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Heat Notes: Martin, Knight, Okpala, Yurtseven

December 24th, 2021 at 8:25am CST by Luke Adams

Heat two-way forward Caleb Martin, who had been in the health and safety protocols since December 11, was back with the team on Thursday night, seated behind the bench, as Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel tweets.

A short-ramp up period may be necessary for Martin, who will have to pass cardiac tests before being cleared to return to the court. But it’s good news for both him and the Heat that he’s no longer quarantining and appears to be on the verge of reentering the rotation.

While Miami has had to deal with several injuries in recent weeks, Martin is the only player the team has had to place in the COVID-19 protocols so far this month.

Here’s more on the Heat:

  • The new roster rules that eliminate the 50-game limit for players on two-way contracts is welcome news for the Heat, since Martin has been among the NBA’s most productive two-way players so far this season and has already appeared in 23 games. However, as Barry Jackson and Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald write, the Heat still may have to make a decision on Martin later in the season, since two-way players remain ineligible for the playoffs. The team has an open spot on its 15-man roster for now, but figures to explore the buyout market in February.
  • Head coach Erik Spoelstra confirmed to reporters on Thursday that the Heat couldn’t have signed Brandon Knight via a hardship exception when Martin was in the protocols, since a replacement for a two-way player can’t have more than three years of NBA service (Twitter link via Chiang). Knight had been playing for Miami’s G League affiliate, but was called up by Dallas while the Heat signed forward Zylan Cheatham to a 10-day deal.
  • Although the Heat would obviously prefer to have a fully healthy roster, the silver lining is that little-used players like KZ Okpala and Omer Yurtseven are gaining valuable experience by being thrust into rotation roles, Chiang writes for The Miami Herald. “I know it’s a tough time of the season right now,” Udonis Haslem said. “We got a lot of injuries, but we’re banking a lot of equity right now with our younger guys getting experience. I think when we get back healthy, it’s only going to help us.”
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Heat Sign Zylan Cheatham To 10-Day Deal

December 22nd, 2021 at 1:06pm CST by Luke Adams

DECEMBER 22: The Heat have signed Cheatham, the club formally announced today (via Twitter). His 10-day deal will run through December 31, covering Miami’s next five scheduled games.

DECEMBER 21: The Heat plan to sign free agent wing Zylan Cheatham to a 10-day contract via a hardship exception, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). Cheatham won’t count against the team’s roster limit, so no corresponding move is required.

Cheatham, who went undrafted out of Arizona State in 2019, spent his rookie season on a two-way contract with the Pelicans. However, he appeared in just four NBA games for the club and was sent to Oklahoma City in a sign-and-trade for salary-matching purposes during the 2020 offseason.

The 26-year-old has played in the G League since then and has spent the current season with the Birmingham Squadron, New Orleans’ affiliate. In 13 NBAGL games (30.5 MPG), he has averaged a double-double (14.2 PPG, 10.4 RPG) with a solid .491/.429/.806 shooting line.

Miami only has one player – Caleb Martin – in the health and safety protocols, but has been hit hard by injuries as of late. Bam Adebayo, Jimmy Butler, Markieff Morris, P.J. Tucker, and Victor Oladipo are all sidelined due to various ailments, rendering a hardship signing necessary.

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Injury/COVID Notes: J. Green, P. Tucker, E. Davis, T. Brown

December 21st, 2021 at 3:02pm CST by Luke Adams

Rockets rookie Jalen Green is on track to play on Thursday in Indiana, reports Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. Houston has a back-to-back road set on Wednesday and Thursday vs. the Bucks and Pacers, respectively, so the team is eyeing the second game in that back-to-back for Green’s return.

The No. 2 pick in the 2021 draft, Green has been sidelined for nearly a month due to a strained left hamstring, which he suffered on November 24. He averaged 14.0 PPG, 3.1 RPG, and 2.3 APG on .382/.378/.807 shooting in his first 18 NBA games (30.8 MPG) and will be looking to improve upon those numbers when he returns to the court.

