Miami Heat Appear To Be Going All-In On Promising Newcomer

The Miami Heat had a successful but not spectacular offseason in free agency. They picked up Norman Powell from the Los Angeles Clippers, brought back Davion Mitchell for another season and added ex-Detroit Pistons forward Simone Fontecchio.

The Heat are apparently going all-in on Fontecchio after viewing him as a trade bait when he was signed. According to The Stein Line, that was the plan until Fontecchio caught the eyes of the coaching staff during EuroBasket play. He scored 39 points for Italy against Bosnia.

The Stein Line wrote: "There were some strong rumbles last month that Miami was looking to offload Fontecchio. But that was before the Haywood Highsmith-to-Brooklyn trade that gave the Heat some financial wiggle room under the luxury tax ... and before Fontecchio delivered a reminder of his shooting prowess with those seven 3s Sunday. The performance was a strong bounce-back for Fontecchio after his 1-for-11 shooting against Greece."

Fontecchio has shown glimpses of becoming a solid player. After being traded from the Utah Jazz in the 2023-24 season, he averaged 15.4 points in 16 games with the Pistons. The Heat would surely welcome that player.

SPO PUT IN RARE NBA COMANY

While many credit the franchise's cornerstone players, Erik Spoelstra has been essential to the Miami Heat’s success.

To continue CBS Sports’ quarter-century rankings, they voted Spoelstra as the third-best coach since 2000 behind Phil Jackson and Gregg Popovich. Despite not winning as many championships, they broke down why they believe he was voted higher than Steve Kerr’s dominant run with the Golden State Warriors.

“Jackson faced stiff competition for the second-place spot,” the article wrote. “Steve Kerr, Erik Spoelstra, and Rick Carlisle all received votes. Once again, the coach with more championships lost out in the voting. Kerr has four, but lost to two-time champion Spoelstra. The difference between the two is that Spoelstra has succeeded with multiple rosters, whereas Kerr has always had Curry as his core player.”

Ever since he replaced Pat Riley as the head coach in 2008, Spoelstra has led the Heat to six Eastern Conference championships and two NBA championships. While many attribute most of his early success to being part of the Big Three Heat era alongside LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh, he showcased the importance of great coaching during the Jimmy Butler years. While they didn’t win a championship, no other coach in NBA history has led a team to the finals with as many undrafted players as Spoelstra, who did it twice.

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