The Heat have declined center Omer Yurtseven‘s $1.5MM team option for the 2021/22 season, allowing him to enter unrestricted free agency, as relayed by Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel and Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald (Twitter links).
The option was non-guaranteed, a factor that didn’t interest Yurtseven. The 23-year-old will still play with the team during the California Classic Summer League and Las Vegas Summer League this month.
Miami signed Yurtseven at the end of the last season, allowing him to travel with the team for its first-round series against Milwaukee in May. Yurtseven went unselected in the 2020 NBA Draft and could remain with the franchise if he impresses this summer. However, he’ll become an unrestricted free agent, per Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald (Twitter link), which means the Heat didn’t tender him a qualifying offer.
In addition to declining Yurtseven’s option, Miami also declined Andre Iguodala‘s $15MM option and picked up the $19.4MM option in Goran Dragic‘s contract earlier today — though Dragic could still be used in a sign-and-trade involving Kyle Lowry.
Heat do need a floor spacing big, so if he does impress, I could see them signing him for a minimum deal, but it’s more likely they look elsewhere for that, with several options available