Here are a few more updates from around the league related to injuries and COVID-19:

  • Bulls wing Troy Brown has exited the health and safety protocols and is rejoining the team, a source tells Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link). Chicago still has five players in the protocols.
  • The Cavaliers have placed veteran big man Ed Davis in the health and safety protocols, according to Wojnarowski (Twitter link). Cleveland is facing a significant COVID-19 outbreak, with eight players in the protocols, but should have enough players available to continue its schedule, says Wojnarowski.
  • An MRI on P.J. Tucker‘s left knee injury revealed no structural damage, says Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. The Heat have diagnosed Tucker’s injury as lower left leg nerve inflammation and ruled him out for Tuesday’s game vs. Indiana. It’s unclear how much more time he might miss.
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Team USA Names Steve Kerr Head Coach

December 20th, 2021 at 11:13am CST by Arthur Hill

DECEMBER 20: USA Basketball has made it official, announcing that Kerr has taken over as the head coach of the men’s national team, with Williams, Spoelstra, and Few joining him as assistants.

DECEMBER 10: Steve Kerr will be the next head coach for USA basketball, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. A deal is currently being finalized, and a formal announcement is expected soon.

Kerr, who served as an assistant to Gregg Popovich on this year’s gold-medal winning team in Tokyo, will take over for the FIBA World Cup in 2023 and the Paris Olympics in 2024 (Twitter link). His staff will include Suns head coach Monty Williams, Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra and Gonzaga head coach Mark Few.

Kerr, 56, has been among the NBA’s most successful head coaches since being hired by the Warriors in 2014. He has led Golden State to three titles and five appearances in the NBA Finals.

The decision on Kerr represents Grant Hill‘s first major move since taking over as managing director of USA Basketball, Wojnarowski notes (Twitter link), adding that Hill spent several months meeting with candidates and assembled a coaching team that has experienced success in the NBA, college and internationally.

Marc Stein first reported in September that Kerr was viewed as the frontrunner to be Popovich’s successor for USA Basketball.

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Southeast Notes: Heat, Carter Jr., Ball, Ross

December 19th, 2021 at 8:39pm CST by JD Shaw

The Heat’s undrafted players have been stepping up in the absence of several key talents this month, Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald writes. As Chiang notes, players such as Duncan Robinson, Max Strus and Gabe Vincent have increased their production, keeping the Heat afloat in recent games.

“These guys, they’re the lifeblood of our player development program,” head coach Erik Spoelstra said. “Guys that haven’t been drafted that have big dreams, are willing to put in the work and gradually incrementally get better over time. That’s what you have seen with both of these guys. This is not something that just happened overnight.

“Obviously, neither one of them were selected during draft night. It takes an incredible amount of perseverance, belief in yourself and a crazy work ethic to keep on working every single day because you have a lot more days of adversity when things aren’t necessarily going your way or you’re not getting playing time or you’re not really seeing progress.”

Miami is currently missing Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro, Markieff Morris and Victor Oladipo due to injuries. The team is also playing without Caleb Martin, who scored 28 points in his last game, due to health and safety protocols.

There’s more from the Southeast Division tonight:

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Oladipo Joins Team On Road Trip

December 16th, 2021 at 5:45pm CST by Dana Gauruder
  • Guard Victor Oladipo is traveling with the Heat during their four-game trip and coach Erik Spoelstra believes that’s a significant development, Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald writes. “It’s a big step,” Spoelstra said. “It’s not about a step of when he’ll be back. It’s more about just the emotional and mental boost for him. He has been doing all this work behind the scenes, at the arena while we’ve been on the road. And we’ve been on the road virtually the entire season. So he hasn’t been with us for a large part of it.” Oladipo signed a one-year veteran’s minimum deal during the offseason. He had surgery in May to repair a quad tendon in his right knee.
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Southeast Notes: Heat, Hornets, Magic, Spoelstra

December 12th, 2021 at 6:38pm CST by JD Shaw

The Heat will be missing several players to start their four-game road trip on Monday in Cleveland, including Jimmy Butler (tailbone) and Markieff Morris (neck), Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel tweets. The club will also be without Bam Adebayo (thumb) and Caleb Martin (protocols).

All four players won’t be traveling with the team, receiving their treatment in Miami instead. In addition, veteran guard Victor Oladipo (knee) has yet to play this season, but Winderman notes that he’ll be traveling with the team and sitting on the bench.

Morris has been sidelined for the past 17 games, while Butler returned on December 6 after missing four games. Butler re-injured himself during that contest, costing him the past two games (and counting). Despite playing without several key players, Miami still holds the fourth-best record in the East at 16-11.

