The Heat recently brought in free agent center Cody Zeller for a workout, league sources tell Michael Scotto of HoopsHype.
The fourth overall pick in the 2013 draft, Zeller spent his first eight NBA seasons in Charlotte, then played for Portland in 2021/22. He had a limited role for the Blazers last season, averaging 5.2 PPG and 4.6 RPG in a career-low 13.1 minutes off the bench in 27 games before a right patellar avulsion fracture ended his season.
Zeller signed a non-guaranteed training camp deal with Utah this past September, but failed to earn a spot on the Jazz’s regular season roster and was waived at the end of the preseason. He has been seeking a new NBA home since then and also worked out for the Lakers earlier in the season.
As Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel reported this week, the Heat – who have one spot available on their 15-man roster and can create a second opening when Jamaree Bouyea‘s 10-day deal expires – are prioritizing frontcourt targets. Winderman mentioned Kevin Love and Serge Ibaka as possibilities and it appears the team is considering other vets as well.
Power forward is the spot the Heat would really like to address, but their center rotation isn’t entirely settled either. While rookie big man Orlando Robinson has been Bam Adebayo‘s primary backup for much of the season, he’s approaching the games-played limit on his two-way contract and would need to be promoted to the 15-man roster to remain active beyond that limit.
The Heat traded away Dewayne Dedmon prior to this month’s deadline and don’t seem comfortable relying on veteran Udonis Haslem to play a regular role. Omer Yurtseven is nearing his return from left ankle surgery, but it’s unclear how effective he’ll be after being sidelined for several months.
I’ve always considered Zeller to be a good player when healthy, but I dont see him as a fot while Yurtseven has a roster spot, and they’re figuring out the Robinson situation. I wouldnt say Zeller is too much off what they just moved to open the roster spot with Dedmon. I can see either Love or Ibaka, even though neither are smallball 5s, but in that case, they also need to grab 1 of the available options at the 4 for the 2 roster spots
KLove is the best case for the HEAT …… he would provide the corner three and spot rebounding, which PJ provided last season.
Ibaka is clearly shot.
If they could add him as well as someone else that can play the 4/5, that would be really good for them for sure. I said it in 1 of the previous articles, but he might make it doable to keep Herro as a starter, in the right lineups