Miami wanted Avery Bradley a year ago. They passed on him this year.

After Marc J. Spears reported that the Golden State Warriors planned to work out Avery Bradley, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reported that Bradley “was very much open” to rejoining the Miami Heat. The Heat, though, were not interested.

This news represented quite the whirlwind for the two-time All-Defensive Team player. Just 10 months ago, Shams Charania reported that both Pat Riley and Jimmy Butler recruited Bradley to join the Heat.

At that time, Bradley was thought to address a need for Miami — point-of-attack defense. And the 6-foot-3 guard made a nice debut in the Heat’s Christmas Day victory over the New Orleans Pelicans. He held his opponents to 2-of-10 shooting from the field and knocked down two 3-pointers.

We all know how the rest of Bradley’s season went. Injuries limited him to just 10 games before Miami traded him with Kelly Olynyk to the Houston Rockets for Victor Oladipo. His injuries and the Moe Harkless disaster turned Miami’s 2020 free agency into a total dud.

After the Heat traded Justise Winslow in February 2020, some fans cited the phrase, “The best ability is availability” to justify the trade. That applies in this case, too. Bradley could help Miami if he’s healthy. But with Oladipo already out for the first portion of the season, the Heat can’t count on Bradley to fill a backup guard role in the rotation.

Instead, the Heat will rely on Max Strus and two-way player Caleb Martin before Oladipo comes back. Strus played in 39 games last year for the Heat because of Bradley’s injuries (and, of course, injuries to Tyler Herro and COVID protocols). And Martin played 53 games last season.