The Miami Heat have a large number of former players all around the NBA and the world playing for other teams. That includes Shabazz Napier, a former first-round Miami draft pick who is now in search of a new basketball home.
The summer of 2014 was a tense one for the Miami Heat and their fans. LeBron James had teamed up with Chris Bosh and Heat son Dwyane Wade four years earlier and delivered elite results: four-straight trips to the NBA Finals and two titles. It wasn't quite the "not four, not five, not six" level of championships, but it was dominant.
Now LeBron was a free agent, and it was not a given that he was going to return to Miami. Pat Riley is not one to grovel, but the organization was open to pathways to convince James to re-sign with the Heat and continue competing for championships in South Beach.
LeBron had expressed plenty of public and private love for UConn point guard Shabazz Napier, who led the Huskies to a National Championship in April before entering the 2014 NBA Draft. On draft night, the Miami Heat traded up in the first round to draft Napier, and it was [widely reported at the time](https://www.espn.com/nba/truehoop/miamiheat/story/_/id/11133418/2014-nba-draft-miami-heat-chasing-shabazz-napier-attempt-lure-back-lebron-james) that they did so to court LeBron and convince him to stay in Miami.
It was a move that did not work out on any level for the Heat. LeBron James left that summer anyway, returning home to Ohio and winning the first championship in Cleveland Cavaliers history two years later. And Shabazz Napier was a bust.
A player who loved taking and making tough shots a little too much, Napier didn't have that extra gear to consistently get an open shot, either at the rim or from deep. He shot 34.5 percent from deep over his six-year career with less than a 2-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio.
He also lasted just one season in Miami, playing in 51 games and averaging just 5.1 points per game playing behind Mario Chalmers and Norris Cole. The following summer the Heat dumped him on the Orlando Magic for a protected second-round pick. By 2020 he was out of the NBA entirely.
Shabazz Napier needs a new home
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Since leaving the NBA, Shabazz Napier has traveled around the world, filling up his Bingo card of various international leagues. He played for Zenit St. Petersburg in Russia, in Mexico City with the Capitanes, in Italy with Olimpia Milano, in Serbia for Crvena zvezda, and most recently with Bayern Munich in Germany.
While many former NBA players are dominating in EuroLeague, Napier is more of a journeyman even at that level. He played behind former Purdue star and Boston Celtics draft pick Carsen Edwards for Bayern, playing 20 minutes per game and averaging just 10 points and three assists.
One year in, [Bayern has moved on from Napier](https://basketnews.com/news-228814-shabazz-napier-enters-free-agency.html?fbclid=IwY2xjawMfre1leHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETE4MlBzQVI2dldBdVVOQTBNAR4zzQX14_XyxCXBfMEkSJaFbVfmKCy4m3_bddzbDMktPTp-R-wyVauM0BsTqQ_aem_t3VXJjdAdbLgtEhryBJvXw), and he is a free agent once more. Just 34 years old, he has the possibility of continuing his career, but the upper echelons of the sport are unavailable to him. Perhaps he will find another European team to play for -- he hasn't made it to Spain or Turkey yet among the large European leagues -- or he will go further and suit up in China or Japan.
The Heat convinced themselves it was worth it to draft Napier as an unconventional way to convince LeBron James to stay. It was a level of pandering to a star that is unusual for the franchise. It failed in a spectacular way -- and every time Napier joins or leaves a new team, the reminder pops up for the Heat.
Perhaps the Lakers would like to bring LeBron a Napier team-up at long last?