- The Heat have sent rookie small forward KZ Okpala to their G League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce, the team noted on social media. Okpala has appeared in five games for Miami.
As Andre Iguodala remained in limbo for months in Memphis, rumors swirled about where he’d eventually land. When he spoke to Iguodala following his trade to Miami, Sam Amick of The Athletic pointed out that teams like the Lakers, Clippers, and Rockets were mentioned more often than the Heat as possible destinations. However, the veteran forward told Amick he was impressed by what he’d seen from the Heat this season.
“I watched them on TV a few times, and they’d been doing so well that they’re on everybody’s radar,” Iguodala said. “Like, ‘Man, these boys can play.’ They’re disciplined, they’re playing the right way, the DNA that’s in the organization, and how they drive the DNA and all the players who come through their system, from seasoned guys to young guys to undrafted guys and all the picks. They’re doing a good job with developing their players.”
A report leading up to the trade deadline suggested that Iguodala may decide to sit out the rest of the season if he wasn’t sent to one of his preferred landing spots, and it wasn’t clear that Miami was on that list. The 36-year-old didn’t confirm one way or the other whether he had to be talked into joining the Heat, but did say that a conversation with team president Pat Riley made him enthusiastic about the move.
“It’s just really getting you excited to play basketball, and getting you excited about what you’re going to do and what you’re bringing to the table,” Iguodala told Amick. “And when someone tells you that this is what you do, and this is what we’ve seen you do historically, and this is what we want you to do for us, it’s like, ‘Man, I can’t wait to do that.’ So that’s always good.”
Here’s more on the Heat:
- What can Iguodala bring to the Heat? Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald passes along thoughts from Riley, Erik Spoelstra, Kelly Olynyk, Udonis Haslem, and Jimmy Butler on that subject.
- The Heat were among several teams to inquire on forward Marvin Williams when he was bought out by Charlotte on Friday, according to Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. Although Miami missed out on Williams, the team still could be active on the buyout market. Riley said on Friday that the team wouldn’t mind adding a frontcourt player to help with rim protection, if possible.
- One Heat official told Jackson that Justise Winslow had hoped to have a more prominent role and be one of the faces of the franchise in Miami. Winslow may have more of an opportunity to get that kind of role in Memphis, once he gets healthy.
- After trading Dion Waiters and James Johnson last week, the Heat can get up to about $27MM in cap room this summer. That number would increase even further if Olynyk declines his $13.2MM player option, as Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel writes. Olynyk hasn’t made that decision yet, suggesting he’ll have to weigh a handful of factors this spring. “I think it’s an accumulation of everything,” he said. “I mean, obviously you want to play. You want to win. You want to get paid. So, yeah, it’s like an accumulation of everything.”
USA Basketball has formally announced a preliminary group of 44 players who are candidates to be part of the program’s roster for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
The final roster will only consist of 12 players, so most of these finalists won’t actually play for Team USA at the Olympics. Some will likely withdraw from consideration, while others simply won’t make the final cut. However, these players have all expressed interest in being involved in the process.
“This is the first step in USA Basketball identifying the 12 players who will represent the United States as members of the 2020 U.S. Olympic Men’s Basketball Team in Tokyo,” said USA Basketball managing director Jerry Colangelo.
“… Over the course of the remainder of the NBA season we’ll continue to monitor all of the athletes. Selecting the 12-man USA roster will obviously be an extremely challenging and difficult process, and we will again attempt to select the very best team possible to represent our country and who we hope will be successful in our difficult mission of repeating as Olympic champions for a fourth consecutive Olympics.”
Although the U.S. men’s team has won three consecutive Olympic gold medals, the program had a disappointing showing at last year’s World Cup, finishing in seventh place. Team USA will be looking for a bounce-back performance in Tokyo this summer, with many players from that World Cup squad among the 44 finalists announced today.
