Heat Rumors

Dion Waiters Suffers Medical Episode On Team Flight

November 9th, 2019 at 11:34am CST by marksuleymanov

In the latest chapter of what’s been a troubling season for Dion Waiters, the Heat swingman reportedly suffered a seizure after the team plane landed in Los Angeles on Thursday night.

As first reported by South Florida Fox Sports Radio host Andy Slater (Twitter links), Waiters suffered a “medical emergency” on the flight. Slater noted that Waiters overdosed on “gummies,” a term for an edible form of marijuana. Waiters was passed out when the plane landed and suffered the seizure once he was awoken, Slater added.

Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel confirmed that Waiters fell ill on that Thursday night flight. Winderman mentioned that its unclear whether or not Slater’s report of “gummies” was referencing marijuana but they are easily accessible in Denver, where the Heat began a three-game road trip against the Nuggets.

The Heat have not confirmed any of these reports outside of listing Waiters as unavailable for Friday’s loss to the Lakers due to “illness,” without further specification.

Waiters, 27, was expected to be a key contributor for Miami this season but instead has yet to suit up. It all started with a one-game suspension ahead of the club’s season opener in late October.

“There were a number of unacceptable incidents this week, culminating with his unprofessional conduct on the bench last night,” team president Pat Riley said at the time. “As a consequence, I feel we had to suspend him.”

The issue proved to be a heated conversation with head coach Erik Spoelstra over Waiters’ playing time. He played for just 10 minutes during the Heat’s final preseason game, which led to the blowup. Following the suspension, Waiters was critical of the team and Spoelstra on social media, commenting on one Instagram post, “I would win if I had Bron & Wade plus Bosh.”

Since then, Waiters has been active for a few of the Heat’s games and been a regular at shootaround, However, he has yet to play in a regular-season game and has not been on the bench for a single game. On Friday, we relayed uncertainty around Waiters’ status with the team.

After this latest development, Waiters’ personal health and well being will be at the forefront of the team’s concerns. However, it’s fair to wonder if Waiters — who has two years and $25MM left on his deal — will ever play for the Heat again.

Latest On Dion Waiters

November 8th, 2019 at 12:27pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Dion Waiters has yet to play for the Heat this season and it’s fair to wonder if he will ever play for the team again, as a trade remains possible.

Yet, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald hears that “no palatable trade scenario” has emerged for Waiters. Miami isn’t interested in attaching an asset to Waiters to move him, especially if the team receives a lesser player in return.

The best-case scenario for Waiters and the team may be to start fresh, despite Waiters’ social media jabs at the team, the suspension, and the reported conditioning issues. The former top-five pick may not warrant a huge role for this deep Heat roster. However, his offensive skill set could provide the team with value off of the bench.

Waiters has two seasons and roughly $25MM left on his deal. The shooting guard has spent the last three seasons with the Heat after stints with the Thunder and Cavs.

Hassan Whiteside Discusses Departure From Heat

November 7th, 2019 at 10:58am CST by Luke Adams

Veteran center Hassan Whiteside won’t face his old team until January 5, when the Heat host the Trail Blazers, but Miami-based reporter Shandel Richardson of The Athletic caught up with the former Heat big man this week to discuss the trade that sent him to Portland in July.

According to Whiteside, both he and the Heat felt it was time to move on, and he doesn’t bear any “ill will” toward any staffers or former teammates in Miami. While there may be a perception that Whiteside left the Heat on bad terms, he insists that wasn’t the case, telling Richardson that Miami is “a great place to live” and that he’s still friendly with head coach Erik Spoelstra and team president Pat Riley.

In his conversation with Richardson, Whiteside addressed several other aspects of the deal that sent him from Miami to Portland, including whether or not he knew it was coming and what factors he believe led to the move.

If you have an Athletic subscription, the discussion is worth checking out in full, but here are a few of the more noteworthy comments from the Trail Blazers center:

On when he realized his time in Miami was nearing an end:

“We were working on something. It was something that I talked to them about, about getting traded. We talked about it within the last two years. We figured it out. I wanted to go somewhere I can play more and be more of a guy on the court. It’s never been about anything but that. I always just wanted to play. I could’ve sat back and chilled and collected checks, but I wanted to play.”

