Miami Heat Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Heat Re-Sign Udonis Haslem

November 28th, 2020 at 4:38pm CST by JD Shaw

NOVEMBER 28: The new contract is official, the Heat announced on Twitter.

“It’s great to have UD back,” team president Pat Riley said. “His role is so critical for our team. Besides being able to still play, UD keeps everyone together in the locker room and on the road, teaching and mentoring.” (Twitter link from Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald)

NOVEMBER 20: The Heat have agreed to a new deal with veteran big man Udonis Haslem, Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press tweets. Haslem will officially return for an 18th consecutive season with the team.

Haslem, 40, committed to re-signing with the Heat earlier this month, bypassing potential retirement. He’s won three championships during his time with Miami (2005-06, 2011-12 and 2012-13), transitioning into a veteran role with the club this the past decade.

Several Heat players have raved about Haslem’s impact in the locker room as the team’s captain, particularly during the club’s impressive postseason run in Orlando. Miami was expected to explore its options and keep Haslem around in some capacity — even if he did choose to retire. On the court, he’s only appeared in 44 regular-season games since the 2016-17 campaign.

In addition to Haslem, the Heat also managed to strike deals with free agents Goran Dragic and Meyers Leonard early in free agency. The team still has Jae Crowder, Derrick Jones Jr. and Solomon Hill on the open market, with Crowder starting in the playoffs and the latter two seeing inconsistent time.

Jae Crowder Signs Three-Year Deal With Suns

November 28th, 2020 at 3:37pm CST by Luke Adams

NOVEMBER 28, 3:37pm: Crowder has officially signed, per team press release.

NOVEMBER 21, 1:03pm: The Suns have reached an agreement to sign Jae Crowder to a three-year contract, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (via Twitter). The deal will be worth just shy of $30MM, tweets Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press. Phoenix will use its full mid-level exception to complete the signing.

Crowder, who finished the season in Miami, reportedly explored a new deal with the Heat, but was seeking a guaranteed multiyear commitment that the Heat weren’t comfortable with, per Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald (Twitter link).

League sources tell Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link) that Crowder also drew interest from the Mavericks, Timberwolves, Clippers, and Hornets, but that Phoenix’s offer was ultimately too good to pass up.

Crowder, 30, provides value as a three-and-D player who has the size to guard bigger wings. He also played some of his best basketball at exactly the right time in his contract year.

After being traded from the Grizzlies to the Heat at last season’s deadline, the veteran forward made 44.5% of his threes for Miami in 20 games to finish the season, then started all 21 postseason contests as the Heat came within two wins of a title.

Having secured a commitment from Crowder and having traded for All-Star point guard Chris Paul earlier in the week, the Suns are looking like an intriguing playoff contender in the Western Conference this season. The team finished five games below .500 in 2019/20, but had an impressive 8-0 run in the Walt Disney World bubble, increasing expectations for ’20/21.

Paul and Crowder will join a promising group that includes star guard Devin Booker, former No. 1 pick Deandre Ayton, and young wings Mikal Bridges and Cameron Johnson, among others. The Suns also still hope to re-sign restricted free agent forward Dario Saric, per John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 (Twitter link).

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Heat Sign Bam Adebayo To Maximum-Salary Extension

November 28th, 2020 at 3:18pm CST by Luke Adams

NOVEMBER 28, 3:18pm: Adebayo has officially signed the contract, according to a team press release.

NOVEMBER 24, 2:39pm: The Heat and Adebayo have agreed to terms on the extension, reports ESPN’s Zach Lowe (Twitter link). It’s straight five-year deal, with no player or team option, according to Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald (Twitter link).

Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link) confirms that Adebayo’s new maximum-salary extension will have Rose Rule language and could start at up to 30% of the 2021/22 cap rather than 25%, as detailed below.

NOVEMBER 24, 12:29pm: The Heat are moving forward with a contract extension for fourth-year big man Bam Adebayo, according to Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel (Twitter link). Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press confirms (via Twitter) that the club is in the process of extending Adebayo’s deal.

Adebayo was one of two dozen players eligible for a rookie scale extension entering the offseason. Coming off a breakout year, he looked like one of the most deserving candidates for a new deal, along with Jayson Tatum, Donovan Mitchell, and De’Aaron Fox, all of whom have agreed to maximum-salary extensions in recent days.

