Nick Richards has started 114 games in his NBA career, but the 28-year-old big man had to settle for a one-year, non-guaranteed contract with the Heat in free agency. Miami wanted more depth in the frontcourt and Richards comes to the organization with something to prove.

“I feel like I’m in the right situation that was best for me,” Richards said, per Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald. “From my team’s standpoint, my agency and myself, (a non-guaranteed contract) wasn’t really what was planned. But I think we just got to take advantage of the opportunity that I have right now. And we’re just going to keep moving forward. I’m still going to come in every single day, be myself, do what the team needs me to do, and prove myself to the coaching staff and everybody.”

Richards’ $3.1MM salary will become fully guaranteed if he’s on the Heat’s roster on opening night, Chiang notes. The 28-year-old didn’t expect to have to fight for a roster spot when he entered free agency and is eager to prove that teams around the league made a mistake by not pursuing him more aggressively.

“I think that there are a lot of teams that passed up on me that I felt like they should have given me more consideration,” he said. “But it didn’t work that way, and I feel like it’s just time for me to show them that you guys were wrong and you should have picked me.”

Here’s more on the Heat:

• The front office deserves praise for its display of patience, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald opines. Jackson notes that after the Heat balked at trading Kel’el Ware to Phoenix in a package for Kevin Durant last offseason, the big man wound up being included in the deal for Giannis Antetokounmpo this summer. Miami also passed on potential trades for De’Aaron Fox, Jaren Jackson Jr. and Ja Morant, allowing the team to retain valuable draft assets that were needed to complete its deal with the Bucks.
• In a recent episode of his podcast, Zach Lowe of The Ringer said he thinks Klay Thompson will play a significant and underrated role beyond his vaunted perimeter shooting, Jackson relays. “I think the value of Klay is, he’s not going to stay out of the way and just stand in the corner. Klay will be one of the most important screeners on their team. Both on and off the ball,” Lowe said. “Both Bam (Adebayo) and Giannis, especially Giannis, have thrived on those inverted [pick-and-rolls] when the guy screening for them is a shooter. Klay’s been doing that stuff his entire career. I think he’ll be flying all over the court creating havoc. I think he’s [an] even better fit than he’s been given credit.”
• Bobby Portis, who was included in the Antetokounmpo trade, is the team’s X factor since he could see significant minutes at both power forward and center, Zach Kram writes in ESPN’s Heat offseason review and season preview. Despite having two pillars in Antetokounmpo and Adebayo, the team could still use another scorer, more shooting and another play-maker to help space the floor, according to Ohm Youngmisuk.