On the factors that led to the Heat trading him:

“I think the deciding factor was I got older. I’m 30 now. They bring in younger guys. I had four or five years at it. We got to the second round of the playoffs. We made the playoffs a couple of times. They just wanted to bring in new guys. That’s the business of it. It’s tough, especially when you’re seeing guys every day. But I’m used to it. I’ve played on so many teams. I’m not taking anything personal. I’m happy on my new team. I don’t really have anything much to say about the Heat. That chapter is over. I said my goodbyes. We had great memories. We had tough losses. That’s pretty much it for me.”

On facing criticism in Miami for not contributing at a level commensurate with his lucrative salary:

“Regardless of how many minutes I played in Miami, I always averaged a double-double. I always was top in defensive rating. You can look it up. I was No. 1 in the last year protecting the rim. Every year, you could say one thing but the numbers speak for themselves.

“A lot of people liked my 2015/16 season. I don’t even think that was my best season. I think my best season was the season I played the most the following year. I led the NBA in rebounds and averaged (17) points. That was my best year, the year after my contract. Unfortunately, I got an early season bone bruise the next year after I got 20 points and 20 rebounds (against Orlando). Then I missed a lot of games and basically times just got rocky.”

How Nunn Ended Up In Miami

November 6th, 2019 at 10:07am CST by Luke Adams

Kendrick Nunn‘s agent Adam Pensack tells Aldridge that he “pushed pretty strongly” in his attempt to get his client a 10-day contract with an NBA team last season. When that didn’t happen, Pensack and Nunn went looking for an NBA home once the G League season ended. The Kings brought in several players for a workout and told them they’d sign the best player in the group. Sacramento chose B.J. Johnson over Nunn, opening the door for the former Oakland standout to catch on with the Heat a week later. We explored that deal in more depth last week.
Here’s more from Heat director of scouting Chet Kammerer on why the team signed Nunn and spent time developing him: “Coach (Erik) Spoelstra is big right now on having guys that are versatile, on guys that aren’t one-dimensional. It’s the fact we saw a couple of things. He was really versatile. He always seemed like a tough kid, physically and mentally tough. To me, he was hard to guard. When we played them, he found ways. It was tough to stay in front of the guy. He’s an attacker. He competes hard. He was a better shooter than all of us thought, too. You look at his percentages, and we said, ‘This is a guy can shoot the ball.’ You look at all of those things, and that’s a Heat guy, to us.”

[SOURCE LINK]

Latest On Dion Waiters

November 6th, 2019 at 8:48am CST by Luke Adams

After being activated for the first time this season on Sunday vs. Houston, Dion Waiters was back on the inactive list for the Heat on Tuesday, writes Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel.

As Winderman observes, the question of when Waiters will return appears to be turning into a question of if he’ll return. The veteran guard has yet to play in a game this season, and two-way player Chris Silva and little-used big man Udonis Haslem were among those active ahead of him in Denver on Tuesday.

“Dion will not be active. He will work out,” head coach Erik Spoelstra said before Tuesday’s game. “I met with him. He and I talked. Things are a little bit fluid right now, because we have everybody available right now, which is a good thing. And then we’ll continue to work it out.”

Waiters’ situation has been a “weird subplot” during an otherwise strong start to the season for the Heat, according to Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald, who tweets that the team hasn’t found “anything palatable” on the trade market for the 27-year-old.

In a separate story for the Sun Sentinel, Winderman wonders if the Heat simply don’t want to risk compromising the good chemistry the team has developed in the first two weeks of the season by re-inserting Waiters in the mix. Winderman also speculates that the negative comments Waiters made on social media in the wake of his one-game suspension to open the season may have represented a tipping point for the Heat.

As Winderman points out in another story, Heat president Pat Riley is treating the Waiters situation a little differently than he did when Hassan Whiteside complained about his playing time in recent years. With Whiteside, Riley nudged Spoelstra to make the situation work and find a role for the big man. In Waiters’ case, Riley appears content to leave the ball in Spoelstra’s court, per Winderman.

Jimmy Butler: “Nobody Really Knows What Went On In Philly”

November 4th, 2019 at 5:35pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Jimmy Butler‘s departure from the Sixers wasn’t simply a desire to play in Miami. He had some issues in Philadelphia which convinced him not to sign long-term with the organization, as he told Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports.

Butler made it known in the days leading up to free agency that he would leave Philadelphia, Haynes continues.

“Nobody knows what really went on in Philly and we’re going to leave it that way,” Butler said. “But it was a great opportunity for me.”

