Why Miami Heat Reportedly Passed On Ben Simmons Despite Point Guard Depth Concerns
· Yahoo Sports
The Miami Heat were among the teams Ben Simmons was interested in joining before agreeing to a one-year, $3.5 million deal with the Sacramento Kings. But the Heat reportedly passed on signing him despite their current priority of adding point guard depth.
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According to Ira Winderman, the veteran senior writer with the Sun Sentinel, the Miami Heat turned down Ben Simmons because he is no longer a proven win-now player.
“At a certain point, a team in win-now mode has to draw a valuation line between players who can be developed/reclaimed and those needed to be able to contribute in the moment, without questions of whether they are healthy enough or still skilled enough.”
“In the development bucket, the Heat have Ryan Conwell, Myron Gardner, Tre Donaldson and even, still, Nikola Jovic and Pelle Larsson. So adding an unknown quantity would have meant going without, say, a Nick Richards or Klay Thompson or Tim Hardaway Jr,” Winderman explained in his latest report.
“The Kings make all the sense for Ben Simmons, and he makes all the sense for them. There is no pressure to produce in Sacramento, but rather to begin a potential climb back to relevance.”
“And if Ben can make it back to something close to the best of his healthy, contributing self, there will be more to consider down the road,” Winderman wrote.
The three-time All-Star last played in the NBA two years ago, when he averaged 5.6 assists, 5.0 points, and 4.7 rebounds on 52.0% shooting. Which is nowhere close to what he was capable of doing in his prime.
The Miami Heat currently have 14 players on their roster and approximately $2.5 million in salary cap space before they enter the first apron. But as Winderman mentioned, young players like Tre Donaldson, who is currently on a two-way contract, could earn that final roster spot through his development.
Notably, the Heat decided against signing Ben Simmons despite lacking strong point-guard depth behind Davion Mitchell. Questions have been raised about the Miami Heat’s championship contention because of the lack of depth behind Mitchell.
“Because of depth. No one is questioning that Davion Mitchell has earned and is capable of holding a spot in the Heat’s rotation. The questions are whether there is enough depth alongside him at the position.”
“So is Dru Smith an effective enough backup? And does there have to be more than two-way player Tre Donaldson beyond those two, in case of injury? Davion Mitchell is not the question at point guard. The question is what is alongside him and whether it is enough for a contender,” Winderman later clarified.
Other than Donaldson (two-way), the only other point guard options for the Heat are Ryan Conwell and Dru Smith, both of whom have a combined salary of less than $4 million. So the main question isn’t Davion Mitchell’s viability as a starting point guard, but the depth the roster has for when Mitchell needs to be benched.
In the 70 games that Mitchell started for the Heat in 2025-26, he averaged 9.3 points, 6.5 assists, and 2.7 rebounds while shooting 49.0% from the field and 39.5% from behind the three-point line.
He can clearly play a role as Josh Hart did on the Knicks in the 2026 NBA championship run. But the question now for the Heat is whether they have a bench player like Landry Shamet was on New York’s championship roster to take their guard depth to the next level.
According to initial reports, if needed, the Heat would continue to play with 14 players and have some roster flexibility before a potential postseason run in 2027. So we could see them go into the season with the current roster as is.
If the Heat have passed on Ben Simmons, with alternative potential targets like Victor Oladipo and Gabe Vincent still available for a return to Miami, it will certainly be fascinating to see who they use the final roster spot on through the season, if they do.