Here are some other notes from the Southeast Division:

  • Roderick Boone of the Charlotte Observer examines whether the Hornets should pursue Pacers big men Domantas Sabonis and Myles Turner. Indiana is reportedly open to discussing the players in trades as it ponders whether to start a rebuilding phase. Both Sabonis and Turner would likely start if they were acquired by the Hornets, who currently starts Mason Plumlee at center.
  • Despite owning a 5-22 record, the Magic remain optimistic due to the impending return of guard Markelle Fultz, Khobi Price of the Orlando Sentinel writes. Fultz suffered a torn ACL last January and fully practiced with the team on Friday for the first time since sustaining the injury. “It was great to have ‘Kelle on the floor,” head coach Jamahl Mosley said of Fultz. “As long as there are no hiccups, he’s going to continue to progress in the right direction.”
  • Heat coach Erik Spoelstra questioned the league’s strategy with handling players in health and safety protocols, Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel writes. “Why would they be held out extensively longer than if they have the flu?” he asked. “I think there’s a contradiction there.” The same couldn’t be said a year ago when vaccines weren’t widely available, but now that they are, it could raise an interesting discussion.
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Heat’s Caleb Martin Enters Health And Safety Protocols

December 11th, 2021 at 6:11pm CST by Arthur Hill

Heat small forward Caleb Martin has been placed in the league’s health and safety protocols, tweets Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel.

Martin has been a valuable contributor off the bench in his first season with Miami, averaging a career-best 7.6 points and 3.2 rebounds in 23 games. He signed a two-way contract in September after being waived by Charlotte, where he spent his first two NBA seasons.

Martin is the first Heat player to enter the protocols, while tonight’s opponent, Chicago, is now up to seven. COVID-19 cases have sidelined several players and coaches around the league this week, with Martin being the fourth one announced today.

“I don’t even think I can make a rational comment on this right now,” Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said when asked about the COVID situation. “I literally was just informed of this within the last 10 minutes. So we just need to wait for a little bit more direction from the league, which they will give us some direction.” (Twitter link)

If Martin has tested positive for the virus, he will miss a minimum of 10 days unless he returns two consecutive negative tests more than 24 hours apart.

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Heat Notes: Robinson, Martin, Dedmon, Okpala

December 11th, 2021 at 1:15pm CST by JD Shaw

Despite his shooting percentages decreasing so far this season, Heat swingman Duncan Robinson is still vital to the team’s offensive gameplan, Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald writes.

As Chiang notes, Robinson has made just 33% of his threes, but his impact goes far beyond the accuracy. Since he shot 45% in 2019/20 and 41% in 2020/21, teams fear his ability to hit outside shots, which opens up driving lanes and spreads the floor for other players.

“He doesn’t have to make shots,” teammate Max Strus explained. “Obviously, he wants to shoot better. But just him being on the floor spaces the floor so much for us because guys aren’t going to help off of him.

“He has the reputation, everybody knows how good of a shooter he is. So guys aren’t going to help. He opens up so much floor space and when he’s in actions as a trigger, he creates so much for our offense because guys overreact to everything. He’s really valuable out on the floor at all times.”

In addition to his ability to spread the floor, Robinson’s durability has been commended by Heat officials. According to Chiang, the forward is on track to play in his 174th consecutive game on Saturday against Chicago, which would tie a franchise record set by Glen Rice in 1994.

Here are some other notes out of Miami:

  • Caleb Martin is proving to be a “slam dunk” bargain, Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinal writes. Martin has been one of the league’s best players on a two-way contract this season. Most recently, he pitched in 28 points, eight rebounds and two blocks during the team’s 113-104 win over Milwaukee on Wednesday.
  • In a separate article for the Sun Sentinel, Winderman examines whether the Heat are getting enough out of backup center Dewayne Dedmon. The 32-year-old has been starting in place of Bam Adebayo (torn UCL). In 26 games, he’s averaged 5.5 points, 5.8 rebounds and 15.6 minutes.
  • KZ Okpala impressed coaches and teammates alike with his performance against the Bucks, Chiang writes for the Miami Herald. Okpala recorded 10 points and nine rebounds off the bench, allowing Miami to play small with P.J. Tucker at center for various parts of the game.
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Luxury Tax Concerns Affect Caleb Martin's Status

December 9th, 2021 at 4:39pm CST by Dana Gauruder
  • Caleb Martin may eventually have his two-way contract converted to a standard deal by the Heat but there are luxury tax concerns, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald notes. Martin has been active for 24 of the Heat’s 26 games and can only be active for 50 games under two-way rules. If he remained on the active roster for every game, he’d be able to play until nearly the end of January. But the Heat would have to wait a couple of weeks after that to convert his contract in order to avoid surpassing the tax threshold.
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