However, the Heat’s salary cap situation complicated the team’s decision. Miami has been focused on preserving as much cap room as possible for the 2021 offseason, and a new deal for Adebayo will increase his cap charge from a hold worth about $15MM to a new salary worth at least $28MM (f he gets the max), eliminating the possibility of a max-salary slot for a free agent.

The fact that the Heat are now moving forward on an extension for Adebayo could mean a number of things. Maybe Adebayo wasn’t waiting a year for his new contract; maybe the Heat remain confident that if a star like Giannis Antetokounmpo is available and wants to play in Miami next year, they’ll be able to figure it out even without the necessary cap room, like they did for Jimmy Butler in 2019; or maybe the Heat believe Antetokounmpo is becoming more likely to sign a super-max extension with the Bucks and remain in Milwaukee.

According to Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald (Twitter link), someone who knows Giannis well told him that the reigning MVP would be impressed by the Heat extending Adebayo early rather than making him wait until next year. Still, if Antetokounmpo is moving closer to accepting a deal with the Bucks, Adebayo’s agent Alex Saratsis would certainly know about it — he also represents Giannis.

Whatever the thinking, it’s good news for Adebayo, who was a full-time starter for the Heat in the first time in 2019/20 and responded with an All-Star performance, averaging 15.9 PPG, 10.2 RPG, and 5.1 APG in 72 games (33.6 MPG).

He also helped anchor Miami’s defense, blocking 1.3 shots per game and averaging 1.1 steals as well. His play was crucial in helping the Heat reach the NBA Finals, though his ability to contribute in that series against the Lakers was compromised by a neck injury.

The Heat are expected to give Adebayo a five-year maximum-salary contract that will match the ones signed by those other young stars from his draft class, as Winderman reports. That would put the 23-year-old on track to earn at least $163MM and as much as $195.6MM over the life of the deal, based on current cap projections. The new contract will begin in 2021/22, once his rookie deal expires.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

NBA Teams With Hard Caps For 2020/21

November 27th, 2020 at 10:30am CST by Luke Adams

The NBA salary cap is somewhat malleable, with various exceptions allowing every team to surpass the $109,140,000 threshold once their room is used up. In some cases, teams blow past not only the cap limit, but the luxury-tax limit of $132,627,000 as well — the Warriors project to have a nine-figure tax bill this season as a result of their spending.

The NBA doesn’t have a “hard cap” by default, which allows a club like Golden State to build a significant payroll without violating CBA rules. However, there are certain scenarios in which teams can be hard-capped, as we explain in a glossary entry.

When a club uses the bi-annual exception, acquires a player via sign-and-trade, or uses more than the taxpayer portion ($5,718,000) of the mid-level exception, that club will face a hard cap for the remainder of the league year.

When a team becomes hard-capped, it cannot exceed the “tax apron” at any point during the rest of the league year. The tax apron was set $6MM above the luxury tax line in 2017/18 (the first year of the current Collective Bargaining Agreement) and creeps up a little higher each time the cap increases. For the 2020/21 league year, the tax apron – and hard cap for certain clubs – is set at $138,928,000.

More than half the teams in the NBA have been willing to hard-cap themselves this offseason, and in some cases, it will significantly impact a team’s ability to add further reinforcements later in the league year. The Bucks and Lakers are among the teams right up against the hard cap, which may prevent them from being players in free agency during the season unless they can shed salary.

For other clubs, the hard cap is just a technicality that won’t affect their plans. The Hawks and Thunder are among the hard-capped clubs that will have zero practical concerns about reaching that threshold in 2020/21.

Listed below are the hard-capped teams for the 2020/21 league year, along with how they created a hard cap.

Atlanta Hawks

Acquired Danilo Gallinari from the Thunder via sign-and-trade.

Boston Celtics

Using non-taxpayer mid-level exception on Tristan Thompson.

Charlotte Hornets

Acquired Gordon Hayward from the Celtics via sign-and-trade.

Dallas Mavericks

Using non-taxpayer mid-level exception on Willie Cauley-Stein and Trey Burke.

Denver Nuggets

Using non-taxpayer mid-level exception on JaMychal Green and Bol Bol.
Using bi-annual exception on Facundo Campazzo.

