- Heat veteran Udonis Haslem reflected on his storied 16-year career in an exclusive article relayed by Marc Spears of ESPN’s The Undefeated, looking back on his competitors, teammates, early upbringing and love for the game of basketball. Haslem has spent the past few seasons in a very limited on-court role, doing most of his work on the Heat with the younger players in practice and in the locker room. Haslem’s veteran presence is greatly valued by Miami’s coaching staff and players, many of whom have publicly stated their hopes of him returning for another season.
Josh Richardson returned to the Heat‘s lineup on Wednesday after missing three games with a heel injury, but left the loss early due to a groin injury. Now, he may be done for the season.
While an MRI on Richardson’s left groin injury didn’t reveal any damage, the young wing could miss the next two weeks, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. If that timeline is accurate, it would extend into the first round of the postseason. The Heat are currently fighting for their playoff lives and are no lock to make it, which means Richardson may not get a chance to play again until 2019/20.
Richardson, 25, has been a key contributor for the Heat this season, averaging team highs in PPG (16.6 PPG) and MPG (34.8) while playing strong perimeter defense. It will be an uphill battle for the ninth-seeded Heat to re-enter the playoff picture without him, though the team has plenty of backcourt and wing depth. Dwyane Wade, Justise Winslow, Dion Waiters, Rodney McGruder are among the players who could be leaned on more heavily with Richardson sidelined.
The Heat, who sit a half-game back of the Nets and Magic for the Nos. 7 and 8 spots in the East, will finish their season by playing at Minnesota, at Toronto, vs. Philadelphia, and at Brooklyn.
After being named the G League’s Most Valuable Player and the Defensive Player of the Year for the 2018/19 season on Monday, Raptors 905 big man Chris Boucher – now a member of the Toronto Raptors – headlines the All-NBA G League first team, as the league announced today in a press release.
Boucher was joined on the All-NBAGL first team by teammate Jordan Loyd, as well as Capital City Go-Go guard Jordan McRae, Long Island Nets big man Alan Williams, and Agua Caliente Clippers of Ontario center Angel Delgado. All four players are currently on two-way contracts with NBA teams.
That’s a common theme for this year’s All-NBAGL teams, as most of the 15 players named to the three squads aren’t currently NBA free agents, having signed two-way or NBA contracts.
The complete list of the 2018/19 All-NBA G League teams, along with the All-Rookie and All-Defensive squads, is below. Players currently on a 15-man NBA roster are marked with an asterisk (*), while players on two-way contracts are noted with a caret (^).
All-NBAGL First Team:
- Chris Boucher (Raptors 905) *
- Angel Delgado (Agua Caliente Clippers of Ontario) ^
- Jordan Loyd (Raptors 905) ^
- Jordan McRae (Capital City Go-Go) ^
- Alan Williams (Long Island Nets) ^
All-NBAGL Second Team:
- Isaiah Hartenstein (Rio Grande Valley Vipers) *
- Walt Lemon (Windy City Bulls) *
- Note: Lemon wasn’t on an NBA contract for most of the season, but was recently called up by the Bulls.
- Yante Maten (Sioux Falls Skyforce) ^
- Johnathan Motley (Agua Caliente Clippers of Ontario) ^
- Theo Pinson (Long Island Nets) ^
All-NBAGL Third Team:
- P.J. Dozier (Maine Red Claws) ^
- Amile Jefferson (Lakeland Magic) ^
- Kalin Lucas (Grand Rapids Drive) ^
- Duncan Robinson (Sioux Falls Skyforce) ^
- Christian Wood (Wisconsin Herd) *
- Note: Wood spent most of the season on the Bucks’ roster, but was recently released and claimed off waivers by the Pelicans.
NBAGL All-Rookie Team:
- Chris Chiozza (Capital City Go-Go) *
- Note: Chiozza wasn’t on an NBA contract for most of the season, but was recently called up by the Rockets.
