Heat Notes: Tucker, Hard Cap, Maten, Mourning

The Heat hosted Rayjon Tucker for a three-day audition last week, according to Barry Jackson and Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. However, no agreement was reached because Tucker is looking for a two-way deal and Miami isn’t willing to offer more than an Exhibit 10 contract, which would have brought him to training camp with a $50K guarantee.

The 6’5″ guard was considered one of the NCAA’s top grad transfers after averaging 20.3 points and 6.7 rebounds per game at Arkansas-Little Rock last season. He committed to Memphis in May, but later decided to keep his name in the NBA draft.

Tucker played for the Bucks‘ entry in the Las Vegas Summer League and was reportedly going to sign a partially guaranteed deal with Milwaukee. However, that arrangement fell apart as the Bucks filled both two-way slots with Frank Mason III and Cameron Reynolds.

The Heat recently worked out former St. John’s guard Justin Simon, the authors add, and they believe other players have been given an opportunity as well.

There’s more out of Miami, all courtesy of Jackson and Chiang:

• The hard cap that was imposed after the sign-and-trade deal involving Jimmy Butler is hampering the Heat’s efforts to sign players, according to a source who has contact with the front office. Miami doesn’t have enough money remaining to give out standard contracts, so it’s trying to convince players to agree to Exhibit 10 deals with an opportunity to earn a two-way slot. The Heat have 17 players under contract, with 12 fully guaranteed, and both two-way openings available. Forwards Chris Silva and Kyle Alexander and guard Jeremiah Martin, all of whom played for Miami’s Summer League team, have already committed to attend camp to compete for a two-way deal.
• Duncan Robinson empathizes with former teammate Yante Maten, who was waived before his August 1 guarantee date to enable the team to re-sign Udonis Haslem. Robinson and Maten shared an apartment while playing for the organization’s G League affiliate in Sioux Falls. “I know how much he has put into this and how much this means to him,” Robinson said. “But at the same time, I know he’s a really good player and an even better person. So he’ll end up in a good opportunity. I know he will because he certainly deserves to.”
• Trey Mourning, another member of the Heat’s Summer League team, has reached an agreement to play in Russia. He is the son of Heat executive and Hall of Famer Alonzo Mourning.