Detroit Pistons

Acquired Jerami Grant from the Nuggets via sign-and-trade.

Houston Rockets

Acquired Christian Wood from the Pistons via sign-and-trade.

Los Angeles Clippers

Using non-taxpayer mid-level exception on Serge Ibaka.

Los Angeles Lakers

Using non-taxpayer mid-level exception on Montrezl Harrell.
Using bi-annual exception on Wesley Matthews.

Miami Heat

Using non-taxpayer mid-level exception on Avery Bradley and Maurice Harkless.

Milwaukee Bucks

Using non-taxpayer mid-level exception on D.J. Augustin and Bryn Forbes.
Using bi-annual exception on Bobby Portis.

New York Knicks

Acquired Austin Rivers from the Rockets via sign-and-trade.

Oklahoma City Thunder

Acquired Kenrich Williams, Josh Gray, and Zylan Cheatham from the Pelicans via sign-and-trade.

Phoenix Suns

Using non-taxpayer mid-level exception on Jae Crowder.

Portland Trail Blazers

Using non-taxpayer mid-level exception on Derrick Jones.

Toronto Raptors

Using non-taxpayer mid-level exception on Aron Baynes and Alex Len.

Utah Jazz

Using non-taxpayer mid-level exception on Derrick Favors.

Washington Wizards

Using non-taxpayer mid-level exception on Robin Lopez.

This list could continue to grow during the offseason if other teams acquire a player via sign-and-trade, use more than the taxpayer portion of their mid-level exception, or use their bi-annual exception.

Heat Sign Precious Achiuwa To Rookie Deal

November 25th, 2020 at 11:12am CST by Luke Adams

The Heat have officially signed first-round pick Precious Achiuwa to his rookie contract, tweeting out a photo today that shows the rookie forward putting pen to paper.

The No. 20 overall pick in last Wednesday’s draft, Achiuwa signed for 120% of his rookie scale figure, the maximum possible amount permitted by the league, per Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald (Twitter link). That’ll result in a $2.58MM first-year salary with an overall value of $12.51MM on his four-year contract.

In his first and only college season at Memphis, Achiuwa was one of the nation’s most impressive freshmen, averaging 15.8 PPG, 10.8 RPG, and 1.9 BPG while shooting 49.3% from the floor in 31 games (30.4 MPG). He was named the American Athletic Conference Player of the Year.

We’re tracking all of this year’s draft pick signings right here.

Southeast Notes: Bradley, Adebayo, Gallinari, Pasecniks, MCW

November 25th, 2020 at 8:57am CST by Luke Adams

Introduced on Tuesday as a newly-signed member of the Heat, guard Avery Bradley cited the oft-lauded “Heat culture” as one of the key reasons why he wanted to join the team, as Anthony Chiang and Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald write.

“I always felt like if I ever got an an opportunity to play here, I would fit in perfect,” Bradley said. “Once the opportunity presented itself, I knew I would take advantage of it. I’m excited because I do feel like I’m a perfect fit. We all know what it means to be a Miami Heat player — the passion, the dedication it takes to be a part of this culture. I think our team is going to be really good. I’m excited to be part of Miami and part of a great culture like this. I felt wanted.”

Maurice Harkless, who also officially signed with Miami this week, said talking to former Portland teammate Meyers Leonard helped convince him to join the Heat.

“The big thing that Meyers said and he talked about all the time was just the people in the organization and how everyone carried themselves and how everyone came to work every day,” Harkless said. “It’s just what everybody else talks about, the culture. He really embraced it and he spoke highly of everything that goes on in this organization. Hearing that from him, it made my decision a lot easier.”

Here’s more from around the Southeast:

After reaching an agreement with the Heat on a maximum-salary extension on Tuesday, Bam Adebayo told reporters – including Chiang and Jackson – that he never really had a conversation with the team about waiting until next year to sign his new deal. “Me and (Heat president Pat Riley) met one on one, and we kind of talked through it,” Adebayo said. “We both thought it was the right decision.”
The third year on Danilo Gallinari‘s new $61.5MM contract with the Hawks will only be partially guaranteed, according to Chris Kirschner of The Athletic, who tweets that the forward will be assured of $5MM of his $21.4MM salary in that final year (2022/23).
The Wizards and big man Anzejs Pasecniks have agreed to push back his salary guarantee deadline from this week to February 1, reports ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link). Pasecniks, who currently has a $350K guarantee on his $1.5MM salary, may have been waived if Washington had been forced to make an immediate decision.
Michael Carter-Williams‘ new two-year deal with the Magic features two fully guaranteed seasons worth $3.3MM apiece, according to Marks (Twitter link).

