Guard Goran Dragic seemingly left the door open for a possible return to the Miami Heat in the future in his NBA career.
Dragic started the 2022-23 season with the Chicago Bulls, but he was waived and ended up signing with the Milwaukee Bucks, who are now playing the Heat in the first round of the playoffs.
“Deep down, you’re always hoping,” Dragic said of ending up back with the Heat. “It’s no secret what I feel toward the team and what they mean for me and my family. But the timing was not right, the number and everything. In life, everything has a purpose. So we’ll see.”
He played in 51 games this season in a bench role for the Bulls. The veteran guard averaged 6.4 points, 1.4 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game while shooting 42.5 percent from the field and 35.2 percent from beyond the arc with Chicago before joining Milwaukee.
With the Bucks, Dragic appeared in seven games during the regular season, averaging 5.6 points in 11.9 minutes per game.
A one-time All-Star, Dragic spent several seasons with the Heat and was a part of the team that made the NBA Finals in the 2019-20 season.
The Heat made the tough decision to move on from Dragic in the sign-and-trade deal that brought Kyle Lowry to the Heat from the Toronto Raptors ahead of the 2021-22 season. Dragic has played for the Bulls, Bucks, Raptors and Brooklyn Nets since leaving Miami.
A key player in the Heat’s run to the NBA Finals in the 2019-20 season, Dragic suffered a foot injury that knocked him out for most of that series against the Los Angeles Lakers, and the Heat lost in six games.
The Heat could have made a move for Dragic after he was waived by Chicago, but they opted to roll with their guard rotation featuring Lowry, Gabe Vincent, Tyler Herro and Victor Oladipo.
With Herro now out of the lineup after undergoing surgery, the Heat probably wish they had a veteran like Dragic to use if needed in the rotation.
Dragic will be a free agent in the offseason, so it’s possible he will try to agree to a deal with his former team to finish out his career in South Florida.
Game 3 of the first-round series between the Bucks and Heat is set for Saturday night at Kaseya Center.
