4 Miami Heat players who definitely won’t be back next season
By Josh Wilson
Heat players who won’t be back next year: Udonis Haslem
Udonis Haslem is actually the only player I can say with 99.99% certainty that he won’t be back next year as a player. Haslem has already announced that this will be his last year after 20 seasons in the NBA.
Haslem was a storybook for the NBA, a kid who grew up in inner-city Miami and earned his way onto the pro team with his intense play and scrappy mentality. “Heat Culture” would be a scoffable phrase if it weren’t for players like Haslem who helped ingratiate that mentality into the very fabric of the organization.
Haslem was with the team for the Dwyane Wade era, the Big 3 era, the Jimmy Butler era, and importantly, the frankly cruddy eras in between that are easy to forget about. He suited up with the stars that didn’t come to be like Josh Richardson, Shabazz Napier and Justise Winslow, as well as the stars that proved everything in Miami like LeBron James and Chris Bosh.
The caveat here? It would be a shock to see Haslem stay away from the organization for long. I would be entirely unsurprised if he’s hired as a coach or front office person in the coming years.