Heat not extending a qualifying offer to Omer Yurtseven, making him an UFA

Yurtseven’s tenure in Miami may likely be coming to an end.

Omer Yurtseven was yet just another undrafted player that Pat Riley and the Miami Heat took a gamble on. In the 2021-2022 season, Yurtseven looked like a decently promising young player.

He stepped in for the injured Bam Adebayo in the starting lineup, as Adebayo was out for an extended period of time after getting surgery.

Yurt got his chance and honestly feasted on the glass and although a bit raw, looked like he had some decent offensive skills as well.

There was a stretch of maybe 8 games or so during that season where Yurtseven recorded a double double every night.

The potential for the 7 foot big man was there from the beginning. In fact, he was even set to be the starting center next to Adebayo for this last season, getting reps with starters during training camp and preseason.

The possibilities could have been endless, as it would’ve allowed Adebayo to finally play the PF position and get help on the interior both offensively and defensively.

Sadly, that plan never panned out.

Yurtseven got hurt just a few games into preseason and needed surgery on his ankle. That injury kept him out until the last month of the season, making the 2022-2023 season a wash for the young big man.

He never got consistent playing time after he returned from the injury, and for good reason.

Whenever Spoelstra would give him a chance after that injury, he didn’t capitalize on his opportunities.

He struggled on both sides of the floor, and didn’t look anywhere near how good he looked the season prior.

Yurt couldn’t even beat out Cody Zeller for back up big minutes, let alone being a starter next to Adebayo like originally planned.

Yesterday, the Miami Heat chose to not extend a qualifying offer to Omer Yurtseven, making him an unrestricted free agent and free to sign with any team.

Miami had a chance to keep him around, as they could’ve extended that offer and at the very least made him a restricted free agent, where they could’ve matched any offer for his services.

The Yursteven era ended before it even truly began in Miami.

His agent went on to publicly say that he looks forward to finding a team for Yurt that will give him a chance and more consistent minutes to prove what he is capable of.

If no other team makes an offer for him, maybe he can be resigned to a minimum deal… but even that is far from guaranteed.

Anything can happen, but It indeed looks like his career with the Heat is over.

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