The Miami Heat are one of four NBA teams — along with the Boston Celtics, Sacramento Kings and Golden State Warriors — that are eyeing 2019 first-round pick Nassir Little.
Free agent wing Nassir Little has/had workouts with the Boston Celtics, Golden State Warriors, Miami Heat and Sacramento Kings, a league source told @spotrac.
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) September 16, 2024
Little played 45 games (two starts) with the Phoenix Suns in the 2023-24 regular season and averaged 3.4 points, 1.7 rebounds and 0.5 assists per contest. He also shot 46.0 percent from the field and 30.0 percent from 3-point range in that span.
Before his one-season stint as a member of the Suns, Little spent the first four seasons of his career playing for the Portland Trail Blazers, the team that drafted him back in 2019.
He carved out what was maybe his best season with the Trail Blazers and in the NBA to date in his third season in Portland. He averaged career-highs in points (9.8), rebounds (5.6) and assists (1.3) while shooting 46.0 percent from the floor and 33.1 percent from 3-point range during the 2021-22 regular season.
The Heat are in a different position than the other three teams that have reportedly expressed interest in signing Little.
The Celtics are at the top of the NBA world at the moment, as the team is fresh off winning the 2024 title and cruised through the 2024 NBA Playoffs. The Warriors have a dynasty that is seemingly on its last leg after the team didn’t even qualify for the 2024 NBA Playoffs, and the Kings missed out on the playoffs as well after they won 46 of their 82 games in the regular season.
The Heat already have plenty of depth at the small forward position too with the likes of Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Duncan Robinson on the roster. But Little could be a quality safety blanket that the team could turn to to step in and play effective minutes for Erik Spoelstra if one of Jaquez or Robinson go down with an injury.
With any luck, Little will end up signing with the Heat and join a team that is hoping to carve out a deeper playoff run after it got eliminated in the first round of the 2024 NBA Playoffs.