- Angel Delgado (Agua Caliente Clippers of Ontario) ^
- Yante Maten (Sioux Falls Skyforce) ^
- Theo Pinson (Long Islands Nets) ^
- Duncan Robinson (Sioux Falls Skyforce) ^
NBAGL All-Defensive Team:
- Kadeem Allen (Westchester Knicks) ^
- Chris Boucher (Raptors 905) *
- Amida Brimah (Austin Spurs)
- Gary Payton II (Rio Grande Valley Vipers)
- Norvel Pelle (Delaware Blue Coats)
The All-Defensive team is the only squad that features players who are currently NBA free agents — Brimah and Pelle haven’t been on an NBA roster this season, while Payton only briefly spent time with an NBA team, signing a 10-day contract with the Wizards in January.
Kelly Olynyk passed the 1,700-minute mark for the season on Monday during the Heat’s loss to the Celtics and as a result, he’ll pick up a $1MM bonus for surpassing the threshold, as ESPN’s Bobby Marks relays (Twitter link). Olynyk played the entire second half against Boston and he’s been one of the more reliable members of the team this season, playing in all but three games so far this year.
Olynyk has the $1MM bonus for 1,700 minutes on each season of the contract he signed back in 2017. Prior to his Heat deal, his season high in minutes played was 1,538.
The threshold was considered “unlikely” prior to last season, meaning that it was not accounted for in Miami’s 2017/18 salary cap. The bonus was then changed to “likely” after he hit the 1,700-mark last year and it was accounted for in this year’s figures. Had Olynyk not received 1,700 minutes, Miami’s 2018/19 salary cap would have been reduced by $1MM.
Olynyk will also take home a $400K bonus if the Heat make the playoffs, which was also determined to be likely for this season, since Miami made the postseason last spring. If Olynyk had failed to earn either his minutes-player or postseason bonuses, the Heat may have been able to sneak under the luxury tax line, but that’s no longer in play.
The Heat’s team salary remains at roughly $125MM, behind the Celtics for the sixth-highest mark in the league. Miami technically has the highest payroll in the NBA, coming in at $153.23MM though Chris Bosh‘s $26.84MM salary doesn’t count toward the team’s books as a result of the Fitness to Play Panel addition in the latest CBA.
Miami, which currently owns a record of 38-39, could have the highest salary cap ever for a team without a winning record, as Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald details. Previously, the Knicks held that distinction, going 23-59 during the 2005/06 season with a payroll of $124MM.
The Heat are on their way to being a luxury taxpayer this season. According to Jackson, more than 110 teams have finished in the luxury tax and 22 have had a losing record (the Heat did it twice before during the 2003/04 and 2007/08 seasons).
The franchise has $83MM in guaranteed salary on the books for next season, though that figure does not include Hassan Whiteside‘s ($27.09MM) and Goran Dragic‘s ($19.22MM) respective player options.
Earlier today, the Kings and Knicks filled the final open spot on their respective rosters, signing a 15th man to a rest-of-season contract. With the NBA’s 2018/19 regular season set to come to an end next Wednesday, we can expect to see more teams making that kind of transaction in the next week.
While teams often leave a roster spot or two open during the season to maintain flexibility or to help reduce their projected tax bill, most of those clubs won’t leave any openings at season’s end. After all, the one-day cap hit for a minimum-salary player signed on the last day of the season maxes out at $8,548.
For playoff-bound clubs, that’s a small price to pay to add one more depth piece who might be needed for a game or two in the postseason. For lottery-bound teams, it’s a worthwhile investment to fill that 15th roster spot with a developmental player who could be an option for the 2019/20 roster.
With that in mind, here are the teams that still have at least one 15-man roster spot available:
Teams with two open roster spots:
- Miami Heat
Teams with one open roster spot:
- Brooklyn Nets
- Houston Rockets
- Los Angeles Clippers
- Oklahoma City Thunder
- San Antonio Spurs
- Toronto Raptors
- Washington Wizards
Teams with a full 15-man roster who have one player on a 10-day contract:
- Atlanta Hawks (Deyonta Davis; expires Sunday night)
- Boston Celtics (Greg Monroe; expires tonight)
- Heat guard Dion Waiters plans to vigorously focus on his weight once the season comes to an end. Waiters, who underwent a major transformation after his first season in Miami, has taken a step back in his overall health since undergoing ankle surgery. “My whole mindset after the playoffs is getting right to it,” Waiters said, according to Ira Winderman of the Sen Sentinel. “I took a year and a half off. This season for me is more about getting back in the feel and things like that, trying to find my rhythm and get acclimated by playing.”
