JANUARY 17: The Heat have formally announced the signing of White, issuing a team release to confirm the deal. While the team didn’t disclose the terms, it’s a 10-day contract, as Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel tweets.
JANUARY 15: The Heat will sign power forward Okaro White from their D-League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce, after Miami acquired a player exception, Shams Charania of The Vertical reports (Twitter link). The hardship exception was granted because Miami has four players that have missed at least three games, as Bobby Marks of The Vertical tweets. International journalist David Pick tweets that the Heat will make the signing on Monday and that it will be a 10-day pact.
The Heat have battled the injury bug all season with notable players missing significant time. Chris Bosh is out because of his ongoing battle with blood clots, second-year forward Justise Winslow is out for the year after shoulder surgery and veteran big man Josh McRoberts is sidelined indefinitely with a foot problem. It is unclear how long White will be with Miami, but the 24-year-old is averaging 18.4 ppg and 8.7 rpg while shooting 43% from the field for Sioux Falls.
White was cut by Miami after training camp before playing in the D-League. White went undrafted out of Florida State in 2014 and then headed overseas, spending the 2014/15 campaign with the Italian club Granarolo Bologna, where he averaged 12.2 points and 6.9 rebounds on the season. White then headed to Greece, notching averages of 13.9 points, 7.0 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 26.8 minutes per outing. He shot .465/.337/.791 from the field on the year.
Last year played for my team, Aris Thessaloniki and became MVP of Greek league! Great player on both sides of the court! Can do everything! Great addition!
Must have strong character for you to see this and congratulate him. Honestly, I was hoping they’d keep him out of training camp. I said Okaro should make the roster over Babbit or Derrick Williams during training camp. He gives us a 4 that can defend multuple positions, guard pick and roll, and knock down shots. And he seems like he is also a decent playmaker for his position. Also have to like his motor
Ya idk how he didn’t beat out babbit
I’d have eaten the money on either at that point
we done our best to keep him but he wanted to play overseas. He did good for him. Great rebounder and also very good 3-pointer! Quick and athletic! It’s up to him now to prove that he has the mental strength to stay and play for long-term. It’s an ideal team for him, with no trustworthy 4 to compete. Another player who left Aris Thessaloniki and has a career on NBA is P.J. Tucker! He’s doing good
Definitely a fan of PJ Tucker. Good wing player, especially defensively, and he rebounds at his position
If he’s anything like PJ tucker this is a steal of a signing. Looking forward to seeing what this guy can do! I always love seeing D-league or overseas guys play well in the NBA.
I hope it means Babbit and Williams get buried on the bench until they get cut/bought out
No love for Keith Benson or Briante Weber?
I think Keith Benson is an interesting 10 day option for a couple of teams looking for bigs. I’d call him up if we can trade Whiteside.