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Heat Notes: Winslow, Waiters, Johnson, Nunn

November 29th, 2019 at 12:43pm CST by Arthur Hill

Justise Winslow was happy to be back on the court Wednesday after missing more than three weeks with a concussion, writes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. The Heat swingman said symptoms such as headaches and sensitivity to light and noise affected him for about a week after he collided with Nuggets forward Paul Millsap on November 5. He wasn’t able to practice until Tuesday.

“The concussion symptoms are probably the worst thing,” Winslow said. “The headaches, the light, all that. But it’s part of this league, the injuries and all that. Take care of your body, listen to your body. So I knew I wasn’t right. … The [concussion] protocol, I’m glad it’s put into place. Because going through that and rushing through that and trying to get back on the court is not the best thing for your health long term.”

Winslow started the season’s first five games, but was used off the bench Wednesday as the team hoped to ease him back to action. That plan was scrapped as injuries to other players forced him to play 34 minutes. Coach Erik Spoelstra will decide soon whether to return him to the starting lineup on a regular basis.

“I don’t want to set any expectations, just one day at a time for me,” Winslow said. “But hopefully against Golden State [tonight], you can see a little bit more of my natural self, handling the ball a little bit more and just the defensive intensity. I was just so happy to be out there. I wouldn’t say I was star struck, but I almost felt like a rookie.”

There’s more Heat news to pass along:

  • Tonight marks the final game of Dion Waiters‘ 10-game suspension, Chiang tweets. Spoelstra said the team has a plan for Waiters to return to action, but wouldn’t share it with reporters. Waiters hasn’t played since arguing with Spoelstra about his minutes during the preseason.
  • Although conditioning is no longer an issue for James Johnson, the veteran forward remains outside of Miami’s rotation, Chiang notes in a mailbag column. Johnson has only gotten into six of the first 17 games and is stuck behind Bam Adebayo, Meyers Leonard, Kelly Olynyk and two-way player Chris Silva.
  • The Warriors didn’t have room for Kendrick Nunn last season, but they could really use him now, notes Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel. Nunn was in camp with Golden State last fall, but couldn’t earn a spot on a team loaded with talent. Now that injuries and free agent losses have gutted the roster, an offensive force like Nunn would be valuable. “I understood the business part of it,” said Nunn, who spent the season with the Warriors’ G League affiliate in Santa Cruz. “They loved me as a player, that’s why the signed me on draft night. So, I was thankful there. But the business side of it was I didn’t get the call-up like I wanted to, and they were trying to work things out.”
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Heat Notes: Winslow, DeRozan, Leonard

November 28th, 2019 at 11:27am CST by ChrisCrouse

Justise Winslow made his return to the lineup on Wednesday, playing 34 minutes in his first game back from a concussion. After the game, coach Erik Spoelstra said that the plan moving forward is not to have the Duke product play that much.

“I had no intention of playing him that much. K-Nunn got hit in the chest. He couldn’t play. Duncan got five fouls. So thank goodness we had Justise for those minutes,” Spo said (via Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald.

The team was also without Jimmy Butler, who missed the contest because he was not feeling well. Butler is expected to be back in action on Friday, so that will also cut into Winslow’s playing time.

Here’s more from Miami.

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Heat Notes: Jack, Winslow, Waiters

November 27th, 2019 at 10:41am CST by ChrisCrouse

The Heat have acquired Jarrett Jack‘s G League rights, Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel relays (Twitter link). Jack is still free to sign with any NBA club at any time should there be interest from a rival franchise.

Here’s more from Miami

  • In his latest mailbag, Winderman wonders whether Justise Winslow will re-enter the starting lineup for the Heat. Winslow is expected to return tonight, though his minutes will be monitored and coach Erik Spoelstra‘s decision could come down to how Duncan Robinson is playing once Winslow is up to speed.
  • Dion Waiters can still help the Heat despite their deep roster full of talent, Winderman contends in the same piece. The scribe adds that Waiters’ playing time could come down to his willingness to accept a new role.
  • In a separate piece, Winderman cautions that there is much we don’t know about why James Johnson has not played more this season. Johnson had conditioning issues early in the season, though it’s unclear how much those have cleared up.
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And-Ones: Africa, Pitino, Olympic Qualifiers

November 26th, 2019 at 11:59am CST by Arthur Hill

Last night’s matchup between the Sixers and Raptors highlighted the growing influence Africa is having on the NBA, writes Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today. Joel Embiid and Pascal Siakam both hail from Cameroon and were discovered through Basketball Without Borders.

