Why a reunion with this former Miami Heat guard makes some sense

Gabe Vincent Miami Heat — Gabe Vincent spent four seasons with the Miami Heat. (Mandatory Credit: David L. Nemec/NBAE via Getty Images)

While the Miami Heat are sweating out LeBron James’ impending decision, they still have work to do after acquiring Giannis Antetokounmpo, and they don’t have much flexibility to work with.

So far, Miami has added just one new name in free agency: Tim Hardaway Jr. As a result, it has just three roster spots available — two of which they must use — and are just $11 million below the first apron hard cap.

Last week, we proposed four current free agents it could pursue. However, a reunion with this former Miami Heat guard for the minimum could make some sense.

The Miami Heat should consider bringing back Gabe Vincent as a last-ditch effort:

According to Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer, Miami is kicking the tires on reuniting with Gabe Vincent.

“Gabe Vincent is someone on their radar to return to Miami as well,” he said, according to Heavy.com’s Alder Almo. “It’s not exactly like we haven’t been able to hear anything out of Miami. They just haven’t done anything outside of the [Tyler] Herro trade, and I do think a lot of their interest is stemming, or a lot of their pause is stemming from their interest in LeBron James.”

Vincent, 30, spent four years in the Miami Heat organization (2019-23) before signing a three-year, $33 million deal with the Los Angeles Lakers. Over that span, Vincent averaged 7.7 points and 2.3 assists on 39.9 percent shooting and 33.9 percent from 3-point range.

The 6-foot-2 became a fan favorite because of his aggressive point-of-attack defense and timely shotmaking. He was more efficient from 3-point range over his final two seasons (35.1 3P%) with Miami. He averaged 12.7 points on 37.8 percent from 3-point range during their NBA Finals run in 2023, including five 20-point performances over their 22-game stretch.

Not long after arriving in Southern California, the seven-year veteran suffered a knee injury and underwent surgery that sidelined him for three months. And he hasn’t been the same since.

In 53 combined games with the Lakers and Hawks last year, he averaged 4.4 points on 34.1 percent shooting from 3-point range. His 3-point shot and point-of-attack defense is closer to what it was pre-injury, but his impact was minimized.

That said, Vincent would give the Heat an extra ballhandler and an underrated passer who could be a slightly above-average 3-point shooter, at best. Vincent would also be decent Dru Smith insurance, given his injury history, with a duplicitious skillset.

At the very least, the former Heat guard should be a last ditch option if they can’t 1.) Address size in frontcourt or 2.) Shore up need for floor spacing. We’ll see how James’ decision factors into how they fill out the remainder of the roster. But if the Heat need to fill one more roster spot come mid-September or so, bringing back Vincent isn’t a bad idea.