Dragic and Leonard explain decisions to return to Heat, and why there’s ‘unfinished business’

The Miami Heat’s 2020 free agency plan was simple.

“I’d like to run this thing back,” Heat president Pat Riley said last week in advance of free agency.

The Heat wasn’t able to keep the entire 2019-20 roster intact, but most of last season’s team that finished two wins short of an NBA championship will be back, barring a trade.

In the opening minutes of free agent negotiations Friday evening, guard Goran Dragic and center Meyers Leonard agreed to return to Miami. Veteran forward Udonis Haslem also committed to return to the Heat for an 18th NBA season.

“When free agency hit, we pretty much made a quick deal with the Miami Heat,” Dragic said during a Zoom call with reporters on Monday afternoon. “I already knew, and my family, that I wanted to come back. So I was really happy that they wanted me too.”

Leonard said Monday of his decision to return: “Ultimately, I knew in my heart that I wanted to come back to Miami. First of all, it felt like there was unfinished business for our team and for me, because, obviously, going through the ankle injury was not easy, and I feel like I could have helped in many different ways.”

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With Dragic, Haslem and Leonard agreeing to return to the Heat as free agents, Miami is on track to have 12 of the 15 players from its 2019-20 season-ending roster back for this upcoming season. The three who will not return are Jae Crowder (signing with the Phoenix Suns), Solomon Hill (signing with the Atlanta Hawks) and Derrick Jones Jr. (signing with the Portland Trail Blazers).

Dragic’s return is just a continuation of a Heat tenure that began when the Phoenix Suns traded him to the Heat in February 2015. Dragic, 34, is preparing for his seventh season with the Heat and 13th NBA season.

In advance of free agency, the organization took out three billboards in Dragic’s home country of Slovenia — where he spent most of the offseason — with messages of appreciation. Two of the billboards read (in Slovenian): “Your second family is always with you.” The other read [in Slovenian]: “Son of Ljubljana [Dragic’s hometown]. Captain of Miami.”

“When I saw those billboards back home in Slovenia, I was really emotional and I knew this was the right place to be,” Dragic said. “This is my home, and I’m happy to be back.”

Dragic was an important part of the Heat’s winning formula last season, averaging 16.2 points on 44.1 percent shooting, 3.2 rebounds and 5.1 assists as Miami’s sixth man in the regular season.

Dragic then moved into a full-time starting role in the postseason, averaging a team-high 20.9 points on 45.2 percent shooting, to go with 4.2 rebounds and 4.7 assists in the first three rounds of the playoffs before tearing the plantar fascia in his left foot in Game 1 of the NBA Finals.

“That’s a good question. We’ll see,” Dragic said when asked if he’ll be physically ready for the start of training camp in early December. “I still need to go through hard practices and we’ll see how the foot reacts. But we still need to do an MRI and all these things, and we’ll see. But so far I feel good. The pain is over. So I’m walking normally. We’ll see.”

As for returning to a sixth-man role this upcoming season or playing as a starter, Dragic made it clear that “whatever coach needs, whatever this team needs, I’m fine with it. I don’t have problems with either one.”

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Leonard finished his first season with the Heat with regular-season averages of 6.1 points while shooting 50.9 percent from the field and 41.4 percent from three-point range, 5.1 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 51 games.

Before the NBA suspended the season on March 11, Leonard averaged 6.1 points while shooting 52 percent from the field and 42.9 percent on threes, 5.1 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 20.1 minutes through 49 games (49 starts) as a full-time starter for the Heat.

Then Leonard, 28, missed each of the 16 games prior to the league shutdown because of a sprained left ankle, and he was not in the starting lineup or rotation when the Heat’s season resumed in August. Leonard logged just 31 total minutes in three games during the Heat’s 21-game playoff run.

“Because of my ankle I wasn’t able to move and do the things I needed to do,” said Leonard, admitting that his injured ankle contributed to a diminished role when the season restarted. “After some practices, and some of those initial games, I mean it was pretty clear I just wasn’t myself, at the time. And I think to myself, well, if I were healthy, I think maybe there would have been a decrease in minutes, but it wouldn’t have been the way it was.”

Before free agency, Leonard made it known during an interview with the Miami Herald that he was looking for a chance to win a championship and a “significant role” that he defined as “20 to 25 minutes per game whether that’s starting or coming off the bench.”

Did the Heat promise Leonard a consistent role for this upcoming season during free agent negotiations? Not necessarily, with Leonard attributing that pre-free agency comment to “the competitive side of me. I’m not going to say to the media, ‘I’d love to play eight minutes a game.’”

“There’s no, I guess, expectation for me. I still need to prove it,” Leonard said. “I want to show my teammates I’m still a very good player, which I am. I did a few things in L.A., working on getting my shot off quicker. And just a few other things that I’m not going to give to you guys, just become a more well-rounded player. Nothing is ever given. And I’d rather it be that way, anyways. I think I’ve shown my teammates and Spo and the staff what I’m capable of. But I also know I’m capable of more.”

According to a league source, the Heat signed Dragic to a two-year, $37.5 million deal that includes an $18 million salary this upcoming season and a $19.5 million team option for 2021-22.

Leonard, meanwhile, agreed to a two-year deal topping $19 million, with about $9 million due this season and a team option in 2021-22, according to a league source.

The Heat also added outside help, responding to the departures of Crowder and Jones by adding veteran guard Avery Bradley and veteran forward Maurice Harkless in free agency.

Both Dragic and Leonard signed their new Heat contracts Sunday, the first day free agent signings were allowed to begin. Bradley and Harkless signed their Heat contracts Monday.

The Heat roster is now basically full with 15 players under standard contracts, which is the NBA regular-season limit.

Teams are allowed to carry up to 20 players during training camp and the preseason. With guard Gave Vincent returning on a two-way deal, Miami now has 18 players on its roster (15 under standard contracts, Vincent under a two-way contract and the recent additions of undrafted forward Paul Eboua and undrafted guard Breein Tyree on Exhibit 10 contracts that include an invite to training camp).

The COVID-19 pandemic-shortened 72-game NBA regular season is set to begin Dec. 22.

“We do have a special team coming in,” Leonard said. “... We have another very deep team coming into this season. Guys that want to win. Guys that play the game the right way.”