Signed! Officially joining the Heat! A 42-point sharpshooter partners with Giannis

Here he comes, the shooter has arrived.

Tim Hardaway Jr. has reached a one-year, $6.5 million deal with the Miami Heat, last season playing for the Denver Nuggets. In the regular season, he appeared in 80 games with 6 starts, averaging 26.6 minutes, 13.5 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 1.4 assists, hitting 2.8 three-pointers per game at 40.7% accuracy. In this year's playoffs, he averaged 23.3 minutes, 10.8 points, and 3.3 rebounds, making 1.3 three-pointers per game at 34.8% shooting.

Born on March 16, 1992, standing 1.96m tall with a 2.01m wingspan, he was the 24th pick in the first round of the 2013 draft. In April 2021, he exploded for 42 points in a single game against the Pistons. A high-volume, high-quality sharpshooter, he can definitely create space for Giannis and Adebayo.

Salary expert Bobby Marks commented: After signing Tim Hardaway Jr., the Heat still have 3 to 4 roster spots left, with only $11.5 million in salary cap space remaining.

It seems the Heat are likely to miss out on bringing back LeBron James...

Back on topic, the Heat have been targeting cheap and effective shooters throughout free agency. Bringing in just Tim Hardaway Jr. isn't enough; Middleton is the other name mentioned most frequently as a target.

Now 34 years old, Middleton is a completely unrestricted free agent. Last season, he played 29 games for the Dallas Mavericks with 16 starts, averaging 21.1 minutes, 10.0 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 2.2 assists, while hitting 1.2 three-pointers per game at 39.1%. He and Giannis led the Milwaukee Bucks to an NBA championship in the 2020-21 season.

Reporter Jim Owczarski revealed:Middleton is known as Giannis's confidant, the only teammate who has earned the full trust of the Greek Freak, and even dares to offer sharp criticism of Giannis's on-court performance.

In short, the Heat have no reason not to sign Middleton, unless the former three-time All-Star guard demands too high a price, or he has a better option elsewhere.

Speaking of which, is there any chance the Heat could acquire Thompson from the Mavericks? He is in the final year of his contract next season, earning $17.46 million, and is desperately chasing his fifth career NBA championship.