Southeast Notes: Heat, Hornets, Thomas, Wizards

As we relayed earlier today, Dion Waiters won’t travel with the Heat this weekend as he looks ahead to potentially making his season debut next Tuesday. However, he won’t be the only Miami veteran who is potentially away from the team on its road trip.

Head coach Erik Spoelstra said today that the Heat are planning to be without Jimmy Butler and James Johnson for Saturday’s game in Milwaukee and Sunday’s contest in Minnesota, per the team (Twitter link). Butler’s regular-season debut with Miami has been postponed due to the birth of his daughter, while Johnson is still working on his conditioning.

According to Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel (Twitter link), Udonis Haslem is also dealing with a wrist injury and won’t play on Saturday, so two-way players Daryl Macon and Chris Silva should both be active, joining the other 10 players on the Heat’s standard roster. Miami has one open spot on its roster but can’t currently fill it due to hard-cap limitations.

Here’s more from around the Southeast:

• Terry Rozier, the Hornets‘ big offseason acquisition, struggled in his debut on Wednesday and found himself on the bench down the stretch as Devonte’ Graham handled point guard duties, racking up 23 points and eight assists. That may not happen often, but James Borrego‘s decision to roll with Graham showed that the Hornets head coach is willing to make good on his preseason promise to dole out minutes based on performance, writes Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer.
• While Isaiah Thomas isn’t quite ready to return from his thumb injury, he believes he’s capable of helping the Wizards and improving his own stock in the process — and he thinks head coach Scott Brooks will put him in position to do just that, writes Fred Katz of The Athletic. “He wants what’s best for me,” Thomas said of Brooks. “He wants me to play well, obviously, and get what I deserve. And that’s to get paid one day.”
• Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington examines the Wizards‘ options for filling Jordan McRae‘s minutes as the guard recovers from a broken finger.