Western Contract Details: Grizzlies, KCP, Hood, Thunder

November 24th, 2020 at 5:21pm CST by Luke Adams

John Konchar‘s new deal with the Grizzlies, which will use part of the team’s mid-level exception, is guaranteed for the first two seasons, according to Keith Smith of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). In 2022/23, only $840K of Konchar’s full $2.3MM salary is guaranteed, and his $2.4MM salary for ’23/24 is non-guaranteed, Smith adds.

Konchar was one of a handful of Grizzlies who signed a multiyear contract that isn’t fully guaranteed on the back end. As Smith explains (via Twitter), De’Anthony Melton‘s four-year contract, which has a descending structure, only has a partial guaranteed of $1.5MM on his $8MM salary for 2023/24.

Meanwhile, Jontay Porter, who got a three-year deal, has a partial guarantee of $300K on his $1.95MM salary for 2021/22, then has a non-guaranteed $2MM salary in ’22/23, per Smith (Twitter link). Porter’s contract also came out of Memphis’ MLE.

Here are a few more contract details from around the Western Conference, all courtesy of Smith:

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope‘s new three-year deal with the Lakers is worth about $39.12MM in total and features exactly $30MM in guaranteed money. Only $4.89MM of $14MM is guaranteed in year three (Twitter link).
Rodney Hood, who re-signed with the Trail Blazers, will earn $10.05MM in 2020/21 and then will have to be retained through June 23, 2021 in order to have his second-year salary of $10.85MM guaranteed (Twitter link).
As expected, the three players who were signed-and-traded from the Pelicans to the Thunder for salary-matching purposes in the Steven Adams trade received three-year contracts with only the first year guaranteed. Zylan Cheatham ($1,445,697) and Josh Gray ($1,620,564) will make the minimum, while Kenrich Williams gets $2MM (Twitter links).

Eastern Contract Details: Heat, Rondo, Harris, Clark, Raptors

November 24th, 2020 at 10:10am CST by Luke Adams

Although Maurice Harkless‘ one-year, $3.623MM deal is exactly the same amount as the bi-annual exception, the Heat completed the signing using a portion of their mid-level exception, according to Keith Smith of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). Avery Bradley received the remaining portion of the $9.258MM MLE, for a first-year salary of $5.635MM, Smith adds (via Twitter).

The Heat will still be hard-capped as a result of using the full mid-level exception, but they now retain their bi-annual exception to use either this season or next year, if they remain over the cap in 2021/22.

Smith (Twitter link) also passes along the exact details on Meyers Leonard‘s new contract with the Heat, which has a $9.4MM first-year salary and a team option for 2021/22 worth $10.152MM.

Here are a few more specific details on some of the new free agent contracts signed in the last couple days, via Smith unless otherwise indicated:

Rajon Rondo‘s two-year, $15MM deal with the Hawks has matching cap hits of $7.5MM this season and next year. It also includes $750K in annual bonuses – tied to games played and playoff appearances – that could increase the annual value to $8.25MM (Twitter link).
Joe Harris‘ new four-year contract with the Nets technically has a base value of $72MM, with $500K in annual bonuses tied to games played, playoff games played, and team performance (Twitter link).
The Magic used part of their mid-level exception to sign Gary Clark to a contract starting at $2MM. His $2.1MM second-year salary won’t become guaranteed until seven days after the 2021 moratorium (Twitter link).
The Raptors‘ deals for Aron Baynes, Chris Boucher, and DeAndre’ Bembry will all be non-guaranteed in year two rather than technically featuring team options, tweets Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca. That means they’ll have to be waived next summer if Toronto doesn’t want to retain them for two years.

Lakers Trade McGee, Future Second-Rounder To Cavs

November 23rd, 2020 at 4:43pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

NOVEMBER 23: The deal is official, according to a press release from the Cavs. Cleveland acquires McGee and the Lakers’ second-round pick in exchange for McKinnie and Bell, as expected.

