The Heat gambled on two players no one would touch last season in Greg Oden and Michael Beasley, and neither one paid off in terms of being able to crack a rotation that desperately could have used some assistance.
Oden, of course, had a long history of knee injuries, but a back issue was what reportedly kept him from contributing meaningful minutes.
With Beasley, the problems have been on the mental side for quite some time. He was given too much too soon in Phoenix, and off the court troubles caused the Suns to waive him in early September. Beasley came into the league with the Heat, however, so the organization was comfortable in giving him a second shot since Erik Spoelstra and Dwyane Wade were there during the original stint.
But while Beasley appeared in 55 regular season contests, he played just six total minutes during Miami’s run to the Finals, before a 17-minute outing in Game 5 once the championship had already been lost. It was his lack of focus, more than anything, that caused the organization to lose trust.
From Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe:
Beasley might indeed get that one-year deal, mainly because teams always believe that their situation could be the right one to turn a player’s career around, and get that level of production that once seemed so promising. But it won’t be because of anything he did in Miami to instill even a modicum of confidence.