Butler chose the Heat on the first day of free agency and secured a four-year, $141MM contract when the Sixers agreed to a sign-and-trade that involved multiple teams.

Butler said his problems with the Sixers organization had nothing to doing with center Joel Embiid. Butler refused to elaborate what exactly led to his decision.

“All of that will come out whenever it’s time,” he said. “Right now is not the time. I’m locked in with this. I’m happy, man. … I’m not saying Philly wasn’t great, man. We had some really good players. I talk to Joel (daily). It’s a brotherhood, man. I love that guy. I’m going to always have his back and I know he’ll always have mine.”

Butler noted that he wanted to be traded to Miami when he had a falling out with the Timberwolves. He also expressed disdain for critics who believe that he’s not an franchise player.

“(They) act like I’m not a good basketball player,” Butler said. “Like for real. Just think about that. Like I can’t come in and make a huge difference. I’m not going to say ‘carry a team’ because nobody can do it by themselves and I mean that. I’m not putting it all on myself, but I know what I’m capable of.”

In his first three games with the Heat, Butler has averaged 14.7 PPG, 7.0 RPG, 7.3 APG and 4.3 SPG. His debut was delayed due to the birth of his daughter.

Heat Notes: Herro, Waiters, Winslow, Butler, Arena

November 3rd, 2019 at 5:27pm CST by JD Shaw

Heat rookie Tyler Herro has impressed during his first five games with the franchise, scorching teams on the offensive end and displaying a level of maturity not typically seen in 19-year-old players.

Herro, the No. 13 pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, has averaged 16.4 points, 5.8 rebounds and 32.2 minutes per contest thus far. He holds shooting marks of 45% from the floor and 36% from three-point range, starting in three of those five games. He’s slated to once again come off the bench against Houston on Sunday night.

“This is my first time [coming off the bench], but I’m willing to do whatever coach wants me to do,” Herro said, according to Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald. “Whether it’s start or come off the bench — whatever is best for the team.

“I’ve never come off the bench, so as long as I’m playing my minutes — and however much coach thinks that should be. But as long as I’m playing my minutes that I’ve earned, then I’m good.”

Many league observers tabbed Herro as most likely to start at shooting guard for Miami this season, but the elevated play from fellow rookie Kendrick Nunn (22.4 PPG on 52% shooting) has kept Herro from receiving a solidified starting role.

The Heat have opened the 2019/20 season at 4-1, with their only loss coming on the road to Minnesota during the second half of a back-to-back.

There’s more out of Miami tonight:

Dion Waiters will be available to play for the Heat in their home game against the Rockets on Sunday, according to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald (Twitter link). Waiters was suspended by the team for their first game after expressing frustration over his lack of playing time in the preseason, with the 27-year-old being listed as out since then.
Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel examines whether a Justise Winslow–Jimmy Butler pairing will work for the team. Both Winslow and Butler share similar play styles, working hard on the defensive end while mostly operating inside the arc offensively.
TD Bank has had serious discussions with Miami-Dade County to acquire naming rights for the Heat’s arena, Jackson writes for the Miami Herald. One source labeled TD Bank as front-runners to acquire naming rights for the arena, according to Jackson, though another source cautioned that other companies still remain in the mix. American Airlines will not be pursuing a renewal of its 20-year contract for naming rights.

Warriors Notes: Russell, Paschall, Iguodala, Heat

November 2nd, 2019 at 10:03pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Warriors‘ incredible misfortune with injuries provides the organization with an opportunity to work out some important issues before next season, writes Connor Letourneau of The San Francisco Chronicle. At the top of the list is determining whether D’Angelo Russell is a long-term fit in the Golden State backcourt.

Russell was the Warriors’ top acquisition of the summer and the player they reached out to when they learned that Kevin Durant was headed to the Nets. He came at a high price, as a complicated sign-and-trade with Brooklyn imposed a hard cap and left the team with little maneuverability once injuries started to hit.

Russell was an All-Star last season, but didn’t get off to a strong start with his new team, Letourneau adds. He wasn’t comfortable in the Warriors’ motion offense and had the worst offensive rating through the first four games among 11 players who saw regular minutes. However, now that Curry is out for at least three months with a broken hand, Russell can run the high pick-and-rolls that he is more familiar with.