NOVEMBER 22: The Lakers are set to send center JaVale McGee and a future second-round draft pick to the Cavaliers, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (via Twitter). This will create flexibility below the hard cap to allow the Lakers to sign veteran center Marc Gasol.

Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com tweets that the second-round pick will be from the 2026 NBA draft. Fedor reports in a separate tweet that small forward Alfonzo McKinnie and big man Jordan Bell will be headed to Los Angeles in the deal.

McGee has a $4.2MM cap charge for 2020/21, which the Cavaliers have no way to absorb without sending out some salary themselves. McKinnie ($1.76MM) and Bell ($1.76MM) are currently on non-guaranteed deals, but their salaries will have to be at least partially guaranteed to make the deal work. The Cavs have to send out about $2.34MM and non-guaranteed money doesn’t count for salary-matching purposes.

Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets that the likely outcome will see McKinnie being fully guaranteed, while Bell gets about a $600K guarantee. The Lakers could then waive and stretch Bell to create a little extra flexibility.

McGee started at center for most of the Lakers’ 2019/20 championship season, but was supplanted in the starting lineup during the last two rounds of the playoffs by the more mobile Markieff Morris or Dwight Howard most of the time, with Anthony Davis shifting from power forward to center to close out the Heat in Game 6 of the Finals. McGee is a three-time champion thanks to tenures with the Warriors and Lakers.

It doesn’t sound as if the Cavaliers view McGee as a mere salary dump. The team wanted a veteran big man with experience coming off the bench behind Andre Drummond, according to Fedor, so McGee will replace Tristan Thompson on the roster. Cleveland continues to explore possible free agent deals involving the mid-level, with a focus on backup point guard, per Fedor.

Luke Adams contributed to this story. Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Southeast Notes: Hayward, Bryant, Wall, Heat

November 23rd, 2020 at 3:32pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The Hornets made one of the biggest and most controversial splashes in free agency, signing injury-prone forward Gordon Hayward to a four-year, $120MM contract. Due to injuries and the development of his Boston teammates, Hayward was never able to return to his All-Star form while with the Celtics.

Although the Hornets’ $120MM commitment to Hayward is widely viewed as an overpay, it didn’t come out of left field. In today’s edition of The Lowe Post podcast, Zach Lowe of ESPN suggests that the Hornets’ offer to Hayward was not significantly higher than that of some competing clubs hoping for his services in free agency.

“You want to clown the contract?” Lowe said (per RealGM). “That’s fine. Just know it’s not like the Pacers and the Celtics were offering $80MM. They weren’t offering $120MM. But my best intel is something like $105MM, $108MM, $102MM, $110MM.”

Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer examines Hayward’s fit with the Hornets, conceding that the deal is probably an overpay. However, he also contends that Hayward can supply veteran leadership to the Hornets’ young core while being by far their best player, if healthy. Hayward will be leaned on to supply multifaceted scoring and is an expert play-maker. He also will be able to convincingly slot into the lineup at small forward, power forward, and even shooting guard.

There’s more out of the Southeast Division:

Wizards general manager Tommy Sheppard said today that the team informed every center it spoke to in free agency that Thomas Bryant would remain the Wizards’ starter, according to Quinton Mayo of NBC Sports Washington (Twitter link). “Certainly probably rubbed some guys the wrong way who thought they could come in here and start,” Sheppard said. The club ultimately signed Robin Lopez to back up Bryant.
Beyond the churning NBA rumor mill, Wizards point guard John Wall has remained active during the offseason. Wall will purchase an ownership stake in the Australian NBL club the South East Melbourne Phoenix, Marc Stein of the New York Times tweets. Los Angeles entrepreneur Romie Chaudhari heads the ownership group for the Phoenix, which also includes and Cavaliers reserve guard Dante Exum, plus retired big men Zach Randolph and Al Harrington and retired swingman Josh Childress.
Point guard Goran Dragic and backup center Meyers Leonard are excited to return to the Heat, according to Joe Beguiristain of Heat.com. Miami prioritized re-signing both players to lucrative two-year contracts with team options for the second year. “When free agency hit, we pretty much made our quick deal,” Dragic commented. “First of all, it felt like there was unfinished business for our team and for me because, obviously, going through the ankle injury was not easy, and I feel like I could have helped in many different ways,” Leonard said.