat fell in Game 7 against the Celtics 100-96 eliminated from the playoffs. This came after Jimmy Butler helped the team tie the streak with a Game 6 win. But the team just wasn’t good enough for another win.

This offseason, the Heat have to live with the fact that they came close to securing a place in the Finals. With one thing clear, they need to bring in another goalscorer to help Butler so he doesn’t have to single-handedly carry the team at crucial stretches of the campaign.

That means there could be some players not returning for the 2022-23 season. Here are three who may have played their last season with the Heat.

Markieff Morris

Last offseason, Markieff Morris signed a one-year deal with the Heat after playing for the Los Angeles Lakers. His 2021/22 season was limited after suffering a neck injury in November and he would not return to the pitch until March.

During the season, Morris averaged 7.6 points and 2.6 rebounds while averaging a 47.4 field goal percentage in 17 games. When the playoffs came, Morris only played three minutes, all in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals against Philadelphia.

Given the team’s off-season needs, it’s very likely Morris will play elsewhere next season.

Dewayne Dedmon

The Heat could readjust the mid-low chart behind Bam Adebayo this offseason. One of the backups designated as a free agent is 32-year-old Dewayne Dedmon.

After Miami joined the team late last season, he decided to re-sign Dedmon to a one-year, $2.4 million deal. In 67 regular-season games, he averaged 6.3 points and 5.8 rebounds in 15.9 minutes.

In that playoff run, Dedmon averaged 3.8 points and 3.0 rebounds in 9.9 minutes.

The Heat have a first-round pick in this year’s NBA draft where they could very well draft a center. Considering the Heat are looking to build this season, they may have to leave some players to give them the cash for improvements. In that case, the team could potentially move on from Dedmon.

Victor Oladipo

At the 2021 NBA deadline, the Heat brought Victor Oladipo from the Houston Rockets, but he had knee surgery at the end of the season after four games played. He chose to re-sign with the team on a one-year, $2.4 million deal.

Oladipo would return to the court last March, logging eight regular-season games. Perhaps his best performance of the year came on April 10 against the Orlando Magic, where he scored 40 points and recorded 10 rebounds in the 125-111 loss.

He was active throughout Miami’s playoff run, where he averaged 10.6 points, 3.4 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.3 steals in 15 games. Oladipo averaged a 36.8 field goal percentage during that span.

Oladipo could very well find a team seduced enough to give him a good deal this offseason. If that’s the case, then a return to Miami looks increasingly unlikely.