Miami Heat Add Nick Richards to Superteam Roster on One-Year Deal

The Miami Heat are officially operating like a teenager playing NBA 2K with the salary cap turned off. After already landing Giannis Antetokounmpo and Klay Thompson, the front office realized they still need someone to do the actual dirty work.

Enter Nick Richards. Shams Charania of ESPN reported Thursday that the free agent center has agreed to a one-year deal with Miami, officially claiming the 14th spot on the roster.

"Shams Charania reported: 'Free agent center Nick Richards has agreed to a one-year deal with the Miami Heat, sources tell ESPN.'"

Richards split last season between the Phoenix Suns and Chicago Bulls, averaging 5.8 points and 5.1 rebounds in 14.6 minutes per game. He missed the final stretch of the year with a right elbow sprain, but when healthy, the 28-year-old provides a massive 6-foot-11 frame to clog the paint.

This is the ultimate Pat Riley special. When you build a roster around Giannis, Bam Adebayo, and Klay, you have roughly twelve dollars left to fill out the bench. Richards does not need to be a star. His entire job description will be grabbing loose rebounds, setting bone-rattling screens, and absorbing fouls so the Hall of Famers can rest their legs.

Miami stumbled to a 43-39 record and a 10th-place finish in the East last year, but this completely revamped depth chart is going to send their futures odds into another stratosphere. Richards gives them the exact kind of cheap, reliable frontcourt insurance they need to survive the regular season. Now we just wait to see who the Heat pull out of the local YMCA to fill that 15th and final roster spot.