Here’s the full list of players who are candidates to play for Team USA at the 2020 Olympics:
- Bam Adebayo (Heat)
- LaMarcus Aldridge (Spurs)
- Harrison Barnes (Kings)
- Bradley Beal (Wizards)
- Devin Booker (Suns)
- Malcolm Brogdon (Pacers)
- Jaylen Brown (Celtics)
- Jimmy Butler (Heat)
- Mike Conley (Jazz)
- Stephen Curry (Warriors)
- Anthony Davis (Lakers)
- DeMar DeRozan (Spurs)
- Andre Drummond (Cavaliers)
- Kevin Durant (Nets)
- Paul George (Clippers)
- Draymond Green (Warriors)
- James Harden (Rockets)
- Montrezl Harrell (Clippers)
- Joe Harris (Nets)
- Tobias Harris (76ers)
- Gordon Hayward (Celtics)
- Dwight Howard (Lakers)
- Brandon Ingram (Pelicans)
- Kyrie Irving (Nets)
- LeBron James (Lakers)
- Kyle Kuzma (Lakers)
- Kawhi Leonard (Clippers)
- Damian Lillard (Blazers)
- Brook Lopez (Bucks)
- Kevin Love (Cavaliers)
- Kyle Lowry (Raptors)
- JaVale McGee (Lakers)
- Khris Middleton (Bucks)
- Donovan Mitchell (Jazz)
- Victor Oladipo (Pacers)
- Chris Paul (Thunder)
- Mason Plumlee (Nuggets)
- Marcus Smart (Celtics)
- Jayson Tatum (Celtics)
- Klay Thompson (Warriors)
- Myles Turner (Pacers)
- Kemba Walker (Celtics)
- Russell Westbrook (Rockets)
- Derrick White (Spurs)
When the Thunder and Heat discussed a potential Danilo Gallinari trade leading up to last week’s deadline, James Johnson, Kelly Olynyk, Kendrick Nunn, and draft compensation were among the various assets that came up in talks, league sources tell Michael Scotto of Bleacher Report. Miami reportedly wanted to extend Gallinari’s contract as part of a deal, but couldn’t agree to terms with his camp, which is one main reason the trade didn’t happen.
ESPN’s Zach Lowe wrote last week that he believed the Heat could’ve acquired Gallinari without surrendering any of their young players like Nunn. So even though his name came up in discussions, that doesn’t necessarily mean the Thunder would have insisted on his inclusion, depending on what other pieces were involved.
While Gallinari remained with the Thunder for this season, Scotto suggests the Heat and Knicks could be among his potential suitors this summer. Miami clearly has interest, and created some cap flexibility for 2020/21 by moving Johnson and Dion Waiters last week. New York, meanwhile, will have cap space and is hiring veteran CAA agent Leon Rose as its new president of basketball operations. Gallinari is a CAA client.
Here are a few more noteworthy tidbits from Scotto’s look at the post-deadline landscape:
- The Knicks and Pacers discussed a possible Marcus Morris trade. According to Scotto, a package that featured Aaron Holiday, Doug McDermott, and T.J. Leaf was “briefly kicked around,” but didn’t end up going far.
- McDermott’s name also came up in discussions about a potential Pacers trade with the Bucks involving Ersan Ilyasova, says Scotto. It’s not known which team initiated those talks.
- Before the Cavaliers traded for Andre Drummond, they called the Pacers to ask about Myles Turner‘s availability, per Scotto. Indiana has remained firm on keeping Turner, though many executives expect the team to eventually break up its Turner/Domantas Sabonis frontcourt.
- The Nuggets discussed the possibility of trading Gary Harris, Malik Beasley, and Juan Hernangomez as part of a package for Bulls guard Zach LaVine or Pelicans guard Jrue Holiday, sources tell Scotto. New Orleans set a very high asking price for Holiday, while LaVine was said to be “off-limits” for Chicago, so Denver didn’t get far on either front.
An active 2020 trade deadline has likely watered down the free-agent market this summer, a pattern far from the norm after a combined $4 billion was spent on more than 150 players last July, Bobby Marks of ESPN.com explores.
There were a total of 12 trades within the 48-hour window of the trade deadline this year, with high-profile players such as D’Angelo Russell, Andre Drummond, Andrew Wiggins and Clint Capela switching teams.
As Marks notes, the 2020 free agency class is projected to be mediocre for the most part. The Knicks could have upwards of $50MM to spend (though they’ll likely wait until the following summer for stronger talent), with the Hawks, Pistons, Hornets, Suns, and Heat also set to have north of $20MM.
