Miami Heat's Offseason Dilemma: Finding a Backup Ball-Handler
The Miami Heat have spent the past week methodically crossing items off the offseason checklist. Shooting? Klay Thompson. Size and rim protection? Nick Richards.
One box remains glaringly empty.
Who actually runs the offense in the backcourt when Davion Mitchell sits?
A Roster With One Question Mark
On paper, Mitchell is lined up as Miami’s starting point guard. Behind him, the depth chart bends quickly out of shape. Dru Smith offers another nominal option at the position, but the rest of the guards are wired to score, not steer.
Tim Hardaway Jr., Thompson and Pelle Larsson all operate more naturally off the ball. They space the floor, they finish plays. They don’t organize them.
Miami can lean on Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo as frontcourt hubs, two stars comfortable initiating sets from the elbows and the top of the key. That helps. It doesn’t erase the need for another true ball-handler who can calm a possession, get the team into its stuff and keep the offense from fraying when Mitchell is off the floor or under pressure.
That’s where Ben Simmons suddenly becomes more than a curiosity.
The Ben Simmons Question
Simmons, 30, is trying to drag his career out of the deep freeze after missing all of last season. Sacramento Kings general manager Scott Perry flew to Florida this week to watch the former No. 1 pick work out, according to Sactown Sports 1140’s Carmichael Dave. Dave later relayed that someone in the gym said Simmons “looked fantastic.”
For Miami, that kind of report is enough to justify a closer look. Especially at the veteran minimum.
This is exactly the type of calculated gamble the Heat have long been willing to make on the margins of the roster. Low cost, high variance, and a coaching staff that tends to squeeze value out of misfit pieces.
No one in Miami should be chasing the three-time All-Star version of Simmons from his Philadelphia days. That player is gone. The injuries, the back issues, the lost rhythm — they’ve all taken a toll.
But the Heat don’t need that version.
They need a defender. A rebounder. A connector who can create.
A Role That Still Fits
Even in his diminished state, Simmons remains one of the league’s strangest matchups. At 6-foot-10 with guard instincts, he still sees passes most players at his size don’t. In his last NBA season, split between the Brooklyn Nets and Los Angeles Clippers in 2024-25, he averaged 5.0 points, 5.6 assists and 4.7 rebounds over 51 games.
The jumper remains the elephant in the room. It helped drive his decline and still demands careful lineup construction. Throwing Simmons on the floor with Antetokounmpo and Adebayo for long stretches would compress the court to uncomfortable levels, inviting defenses to crowd the paint.
But Miami’s shooting has changed the equation.
Thompson gives Erik Spoelstra one of the greatest shooters the league has ever seen. Hardaway, Andrew Wiggins and Simone Fontecchio stack up more perimeter threats around the stars. Richards, meanwhile, offers a traditional center behind Adebayo, freeing Miami from the temptation to use Simmons as a small-ball 5 out of necessity.
Spoelstra could instead cast him in a role that makes sense at this stage of his career: second-unit initiator, point forward, and switchable defender who can guard up and down the lineup.
That’s the role this roster still lacks.
Richards’ Arrival Shifts the Math
Richards’ signing did more than just shore up the frontcourt. It changed how Miami can think about its final roster spot.
Before the deal, the Heat were hunting for another big. Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reported that Miami wanted to use its 14th spot on a power forward or center, with Richards high on the list of targets.
That need is now covered.
Spot No. 15 can be something different. A swing.
Around Antetokounmpo and Adebayo, the team has already been reshaped. Thompson brings championship pedigree and elite shooting. Richards brings length and rebounding. The glaring weakness that remains is a steady secondary ball-handler who can keep the offense functional when Mitchell rests or struggles.
Simmons checks that specific box, at least on paper.
The risk is obvious. Back problems derailed his career, and he hasn’t played an NBA game since 2025. He told Men’s Health that nerve pain pushed him to step away before he began this latest comeback attempt in the summer.
There’s also the market to consider. If the Florida workout really was as encouraging as advertised, Sacramento’s interest won’t be isolated. The Kings are searching for veteran point-guard help behind rookie Darius Acuff Jr., a situation that could offer Simmons a clearer path to minutes and a larger role.
Miami’s pitch would be different.
A defined supporting role on a contender. A coaching staff with a track record of unlocking unconventional players. A roster, balanced by the addition of Richards, that can absorb the gamble.
For the veteran minimum, Simmons’ blend of size, defense and playmaking is exactly the kind of upside play the Heat have built an identity around. The question now is simple:
Are they willing to take that swing one more time?
