- There are still a handful of intriguing free agent wings on the market, including Jamal Crawford and Joe Johnson. However, Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel doesn’t expect the Heat to go “anywhere near” those players, given their logjam at shooting guard, unless perhaps Dwyane Wade decides to retire and Dion Waiters‘ ankle recovery hits a snag.
- In a one-on-one conversation with Shams Charania of The Athletic, Ray Allen spoke about entering the Hall of Fame, the various chapters of his NBA career, and his memories of “The Shot” that helped the Heat win the 2013 NBA Finals.
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra will have a difficult time coming up with a rotation after team president Pat Riley failed to address the logjam at several positions, Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel notes. With Hassan Whiteside, Kelly Olynyk, Bam Adebayo and James Johnson on the roster, there aren’t enough frontcourt minutes to go around and keep everyone happy, Winderman continues. There’s also an excess of shooting guards options (Rodney McGruder, Dion Waiters, Tyler Johnson, Wayne Ellington and Josh Richardson) even if Dwyane Wade isn’t re-signed, Winderman adds.
- Heat summer-league star Derrick Jones will struggle to find playing time, Winderman wrote in another mailbag piece. Get that info, plus other Miami notes, right here.
Derrick Jones looked like a star in Summer League, but it won’t be easy for him to get playing time, writes Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel in a mailbag column. Jones was the Heat’s top scorer in the Sacramento league, averaging 21.3 points in three games, along with 7.3 rebounds. A two-way player last season, he appeared in 14 games for Miami and started eight.
Jones, a small forward who signed a two-year deal in July, faces heavy competition for minutes. Josh Richardson will start at that position, and using Jones as a backup means moving Justise Winslow to either power forward or the backcourt and the Heat are already overloaded in both areas. It may take a roster move or two for Jones to get an opportunity.
There’s more this morning out of Miami:
- In the same column, Winderman tabs Richardson as the Heat player most likely to raise his game to an All-Star level in the future. Richardson became a full-time starter last year in his third NBA season and responded with a 12.9/3.5/2.9 line. The four-year, $42MM extension that Richardson agreed to last year will kick in this season, raising his salary to $9.367MM.
- Fans shouldn’t expect too much from Dion Waiters in his return from injury, Winderman cautions in a separate piece. Waiters played just 30 games last year before undergoing season-ending ankle surgery in January. He should improve the team, Winderman notes, but will be competing for minutes with Richardson, Tyler Johnson and possibly Dwyane Wade.
- The Heat still have little hope of finding a taker for Johnson’s contract, Winderman adds in the same story. The Nets’ offer sheet that Miami matched in 2016 starts to balloon this year, paying Johnson $19,245,370 in each of the next two seasons and giving him the second-highest salary on the team. Winderman notes that the Rockets moved Ryan Anderson‘s similar deal this week, but Anderson agreed to a substantial giveback in the final year of his contract, which Johnson doesn’t have incentive to do.
- After agreeing to a buyout with the Lakers, Luol Deng is unlikely to return to Miami, tweets Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. Deng would find minutes hard to come by in an already-crowded Heat rotation and wouldn’t want to risk being stuck on the bench like he was in Los Angeles. Deng spent two seasons in Miami before signing with the Lakers in 2016.
With training camps set to open later this month, time is running short for O.J. Mayo if he wants to get reinstated before the new season starts, writes Spencer Davies of Basketball Insiders. Mayo hasn’t played in the NBA since fracturing his right ankle in March of 2016. A few months later, he was banned for two years for a second violation of the league’s Anti-Drug Program.
Mayo is now eligible for reinstatement and is reportedly searching for an opportunity. He played 21 games this summer with a team in Puerto Rico and impressed scouts with his performance. He was released in June, possibly because of his desire to join an NBA team.
The league and the players association would both have to sign off on Mayo’s return before he can be reinstated. He also has to prove that he has gone more than a year without a failed drug test. Milwaukee renounced his rights after the suspension, so Mayo will be an unrestricted free agent if he does return to the NBA.
There’s more NBA-related news to pass along:
- Fresh off winning a BIG3 title, Glen Davis is exploring his overseas options, relays Nicola Lupo of Sportando. Davis played eight years with the Celtics, Magic and Clippers, but hasn’t been in the league since the 2014/15 season.
- Health concerns may derail a contract with Maccabi Tel Aviv for Johnny O’Bryant, tweets Roi Cohen of Sport 5 in Israel. A physical revealed a potential heart problem for the power forward, and the team is waiting for the results of cardiac tests before making a decision. O’Bryant spent part of last season with the Hornets, averaging 4.8 points in 36 games. He was shipped to the Knicks at the trade deadline in exchange for Willy Hernangomez, then was waived the next day. O’Bryant also played for the Bucks and Nuggets in a four-year NBA career.
- After an offseason trade to the Spurs, DeMar DeRozan is the player most likely to have a disappointing season, according to Drew Moresca of Basketball Insiders. DeRozan will miss the chemistry he had with Kyle Lowry in Toronto, Moresca writes, and the advantages of playing alongside a top flight point guard. San Antonio also has fewer above-average 3-point shooters than the Raptors did, so DeRozan may find a more difficult path to drive to the basket. Moresca tabs the Heat as the team most likely to decline, with the Pelicans as runners-up.