Russell’s greatest long-term value to the organization may be as a trade chip. If the front office decides he won’t fit in with Curry and Klay Thompson, Russell could be moved either at the deadline or next summer. He would likely bring back a collection of talent that could help a healthier Warriors team return to title contention in 2020/21.

There’s more Warriors news to pass along:

Eric Paschall has been one of the few bright spots in a dismal start, Letourneau states in the same piece. The rookie big man out of Villanova has shown an ability to contribute on both ends of the court and may have an expanded role while Draymond Green is sidelined with a torn ligament in his finger. Letourneau notes that the Warriors have so much money invested in four players that they need to find second-round steals like Paschall to fill out the roster.
The Russell trade was doubly costly because the Warriors were forced to part with Andre Iguodala to open enough cap room to make the deal work, points out Douglas Farmer of Basketball Insiders. Iguodala could have helped stabilize a defense that has been among the league’s worst.
The Warriors could take a lesson in how to survive their decline from the Heat, suggests Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel. Miami had a four-year run of dominance, but fell on similar hard times after LeBron James left in 2014. “You’ve got to have the right veterans to kind of fill in the gaps and patch up the holes and keep guys together,” Udonis Haslem said. “It’s not necessarily always going to be on the court. Sometimes, you’ve got to control the locker room.”

Heat’s Bet On Kendrick Nunn Paying Off

November 1st, 2019 at 3:59pm CST by Luke Adams

As the Heat made their major roster moves in July, Kendrick Nunn‘s chances to secure a spot on the team’s 15-man regular-season squad appeared to be in jeopardy. At that time, Nunn only had a $50K partial guarantee on his deal, and Miami’s offseason maneuvers had imposed a $138.93MM hard cap on the team, leaving little breathing room below that cap.

Without the flexibility to add a 15th man to their roster, the Heat would have to make the most of their other 14 roster spots. Presumably, that would mean carrying 14 players capable of playing real minutes, and it wasn’t clear that an undrafted rookie such as Nunn fit that bill. Waiving him would only cost Miami $50K, and would give the club the flexibility to bring in a minimum-salary veteran who could contribute immediately.

However, the former Oakland University standout – who ranked second in the NCAA in scoring in 2017/18, behind only Trae Young – impressed the Heat in Summer League play. Nunn averaged 24.0 PPG in two Summer League games in Sacramento, then 21.0 PPG in four Las Vegas contests. When the team kept him under contract through August 1, allowing his partial guarantee to increase to $150K, it became clear that he was in position to earn that 14th and final roster spot.

Three months later, Nunn isn’t just the Heat’s 14th man — he’s their leading scorer.

Through the first five games of his NBA career, the 24-year-old is averaging 22.4 PPG on .518/.484/1.000 shooting and has played a key role in Miami’s 4-1 start. According to ESPN, he has scored more points in his first five NBA games than all but two players (Kevin Durant and Jerry Stackhouse) who have debuted in the last 25 years.

While Nunn almost certainly won’t keep up this pace, he’s no longer at risk of losing his roster spot, meaning his $1,416,852 minimum salary should become fully guaranteed in January. At that price, he could be one of the NBA’s best bargains both this season and next, when he has a $1,663,861 non-guaranteed salary.

Assuming he plays out that contract, Nunn will be on track to become a restricted free agent during the summer of 2021 with two seasons’ worth of NBA games under his belt. However, as cap expert Albert Nahmad pointed out earlier this week (via Twitter), Miami won’t just have Early Bird rights on Nunn at that time. Because he signed his current contract with one day left in the 2018/19 regular season, he’s credited with an extra year of service.

That means the Heat will have full Bird rights on Nunn by the time he’s eligible for free agency, meaning they could offer him anything up to the max. With only his Early Bird rights, they would have been limited to making him an offer in the mid-level range, and would’ve opened the door to a potential back-loaded offer sheet like the one they were forced to match for Tyler Johnson in 2016.

After five games, it’s far too early to say with any certainty that the Heat will even need that sort of financial flexibility to sign Nunn to his next contract. But if he continues to produce and increase his value, his current contract will make him an ideal asset for Miami to carry into 2021’s free agent period. The Heat reportedly want to make a run at stars that summer and could maximize their cap space by keeping Nunn’s minimum-salary cap hold on the books as they pursue top free agents. Once they’ve used up all their cap room, they could go over the cap to re-sign him.

