The Heat have waived reserve center Orlando Robinson, the team announced (Twitter link).
The 23-year-old had been on a non-guaranteed $2.1MM deal with the Heat heading into the 2024/25 season. With this move, the seven-foot big man is on track to become an unrestricted free agent, assuming he clears waivers on Tuesday.
Robinson’s tenure with the team had been expected to end after Miami made a series of moves to shore up its depth at center, re-signing veteran floor-spacing big man Kevin Love and rim-running five Thomas Bryant after selecting former Indiana center Kel’el Ware with the No. 15 pick in this year’s draft.
The decision to bring back Bryant was a curious one, as his lackluster defense occasionally led to a complete banishment from the team’s rotation. He lacks the offensive upside of Love, a great passer and shooter, or the intriguing defense of Robinson. Bryant’s three-point shooting also fell off mightily, from a career 35.5% on 1.3 triple tries per game to just 18.2% on 0.6 attempts.
The seven-foot Robinson went undrafted out of Fresno State in 2022. He inked multiple two-way deals with the Heat in 2022/23, toggling between Miami and its NBAGL affiliate squad, the Sioux Falls Skyforce. He signed a standard deal with the Heat following the team’s 2023 Finals run. Robinson was a fringe rotation player as a springy, raw big man. He appeared in just 36 contests for Miami in 2023/24, averaging 2.8 points on a .500/.533/.760 shooting line. Robinson also chipped in 2.3 rebounds and 0.9 assists per night.
As Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald tweets, cutting Robinson leaves the Heat with 13 players signed to their 15-man standard roster. The Heat will look to add at least a 14th player prior to the start of the season.
HEAT: Big move now is to see if Highsmith can be resigned… Markenen is not happening with Heat, they don’t have draft capital or should they give up JAQUEZ JR, they need him if Jimmy leaves in free agency, or gets signed and traded next year… Jaquez Jr is a glue piece, plug in play all over, especially with Caleb Martin gone…
If butler leaves is a hopeful way of putting it. Markenen was never happening because both they don’t have the draft capital or assets unless bam starts the conversation. The heat are a pretender.
Warriors hopefully have Interest in Orlando.
I could see New Orleans aming some sense, and even the knicks..
I would much rather have kept him than draft ke’lel Ware. Great footwork, and a hard worker. Useful offensively, and can step out and shoot, and his defense has improved a lot, even though he can’t really defend pick and roll. Around the right players, he can be pretty effective in his role
I also want to say that he seems like a really stand up, cool person. I met him twice, and the 2nd time, I saw him spend a bunch of time around kids, and doing this gokart controller race with them, at 1 of the Heat’s season ticket appreciation events, and it was awesome to see. He was there for a long time, having a good time, and I’ll remember that about him
Unlike Yurtseven, too, he never once complained; I hope he gets more opportunities somewhere
*New Orleans making some sense…I thought OKC might make some sense too, but they already got Hartenstein; The Clippers and Lakers also make some kind of outside sense, in a way, but the Lakers have other issues to worry about above that