As 2026 free agency begins, a look back at one of Heat's worst additions
As the offseason continues, the Miami Heat are sitting pretty with their shiny new megastar, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and just have to worry about any finishing touches on the roster. There's even talk about bringing back LeBron James, but if there's one thing they shouldn't do, even at the risk of making the relationship awkward early on, is not bringing in Antetokounmpo's friends, with the exception of Jrue Holiday, if somehow they could.
The committee already tried that when Jimmy Butler wanted Kyle Lowry, and the team never got what it was expecting while the stakes were high as they tried to win a championship. They thought they'd get a near All-Star player but he was just a guy. A lot of that is really on them because signs of Lowry being a declining big player were there in his last season in Toronto.
In fairness to the Heat, most of the league didn't have a clue and lots of people covering it were slow on the draw, too.Don't forget that the Heat were picked as the team with the best overall offseason, taking in 47 percent of the GM vote.
Also, don't t be tricked into thinking Lowry's time was more important than it actually was because he was a starter when they went to the Conference Finals and a reserve in the Finals. The result would've been the same if they had any competent playmaker who could guard, and maybe they actually would've won something if the player there could get to the rack.
It puts too much pressure on an offense when the opponent ignores a player to help on catches into the lane. Lowry didn't even make up for it when shooting off the catch, only making 32.6 percent of his open (4-6 feet of space) treys in the 2023 playoffs, and 22.2 percent of wide-open 3-point attempts in the 2022 postseason.
The Heat put themselves in position to listen to Butler because they royally folded drafting Precious Achiuwa the pick before Tyrese Maxey was taken by the Philadelphia 76ers. Just imagine how different things would have been for the Heat with Maxey in Lowry's place because he was already the dynamic shot creator needed at that time.
It was a bad sign from the start that Lowry never got into Heat shape and was given a pass for it becuase he was old and Jimmy Butler's pal. Even worse, he was a bad influence on Butler, who was more with the program until Lowry came along. Don't believe me, ask any reporter who covers the team on site about how Butler started copying Lowry's attitude and how they could isolate themselves from others.
Lowry will proably get into the Hall of Fame, and will be remebered as a Raptor, who helped them become a champion in 2018-19. But in Miami, he didn't live up to the billing on the court and more was needed from him off of it as a leader.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/nba/heat/onsi as As 2026 free agency begins, a look back at one of Heat's worst additions.
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This story was originally published June 27, 2026 at 12:47 PM.