The Knicks informed the Mavericks about the pending rape allegation against Kristaps Porzingis before completing the January trade that sent him to Dallas, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. The league office was also told about the situation. Porzingis has denied the accusation through his attorney.
Dallas’ decision to go through with the deal is especially significant in light of a workplace misconduct scandal that the organization dealt with last year. The Mavericks overhauled their front office in response to response to numerous claims of sexual misconduct and received a glowing report from commissioner Adam Silver when he visited the team last month.
There’s more tonight from Dallas:
- Luka Doncic‘s remarkable rookie season might be finished because of a right thigh contusion he suffered Thursday, according to Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News. Coach Rick Carlisle confirmed that Doncic won’t play tomorrow at Oklahoma City and may be held out much longer. “We’re going to be very prudent with this and make sure that he’s 100% before even thinking about him getting back out there,” Carlisle said, adding that Doncic was fortunate to take the brunt of the collision on his thigh rather than his knee. Doncic is a heavy favorite to be named Rookie of the Year after averaging 21.1 points, 7.6 rebounds and 5.9 assists in 70 games.
- A league source says Miami’s Goran Dragic is unlikely to sign with Dallas this summer even though the Mavericks’ front office seems him as an ideal backcourt partner for Doncic, Townsend reports in a separate story. Dragic has to make a decision on a $19.2MM player option and won’t take less than than from another team, Townsend adds. Dallas will have about $30MM in cap space, but seems unlikely to spend most of it on a 32-year-old player coming off arthroscopic surgery. The source identified the Clippers’ Patrick Beverley, who is making just $5MM this season, as a more realistic target if the Mavs can’t land a top-flight option such as Kemba Walker or Klay Thompson.
- Apart from Dirk Nowitzki if he decides to keep playing, J.J. Barea may be the only impending free agent that the Mavericks try to re-sign, according to Jordan Hicks of Basketball Insiders. Barea may not be able to provide immediate help next season because of a torn right Achilles tendon he suffered in January.
The Heat may have to make their final push for the playoffs without Josh Richardson and Justise Winslow, relays Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. Neither player traveled with the team on its two-game trip to New York and Boston, and there’s no guarantee that either will return over the final week and a half of the regular season.
- The short-handed Heat are turning to rookie power forward Duncan Robinson to help fill the gap until their injured players return, Jackson adds in the same story. Robinson signed a two-way contract last summer and has only appeared in 12 NBA games. However, he played 22 minutes Thursday night. “He’s certainly gotten better,” Spoelstra said. “He had a phenomenal year in the G League, but he’s improved his defense, his body, conditioning, his strength. He’s improved his ability to work on the move for catch and shoot opportunities. He’s become much more dynamic.”
Joel Embiid will miss the next three games for the Sixers, starting with tonight’s tilt against the Timberwolves, Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer tweets. The move to leave Embiid home during the three-game road trip is part of pre-determined maintenance.
Embiid missed time following the All-Star break with knee soreness and other players, such as Jimmy Butler and Ben Simmons, have also missed time because of injury and rest concerns. As a result, the team’s starting five has only played in 10 games together this season, as I detailed last week.
Here’s more injury notes from around the league:
- Heat coach Eric Spoelstra said there is no timetable for Josh Richardson (left heel) to return to action, as Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald relays on Twitter. Spoelstra added that he doesn’t believe Richardson is done for the season.
- Patrick McCaw will be in a splint for approximately three weeks, according to a Raptors press release. He will be re-evaluated at that time.
- Kyrie Irving and Al Horford will both miss tonight’s contest against the Nets, Tim Bontemps of ESPN.com passes along. Irving’s nursing a sore back while Horford has a sore left knee. Neither player is expected to miss an extended period of time for the Celtics.
- If Kelly Olynyk logs 89 minutes over the final eight games of the regular season, he’ll earn a $1MM bonus built into his contract with the Heat, Ira Winderman of the Sun-Sentinel writes. That’s likely but not necessarily guaranteed. “It’s like one of those things that if you want it too much, you’re not going to get it,” Olynyk said. “You’ve just got to focus on the team and winning and the rest will fall into place where it may.“