Again, it’s worth stressing that Nunn’s hot streak likely won’t last — he’s not going to shoot .518/.484/1.000 all season. It’s entirely possible that by the All-Star break, the Heat’s investment won’t look quite as savvy as it does now.

Still, ESPN’s Zach Lowe says several clubs around the NBA are “kicking themselves” for not rolling the dice on Nunn. That group includes the Warriors, who had him on their G League roster for most of the 2018/19 season after waiving him last fall.

According to Lowe, some teams tried to entice Nunn earlier in the year by promising a training camp deal for this fall, but the Heat went a step further, signing him to a multiyear deal at the very end of the ’18/19 season. That bet is paying off in a big way for Miami now.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

NBA Trade Candidate Watch: Southeast Division

November 1st, 2019 at 1:13pm CST by Luke Adams

Over the course of the 2019/20 NBA season, up until February’s trade deadline, we’re keeping an eye on potential trade candidates from around the NBA, monitoring their value and exploring the likelihood that they’ll be moved. Each of these looks at possible trade candidates focuses on a specific division, as we zero in on three players from that division.

Friday is just the 11th day of the 2019/20 regular season, so trade talks around the NBA haven’t started to heat up yet. In fact, the trade market has been pretty quiet for months — no deal has been completed since the Thunder and Rockets finalized their Russell Westbrook/Chris Paul swap way back on July 16.

Still, based on contract situations and early-season rotations, some potential trade candidates may begin to emerge sooner rather than later. Here’s a look at three Southeast players who could fit that bill…

Dion Waiters, SG
Miami Heat
$12.1MM cap hit; $12.65MM guaranteed salary in 2020/21

Waiters was said to be unhappy with his playing time during the preseason and was suspended for the Heat‘s first game of the season after expressing his displeasure on the sidelines during the club’s final exhibition contest. Since then, he has remained inactive as he works toward meeting Miami’s conditioning requirements.

According to Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald (Twitter link), Waiters was “contrite” when he met with Heat officials this week, so perhaps he’ll eventually return to action, accept a reduced role, and play out the rest of his contract with the team without incident. Still, this feels a little like the situation Miami previously encountered with Hassan Whiteside, who griped about his declining role multiple times and eventually got traded.

With two years still left on his contract, Waiters doesn’t have positive trade value at this point, and the Heat’s hard cap will make it tricky for them to pull off certain deals. A trade may have to wait until 2020/21. But if the team explores the market in search of a major deal in the coming months, Waiters is a good candidate to be included to match salaries and get him a change of scenery.

Willy Hernangomez, C
Charlotte Hornets
$1.68MM cap hit; UFA in 2020

The Hornets almost certainly wouldn’t mind moving big expiring contracts belonging to Bismack Biyombo, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, and Marvin Williams. But it’s hard to imagine the team getting quality assets for any of those players.

As Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer pointed out in a recent mailbag, a trade involving Hernangomez might be more realistic, since his expiring salary is just $1.68MM. If a team is willing to give up a second-round pick for Hernangomez, Charlotte would probably listen, Bonnell writes.

Still, it’s not clear if there will be a team willing to pay even that modest price for Hernangomez, whose stock has dipped in the years since a promising 2016/17 rookie season. He has played in just two of the Hornets’ five games so far, and his trade value will be limited by the fact that he’ll be an unrestricted – rather than restricted – free agent at season’s end.

C.J. Miles, G/F
Washington Wizards
$8.73MM cap hit; UFA in 2020

Miles has already been traded twice in 2019, from Toronto to Memphis in February and then to Washington in July. With the Wizards in retooling mode and not expected to contend this season, there’s no reason to think the team wouldn’t move him once more before the deadline if he can rebuild his value.

Although he’s still recovering from offseason foot surgery, Miles is reportedly inching closer to making his Wizards debut. The veteran swingman should fit right in on a squad that has been letting it fly from beyond the arc so far — Washington has attempted the sixth-most three-pointers in the NBA (38.0 3PG) and ranks fourth in three-point percentage (38.2%).

Given the other shooters on their rosters, the Wizards won’t need to lean on Miles to space the floor, but it will be interesting to see whether they give him regular minutes to showcase him for a potential trade. That $8.73MM expiring deal won’t be easy to move, and a buyout may ultimately be more likely, but if Miles looks healthy and is knocking down 40% of his threes, maybe a playoff team in need of shooting help gets desperate.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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