Beyond Anthony Davis, some of the top unrestricted free agents this summer include Fred VanVleet, Montrezl Harrell, Danilo Gallinari and Serge Ibaka. Drummond ($28.7MM), DeMar DeRozan ($27.7MM) and Evan Fournier ($17MM) all have player options in their contracts, while Brandon Ingram and Bogdan Bogdanovic are set to enter restricted free agency.
Here are some other odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- Free agent guard Archie Goodwin has signed in Germany with Ratiopharm Ulm, the team announced, as relayed by Sportando. Goodwin, 25, holds NBA experience with the Suns, Pelicans and Nets, most recently playing in Turkey. Goodwin was drafted with the No. 29 overall pick by Oklahoma City back in 2013.
- Former NBA forward Thomas Robinson has signed in Russia with BC Khimki, the team announced on social media. Robinson signed a one-month deal with an extension until the end of the season. The 28-year-old has played for Sacramento, Houston, Portland, Philadelphia, Brooklyn and Los Angeles across his professional career, spending time with the Spurs during summer league in 2019.
- Warriors associate head coach Mike Brown has agreed to be the head coach of the Nigerian men’s basketball team, according to Marc J. Spears of ESPN’s The Undefeated (Twitter link). Brown will coach Nigeria during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics this summer, with Nigeria BB president Musa Kida reportedly looking for a high-profile coach that holds NBA experience.
As we explain in our glossary entry on the NBA’s trade rules, teams that complete a “non-simultaneous” deal can create what’s called a traded player exception. These are salary cap exceptions a team can use anytime during the following calendar year to acquire one or more players whose salaries are no greater than the amount of that exception (plus $100K).
A number of the traded player exceptions created at the 2019 trade deadline expired this week without being used, but nearly two dozen new TPEs were generated as a result of the trades completed at this year’s deadline. They’ll expire next February, so they could be used during the offseason or sometime next season.
The full list of traded player exceptions created this week is below, sorted by amount. The player whose departure helped generate the TPE is noted in parentheses. The full list of available trade exceptions can be found right here.
- Miami Heat: $7,533,867 (James Johnson)
- Memphis Grizzlies: $4,185,185 (Andre Iguodala)
- New York Knicks: $3,988,766 (Marcus Morris)
- Houston Rockets: $3,595,333 (Clint Capela)
- Los Angeles Clippers: $3,567,720 (Jerome Robinson)
- Denver Nuggets: $3,321,030 (Juan Hernangomez)
- Sacramento Kings: $2,673,334 (Dewayne Dedmon)
- Houston Rockets: $2,564,753 (Nene)
- Portland Trail Blazers: $2,338,847 (Skal Labissiere)
- Golden State Warriors: $1,925,880 (Jacob Evans)
- Golden State Warriors: $1,897,800 (Omari Spellman)
- Philadelphia 76ers: $1,882,867 (James Ennis)
- Denver Nuggets: $1,845,301 (Shabazz Napier)
- Memphis Grizzlies: $1,845,301 (Bruno Caboclo)
- Detroit Pistons: $1,716,873 (Andre Drummond)
- Washington Wizards: $1,645,357 (Jordan McRae)
- Golden State Warriors: $1,620,564 (Alec Burks)
- Golden State Warriors: $1,620,564 (Glenn Robinson III)
- Houston Rockets: $1,620,564 (Jordan Bell)
- Houston Rockets: $1,620,564 (Gerald Green)
- Los Angeles Clippers: $1,445,697 (Derrick Walton Jr.)
- Minnesota Timberwolves: $879,813 (Gorgui Dieng)
- Washington Wizards: $1,620,564 (Isaiah Thomas)
In addition to the traded player exceptions from the deals completed on February 6, this list includes the exceptions created on February 5 in the four-team trade involving the Hawks, Timberwolves, Rockets, and Nuggets.
It doesn’t include trade exceptions generated in deals earlier this season, such as the $7,069,662 TPE the Trail Blazers got when they sent Kent Bazemore to Sacramento in a five-player trade. Again, the full list of current TPEs can be found here.
If you have any questions or corrections, please let me know in the comment section below.
Salary information from Basketball Insiders and Early Bird Rights was used in the creation of this post.