“Just to have two guys who are on separate teams but at the top of their teams means everything,” Siakam said. “It just shows the amount of talent we have on the continent, and for Cameroon, it’s a blessing and we’re excited about it. To represent our country at such a high level, it’s amazing.”

Zillgitt notes that 12 African players made opening-night rosters and nearly 10% of the league has at least one parent who was born there. The NBA will continue to expand its outreach to the continent, with the Basketball Africa League scheduled to begin in March.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

  • Former NBA and NCAA coach Rick Pitino has returned to Panathinaikos on a two-year contract, according to Emiliano Carchia of Sportando. Pitino led his team to the Greek Cup title last year as coach and team president, but left this summer in hopes of returning to the NBA.
  • The Olympic Qualifying Draw will take place tomorrow for teams that haven’t already secured a spot in the 2020 games, and Serbia’s Bogdan Bogdanovic knows that his nation’s path will be much smoother if it doesn’t have to face Slovenia with Luka Doncic. “There’s a lot at stake, and obviously it would be easier for us if we don’t play against him,” Bogdanovic said in an interview with Zurnal.rs (translated by Carchia). “But on the other hand we would love to see Doncic playing Olympic qualifiers here.” Belgrade will be among the four host cities for the tournaments, along with Victoria, Canada; Split, Croatia; and Kaunas, Lithuania.
  • ESPN’s Bobby Marks identifies a few under-the-radar moves that have made a difference in the first month of the season, including the Wizards adding Davis Bertans and Moritz Wagner, the Heat keeping Goran Dragic, the Suns getting better-than-expected contributions from Aron Baynes and Jevon Carter, the Thunder landing Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the impressive coaching jobs by Monty Williams in Phoenix and Ryan Saunders in Minnesota.
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Injury Updates: Winslow, Thomas, Middleton, Vucevic

November 25th, 2019 at 10:45pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Justise Winslow has been sidelined most of the month with a concussion but he’s closer to returning, Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel tweets. The Heat’s point forward is expected to practice on Tuesday. Winslow hasn’t played since November 5. He suffered the brain injury in a collision with Nuggets forward Paul Millsap. Coach Erik Spoelstra said Winslow formally remains in the protocol, Winderman adds.

We have more injury updates:

  • Raptors guard Matt Thomas has a fractured left middle finger and missed Monday’s game, Lori Ewing of The Canadian Press tweets. The rookie suffered the injury at Atlanta on Saturday. Thomas, a shooting guard out of Iowa State, is averaging 4.8 PPG in 11.3 MPG while making 53.8 percent of his 3-point attempts over 12 games.
  • Bucks forward Khris Middleton has gone through contact work in practice and played 5-on-5 as recently as Monday, coach Mike Budenholzer told Matt Velazquez of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Twitter link). Middleton suffered a left thigh contusion on November 10th and was expected to miss 3-4 weeks. Budenholzer said Middleton might be ahead of the original timetable for his return.
  • Magic center Nikola Vucevic said his right ankle sprain is not as severe as he originally feared when he suffered the injury last Wednesday, Josh Robbins of The Athletic tweets. However, he also has a bone bruise that will take some time to heal. He hasn’t been able to do any kind of running, Robbins adds. Vucevic is expected to miss a minimum of four weeks.
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Butler Unfazed By Boos In Philly

November 25th, 2019 at 4:25pm CST by Dana Gauruder
  • Jimmy Butler was greeted with mostly boos and jeers when the Heat played Philadelphia last week and he was fine with that, Michael Lee of The Athletic relays. Butler chose Miami at the start of free agency and the teams eventually agreed to a multi-team sign-and-trade. “I’m the enemy. I mean, you don’t got to like me ‘cause I’m on the other team. I’m OK with that. I really am,” he said. “They don’t know what’s going on. I love fans. I love my fans. But you don’t know what happened.”
  • Dion Waiters‘ appeal of his 10-game suspension could drag on for quite awhile, Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel writes. Waiters was suspended by the Heat for conduct detrimental to the team. Often a compromise is worked out behind the scenes in such cases and the arbitrator’s ruling might happen during the offseason, when all parties are available to participate in the process, Winderman adds.
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Southeast Notes: Spoelstra, Magic, Thomas, McRae

November 24th, 2019 at 6:59pm CST by JD Shaw

The NBA implemented a new coach’s challenge for the 2019/20 season, an addition that’s received mixed reviews among the league’s players, coaches and fans just one month into the campaign.

