7:54pm: Bryant has officially re-signed with the Heat, the team confirmed in a press release.
12:49pm: The Heat and Thomas Bryant have reached an agreement on a new one-year contract for the free agent center, league sources tell Marc Stein (Twitter link). The deal will be worth the veteran’s minimum, tweets Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald.
Bryant, who initially signed a two-year, minimum-salary contract with the Heat last summer, averaged 5.7 points and 3.7 rebounds in just 11.6 minutes per game across 38 appearances.
Miami had envisioned him as the backup at the five behind Bam Adebayo, but the fit wasn’t quite as smooth as either side has hoped, and the 26-year-old was in and out of the rotation for much of the season.
Because the second year of that initial contract was a player option (worth $2.85MM), Bryant was able to opt out and talk to other potential suitors on the open market. However, it seems as if he wasn’t offered any opportunities he liked more than one to remain in Miami for another season.
Bryant will earn slightly less ($2.8MM) on his new contract than he would have on his option, while the Heat’s charge for cap and tax purposes will be just $2.09MM. He’ll join a group of centers that features Kevin Love (who also agreed to a new deal with the Heat) and rookie Kel’el Ware.
Orlando Robinson also remains on the roster on a non-guaranteed contract, but the new deals with Bryant and Love, along with the selection of Ware, make it less likely that he’ll be back, tweets Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel.
Need to see Ware get time, playing with Bam at the 4… I like the Heat Big man versatility… all 4 of them, plus Nico at the 4….
The rest of the leaguebhopes you’re right…
I now have no idea what’s going on lol. I was surprised he opted out; I’m surprised they bringing hom back, and I’m surprised he came back too b/c I thought he’d fit in other places, like the knicks, and we know he wants to play more. Here he is depth in case Kevin Love gets hurt, which he did a good job of, but the Heat wasted the draft pick on Ware, and already had an extra big last year, which eventually hurt them with their roster situation, after injuries, b/c they lost champagnie, and had no room for Cain or Peterson, and then multiple guys got hurt, and they had nobody at those spots
My guess is Orlando Robinson gets sent out in a potential trade, or his guarantee doesn’t get picked up, and he gets let go
I like Cain, he’s long and athletic, he seems to be working on his shot.
The likey reason he’s gone, his shot just wasn’t up to standards (Winslow anyone) ….. Or I’ve seen hints, Cain looking for his shot first, not making the obvious pass.
The PG need aside, I’ll take Cain over Dru anytime of the day.
I disagree. I think he can shoot it. The Heat also refused to playbHighsmith before they finally did so I don’t put consideration into that…they also kept Cole Swider over Dustin Peterson…it is what it is
There’s other guys available, and they’ve lost many young guys I’ve liked before…(part of it is also effected by my interactions with him; I just really think he can play)
It’s clear the Heat like Keshad Johnson, so hopefully that works better immediately than expected, and also, hopefully they still sign 1 of the remaining options
Cain can play. It’s not only the form, something a bit off with his mechanics. Might be attitude etc.
Last offseason,I said that the HEAT should go after Tingus Pingus hard …. K Love the previous trade deadline.
If it’s allowed, they should try to get Hayward
He has shown interest with the HEAT before.
He has that little hitch sometimes, but he has improved so much from his proposal summer league, and then he also has upside as a half court scorer from the elbow/in the mid range, and he defends, and rebounds well (he’s good on the offensive glass)… I doubt he has an attitude issus; I’ve met him, and if anything he wants to play, but he has also shown a willingness to cheer for others success, so again, if anything, maybe they want him to go get a bigger role somewhere, like they do for guys often
As for Heyward, I didn’t think he’d be obtainable, so he wasn’t even on my list. If the Heat trade Duncan Robinson, that might be a possible option, but now that they added Burks, I think you need more defense/not needing the ball in their hands, plus the shooting from that 4 spot..I don’t know what Heyward will end up doing though
I like Cain, I’d pick him over Dru and the Alondes fellow.
No one seems to know what GH plans …….. no buzz whatsoever, which I don’t get much since he’s still very much serviceable.
He’s a good player at the 3/4 (probably cant guard the 2 spot as much anymore), but has had bad injury luck, either to him, or pieces around him…I feel like GS may have made some sense for him if he was going to be attainable b/c of his injuries. I. Could see Indiana having made some sense as well, among others
I would have preferred all of them to Patty mills last year…….
Again, still options on the board.
At least he signed for 500k less.
Not a fan, but depth is important.
Ware is a solid draft pick. I was hoping the Knicks would trade up for him. Miami always draft well