An MRI on the shoulder of Heat swingman Jimmy Butler came back clean, but there is no guarantee he will play in Miami’s upcoming three-game road trip before the All-Star break, tweets Ira Winderman of the Sun-Sentinel.
The All-Star wing has been a revelation for the new-look Heat, leading the charge to the team’s robust 34-17 record. He is averaging 20.5 PPG and career highs of 6.8 RPG and 6.3 APG in 34.5 MPG for the Heat. Butler has been meriting MVP consideration with his efforts, according to NBA.com’s Sekou Smith.
The Heat face a fairly easy road game schedule, playing two teams with sub-.500 records: the 24-29 Trail Blazers tomorrow and the 12-40 Warriors on Monday. Miami will wrap up its road trip in Utah Wednesday against the 33-18 Jazz, who are 19-5 at home. The Heat will not play again until the 20th.
Alex Kirschenbaum contributed to this article.
Every week, Hoops Rumors takes a closer look at players who will be free agents or could become free agents next offseason. We examine if their stock is rising or falling due to performance and other factors. This week, we take a look at players from the Southeast Division:
Davis Bertans, Wizards, 27, PF (Up) – Signed to a two-year, $14.5MM deal in 2018
The fact that the Wizards set such a high price on the unrestricted free agent, reportedly asking for two first-rounders and possibly more, shows how much Bertans is valued by the organization and other clubs. He’s averaging 15 PPG, albeit for one of the league’s worst teams, but his 3-point shooting is craved around the league. Big guys who can shoot 42.9% from deep, as Bertans has the past two seasons, command a high price tag. Washington desperately wants to re-sign Bertans and hopes the loyalty it showed will have an impact this summer. But the Wizards will have plenty of competition for his services.
Treveon Graham, Hawks, 26, SG (Down) – Signed to a two-year, $3.16MM deal in 2018
Graham was tossed into the deal that sent Allen Crabbe to the Timberwolves last month. Perhaps the only thing surprising about Graham is that he wasn’t thrown into another trade by the very active Atlanta front office. He received steady playing time with Minnesota (20.1 MPG), including 20 starts, but his impact on the Hawks has been minimal. He’s scored a total of 12 points in nine appearances. Graham just isn’t enough of an offensive threat and defenses don’t have to respect him on the perimeter. He becomes an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season and he’ll be looking at minimum deals at best.
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Hornets, 26, SF (Down) – Signed to a four-year, $52MM deal in 2016
Oh, how the mighty have fallen.. Yes, the second overall pick in the 2012 draft is still in the league. In fact, he’s just 26 years old. Injuries sidetracked MKG’s career but a bigger issue is his lack of an offensive game. Ben Simmons can get a max contract without a 3-point shot because of his wondrous playmaking skills and defensive versatility. A 6’6” forward without an outside shot is a dinosaur into today’s NBA. MKG has appeared in just 12 games this season and hasn’t seen the floor since late December. Charlotte’s front office is just counting the days to get his contract off its books.
Jae Crowder, Heat, 29, SF (Up) – Signed to five-year, $35MM deal in 2015
Crowder was quietly enjoying one of his best seasons with the Grizzlies before getting dealt to Miami just before the deadline. He started regularly for Memphis despite modest offensive numbers (9.9 PPG on 36.8% shooting), finding other ways to contribute. He was averaging career highs in rebounding (6.2 RPG) and assists (2.8 APG) along with playing his usual solid defense. It will be interesting to see how coach Erik Spoelstra incorporates Crowder into the rotation but the impending unrestricted free agent will get an opportunity to show his value on a now serious Eastern Conference contender.
James Ennis, Magic, 29, SF (Down) – Signed to a two-year, $4MM deal in 2019
Ennis’ playing time had diminished before the Sixers, who acquired perimeter shooters from the Warriors, found a new home for the journeyman forward. The Magic were willing to give up a second-round pick in order to secure Ennis’ services. Orlando president Jeff Weltman said Ennis will add “shooting, athleticism, and toughness” to the team, so from all indications he’ll jump right into the rotation. Ennis is an adequate perimeter shooter and a factor in the open floor. Ennis holds a $2.13MM player option on his contract next season and could choose to opt out with a strong finish.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Heat president Pat Riley isn’t worried about Andre Iguodala‘s age or the fact the veteran forward hasn’t played this season, as he told Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald and other reporters. In fact, Riley took a different spin on Iguodala sitting out while waiting for the Grizzlies to trade him to a contender. Miami acquired Iguodala from Memphis in a deadline deal.