The feature is simple: To initiate the one-time, challenge, a head coach must call timeout and pursue review of a foul, out-of-bounds, goaltending or offensive interference call. While reviewing the play, the referees must see clear and conclusive visual evidence in order to overturn the ruling.

However, not all of the league’s 30 head coaches enjoy the new addition to the game.

“I don’t like it,” longtime Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of the challenge, according to Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel. “I’m an NBA basketball coach. I’m not an official, and I’m not trying to be an official.

“There are too many things to focus on. It doesn’t work like the NFL one. And I’m not bashing it to say I won’t be a part of it. We’ve challenged and won one. I’ll use it, but it’s distracting.”

Despite giving teams the option to challenge a potentially incorrect call, the addition of the coach’s challenge presents one clear problem: Slowing down a game that’s already been slowed enough by officiating in recent seasons, particularly toward the end of contests.

“I don’t know how that helps the flow,” Spoelstra said. “To me, it hurts the flow. It’s just another thing to focus on that’s distracting that has nothing to do with the game.

“For example, we had a game in Miami the other night and there was a bang-bang play, and it could have been called or not. I didn’t have a timeout to burn in that instance; I didn’t want to, like, gamble. And I see two fans going like this [motioning with a twirling finger]. That’s where we’re going? It’s like, I don’t know.”

There’s more out of the Southeast Division tonight:

  • Josh Robbins of The Athletic provides injury updates on Magic players Aaron Gordon, Nikola Vucevic and Michael Carter-Williams. Gordon has a combination of a right ankle contusion and right ankle sprain, Robbins notes, though his injury is improving and he’s receiving around-the-clock treatment. Vucevic is also rehabbing from an ankle injury, though the 29-year-old is no longer in a walking boot. Carter-Williams did some stationary bike work on Saturday to continue rehab on a left hip injury.
  • Wizards guard Isaiah Thomas is confident that he’ll return to his old All-Star form, as relayed by Kevin Brown of NBC Sports Washington. “A lot of people have counted me out, especially the last couple of years,” Thomas said. “But I know what I’ve been through, I know what my body’s been through. I know how good I feel I know I’m ready and I know given the opportunity, I can play at an All-Star level again. And that’s what I’m gonna showcase…I promise you I’m gonna be an All-Star, I’m gonna be an All-NBA basketball player again.”
  • Jordan McRae is finally having his special moment with the Wizards, Fred Katz of The Athletic details. McRae missed the entire 2017/18 season due to a shoulder injury and is coming off an up-and-down campaign with Washington, but he’s starting to solidify his role on the team this year. “There’s not a better feeling in the world — unless you sign a max contract. That might be a little bit better,” head coach Scott Brooks said. “It’s a great opportunity for Jordan. … But he still can’t relax. They always say the easiest thing is to make it. The hardest thing is to keep it. And he’s doing everything we ask. It’s good to have him back.”
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Players Association Appeals Waiters’ Suspension

November 22nd, 2019 at 4:50pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The NBA Players Association has filed an appeal of Dion Waiters‘ 10-game team suspension, Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel tweets.

Waiters is trying recoup $834K in lost wages but the appeal won’t allow him to suit up any sooner. The appeal includes 30-day notice and the disputed amount will be held in escrow, Winderman continues. Waiters’ initial one-game suspension and the wages lost has also been appealed, Winderman adds.

The 10-game suspension imposed by the Heat for conduct detrimental to the team was announced on November 10th after a bizarre incident on the team plane.

Waiters experienced a medical episode on a team flight after consuming a “gummy,” an edible form of marijuana.

“We are very disappointed in Dion’s actions this season that include the very scary situation on Thursday night, and grateful that the outcome wasn’t worse,” the Heat said in a statement at that time. “There have been a number of instances this season in which Dion has engaged in conduct detrimental to the team.

“… We expect all of our players, including Dion, to conduct themselves in accordance with the highest standards, and to show professionalism and respect for their teammates, the team, the fans and the NBA community.”

Waiters will be eligible to return on December 1 in Brooklyn. However, the shooting guard had already lost his rotation spot prior to the suspension.

The first suspension, also for conduct detrimental to the team, banned him for the first game of the season. He has yet to play a single regular-season minute. Waiters also irritated the front office when he took to social media following his first suspension and took shots at head coach Erik Spoeltra.

