2 Miami Heat Players That Won't Be Back Next Season

The Miami Heat fell short of their ultimate goal, falling in five games in the NBA Finals to the Denver Nuggets. Pat Riley will be looking to re-tool the roster this summer to take another run during the Jimmy Butler/Bam Adebayo window. 

We know that legendary Heat forward Udonis Haslem will not be back; he's finally hanging it up after 20 seasons in South Beach. But what about the rest of the roster? It's no doubt going to look a little different next season, with these two key players not expected to be back:

Max Strus

The Heat could be facing an exorbitant luxury tax bill this year, making free agent Max Strus a...luxury they can't afford. Strus is playing out his contract this year at $1.8M, and he'll likely be due a huge raise on the free agent market. The undrafted three-point marksman saw his numbers go down a bit this season, however, as he hit on 35% of his long-range shots (down from 41% last year), and shot it at just 31.9% in the just-concluded playoffs. 

It's likely the Heat will need to unearth another undrafted, low-cost shooter out of nowhere for next season.  

Gabe Vincent

Vincent's contract situation is incredibly similar to Strus', though Vincent, we would argue, has earned himself a much bigger raise. According to one NBA exec, Vincent could get offers on the free agent market in the range of $15M AAV. 

Like Strus, Vincent was making $1.8M on his expiring pact, but he blossomed as a key rotation piece for the Heat this season, filling admirably at point guard for Kyle Lowry, who was no longer able to play big minutes. Vincent averaged 9.4 points in the regular season, and despite a poor finish in the last three games of the Finals, his numbers improved throughout the Heat's playoff run, to 12.7 points, 3.5 assists and 37.8% shooting from three. 

It's going to be mighty expensive for Miami to keep him, and their salary cap situation likely precludes that from happening. 

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