“He’s an elite defender, an elite team defender; an elite assist-to-turnover percentage. You don’t lose that in seven months,” Riley said. “Probably a blessing in disguise he didn’t play in seven months. He’s in shape. He’s definitely going to have to get his basketball legs under him. As long as he’s healthy he can play.”
Riley also touched on a number of other subjects:
- He was unwilling to give Thunder forward Danilo Gallinari a guaranteed 2021/22 contract extension, which prevented a trade for the OKC forward. That supports an ESPN report earlier today. Miami wanted to protect its projected cap space for the summer of 2021, when several high-level players are expected to hit the free agent market. “I wanted everything. But I wasn’t going to … compromise a two-year plan,” Riley said, adding “I like Gallo. I think he would have fit in really well. “
- Trading Justise Winslow to Memphis in a three-team deal that also included Minnesota was the hard part for Riley. Winslow has been injured most of the season. “I know he’s missed 150 games during 4 ½ years with us,” Riley said. “We’re going to miss him. The Memphis Grizzlies got a great young player.”
- No decision has been made on whether to offer Derrick Jones Jr. a contract this offseason. Jones becomes an unrestricted free agent this summer. “I like the fact he’s improved his three-point shooting,” Riley said. “Like the fact he’s become a better, more consistent defender. When that time comes we have a decision to make.”
- The Heat will scour the buyout market for a rim protector, per Riley: “We will keep our eyes out. We are happy part of this transaction gives us the possibility of a buyout player later on.”
For a few hours on Thursday, it looked as if the Heat would end up adding not just Andre Iguodala but Thunder forward Danilo Gallinari as well. However, Oklahoma City ultimately ended up not getting involved in the deal with Miami and Memphis that saw Iguodala, Jae Crowder, and Solomon Hill land with the Heat.
Like they did with Iguodala, the Heat were trying to complete an extend-and-trade deal for Gallinari, but the team’s desire to keep its 2021/22 cap sheet as clear as possible complicated those extensions talks. If the Heat had been willing to do an extension that was guaranteed through 2022, ESPN’s Zach Lowe believes they likely would’ve been able to acquire Gallinari without surrendering any of their key young players.
According to Lowe, talks between Miami and Oklahoma City focused on draft compensation. The Thunder already own the Heat’s top-14 protected 2023 first-round pick and wanted the protections lifted on that selection so that Miami could also trade its 2025 first-rounder to OKC.
As Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald explains (via Twitter), the Heat also probably could’ve acquired Gallinari without extending him, but they felt as if the risk of just renting the veteran forward for three months wouldn’t be worth the draft capital it would require.
Here’s more on the Heat:
- There was a belief that Crowder and Hill would be re-routed to the Thunder along with draft picks if Gallinari was involved in that Heat/Grizzlies swap. However, that may not have been the only scenario in play — David Aldridge of The Athletic hears from sources that Miami was also willing to discuss Kelly Olynyk and Derrick Jones in potential trades.
- Jeff Siegel of Early Bird Rights provides some new info on Iguodala’s extension with the Heat, tweeting that the two-year, $30MM deal – which is worth a flat $15MM per year with a team option on year two – features a 7.5% trade kicker. If he’s dealt, that bonus would only apply to Iguodala’s non-option year, unless the option is exercised before the trade.
- The Heat have newfound flexibility for the summer of 2020 after moving James Johnson and Dion Waiters. Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald explores possible paths Miami could take during the offseason, while cap expert Albert Nahmad of HeatHoops.com takes a more in-depth look at the financial situation facing the team as it considers its options for the next two summers.
- Count head coach Erik Spoelstra among those impressed with what president Pat Riley has done to revamp the Heat’s roster over the last year, as Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today details. “He’s one of the great visionaries of this Association, and it never ceases to amaze me how he continues to reinvent and think differently,” Spoelstra said of Riley. “That’s what visionaries do. They think way bigger and much differently than we do.”