Waiters is making $12.1MM this season and has another year and $12.65MM remaining on his contract.

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Jimmy Butler Talks Sixers, Heat, Big Twos, Embiid

November 21st, 2019 at 12:24pm CST by Luke Adams

The Kawhi Leonard buzzer-beater that eliminated the Sixers from the playoffs in the spring and helped propel the Raptors to their first NBA championship was a sliding-doors moment for the league — and for star forward Jimmy Butler. Speaking to Michael Lee of The Athletic, Butler mused about what might have happened if Philadelphia had pulled out a win in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals in May.

“What happens if we win that game?” Butler said. “Do we win a championship? Am I in Philly? All of these ifs. Who knows?

“But you think about it. It’ll haunt you for the rest of your days — especially if you don’t get an opportunity — that you were that close. And then you’re like, man, one play, one possession, one anything and it easily could’ve been us winning that championship. If I ask you, who would you pick if we win that? You’d probably say Philly. Golden State is not healthy? I would say Philly. I don’t know many people who would say Golden State, if they’re not healthy.”

While it’s an agonizing what-if to consider for 76ers fans, that second-round loss ultimately opened up a path for the team to make some major changes in the offseason. According to ESPN’s Zach Lowe, the parent of one member of the Sixers told higher-ups that team chemistry felt off in the wake of the end of the 2018/19 season, and improving that chemistry has been a priority this fall, with Tobias Harris and Al Horford frequently organizing dinners that many players attend.

Lowe doesn’t suggest that Butler was responsible for last season’s chemistry issues, but he does confirm that the Sixers didn’t make the 30-year-old a five-year, maximum-salary offer during free agency, as previously reported by Adrian Wojnarowski and Shams Charania. For his part, Butler has found a new home with the Heat, telling Lee that Miami “just fits” him.

“Basketball is great here, but the people here, what they expect of you on a daily basis. The level that they hold you accountable at here, is something that I respect,” Butler said. “It’s something that I really love — not just like, really love — because it’s about having good people and doing things the right way. Because when this basketball thing is over with, you’re still going to have to have those morals. And if you don’t have that, you’re in for a rude awakening.”

Here are a few more noteworthy quotes from Butler, via Lee, on his offseason decision, his new team, and one of his former teammates:

On not teaming up with a star to form a “Big Two” this past summer, as other players did in Los Angeles and Houston:

“It just wasn’t the way that it worked out. I’m not one to go with the trend anyways. I don’t do what everybody else is doing. I’m not saying that it’s bad, it’s good, it’s just I worry about myself, first of all. I worry about the people that I’m around. And then you move down the line. I mean, I don’t care who I team up with. Organizational-wise, this was the place for me.

“Now, if you get some other people that think like I think, that go about things the way that I go about it, this is the place for them as well. I don’t know. I didn’t talk about it. … I leave people alone and do what I’m going to do and that’s what I did.”

On the Heat’s upside:

“The ceiling is a championship. And I don’t care what nobody has to say. If the stars align, we can get it done. If we figure this thing out, we stay together, we get our defense on track, we get our offense on track, and we become top five in both categories, we right there. We right there. We’ve got an opportunity to do something special and we’re working at it every single day.”

On former teammate Joel Embiid:

“That m———er is special. For real. Any time I text him, which we text plenty, FaceTime, phone calls. I always tell him, ‘Continue to show why you’re the best player in this league.’ Because I saw it. I saw it. He can do everything. Like, legit, he can do everything. He works and I respect it. … That’s how you become the best player, you’ve got to be obsessed with it. And he is. He is.”

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Heat Can't Conver Silva To Standard Contract Before January 14

November 21st, 2019 at 8:50am CST by Luke Adams

Over at The Ringer, Kevin O’Connor tries to identify a few teams that might match up with the Cavaliers in a Love trade, writing that rival team executives believe GM Koby Altman is “just posturing” when he insists Cleveland has zero interest in moving the five-time All-Star. However, O’Connor has a tough time finding ideal fits, listing the Kings, Spurs, Heat, Trail Blazers, and Rockets as some teams that might work in theory.

  • As cap expert Albert Nahmad (Twitter links) explains, the hard-capped Heat won’t be able to convert Chris Silva from his two-way deal to a standard contract any earlier than January 14, but they may be able to continue using him in most games up until that point, since the NBA has relaxed its rules regarding service time for two-way players.
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