The Heat are willing to part with Goran Dragic, and he may be the answer for the Suns in their quest for a point guard, tweets John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 in Phoenix.
The Suns traded away presumed starter Brandon Knight this week in a deal that brought Ryan Anderson and De’Anthony Melton from the Rockets. Knight missed all of last season with an ACL tear, leaving Phoenix to try several options at the point with limited success after Eric Bledsoe was traded to Milwaukee. Isaiah Canaan is the most experienced point guard on the roster, while Melton, Shaquille Harrison and Elie Okobo are other options.
Dragic, who started his career with the Suns and later returned for two and a half productive seasons, would provide an instant solution to that problem. The 32-year-old is coming off another stellar year in Miami, posting a 17.3/4.1/4.8 line in 75 games.
With an $18.1MM salary for the upcoming season and a $19.25MM player option for 2019/20, Dragic is the third-highest-paid player on a team that is already above the tax threshold with nearly $127MM in guaranteed salary. While that might explain his availability, the Heat were the sixth seed in the East last year and are hoping for another postseason trip. It’s not clear what Phoenix could offer in return that would be enough for Miami to part with Dragic.
Gambadoro adds that the Suns understand they need to find a point guard, but won’t rush the process (Twitter link). With more than three weeks until training camp and six weeks until the season starts, they plan to take time to explore their options.
It remains to be seen how aggressive the Heat will be in trying to lock up Justise Winslow to a rookie scale extension this offseason, according to Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald, who writes that the team has yet to present an offer to the fourth-year forward. The Heat also haven’t indicated whether or not an offer will be forthcoming, but the two sides are expected to meet in the coming weeks, Jackson reports.
Miami will have until October 15, the day before the start of the regular season, to work out an extension with Winslow. Without a new deal in place, the former lottery pick would be on track to reach restricted free agency in 2019, and one GM tells Jackson that he could see the 22-year-old fielding offers starting at about $9MM per year. Of course, Winslow’s play in 2018/19 would go a long way toward determining his market value next summer.
Here’s more on the Heat:
- It doesn’t appear that anyone outside of Dwyane Wade‘s inner circle knows his intentions for the coming season, but two sources – one Heat person and one person who has spoken to Wade – tell Jackson that Wade “seems inclined to play” in 2018/19. That’s far from definitive though. The future Hall-of-Famer has been mulling a return to the Heat, but it’s still possible that he’ll follow fellow veterans Manu Ginobili and David West into retirement.
- The Heat haven’t ruled out the possibility of converting Duncan Robinson‘s two-way contract to a standard NBA deal if he impresses the club during training camp and the preseason, writes Jackson. Even if Wade and Udonis Haslem re-sign with Miami, the team would have one open spot on its 15-man roster for the regular season.
- Briante Weber finds himself in a familiar spot this fall, as he prepares to head to training camp with the Heat for the third time in his four-year professional career. Weber, who has only ever appeared in a single regular season game for the Heat, is hoping that his fourth overall contract with the club will be the one that sticks, as Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel details.
Chris Bosh still wants to return to the NBA, but he realizes the clock is rapidly ticking on that dream, writes Ben Rohrbach of Yahoo Sports.
Bosh, 34, hasn’t played since doctors discovered a return of blood clots midway through the 2015/16 season. The 11-time All-Star sees the upcoming season as his last shot to get back into the league.
“Yeah, it’s still on my mind,” Bosh said. “Obviously, if it doesn’t happen by February, I’m not stupid, but yeah, I’m still looking forward to that. I’m still trying to overcome that hump and trying to get something going. I’m looking forward to the challenge. I know I can still play some ball and be a 3-and-D guy for somebody out there.”
Bosh tried to return to the Heat in 2016, but failed a physical prior to training camp. Doctors were concerned about his ability to perform while taking medication to ward off the blood clots and the potential dangers if he were to suffer a cut during a game while on blood thinners. Bosh says he has consulted with enough doctors to make him confident that he can safely return to playing.
Based on Bosh’s condition after the failed physical, Miami was able to successfully petition the NBA to get the $52.1MM remaining on his contract removed from its salary cap.
In the time he has been away, Bosh believes the game has changed to make his skills more valuable than ever. As a big man who can space the floor, he hopes to fill the same role with a contender that he did when the Heat reached the NBA Finals in four straight years.
Jeffrey R. David, the former chief revenue officer for the Kings, is under suspicion of diverting $13.4MM from two team sponsors, according to Sam Stanton and Darrell Smith of The Sacramento Bee. David allegedly used the money to buy beachfront property in Southern California.
David is being investigated by the FBI and federal prosecutors, who say he set up a money-laundering scheme that took $9MM from the Golden 1 Credit Union and an additional $4.4MM from Kaiser Permanente Foundation.
No criminal charges have been filed, and the reporters weren’t able to get a comment from David. However, the Kings issued a statement confirming the investigation.
“Last week, we alerted federal law enforcement to suspicious financial transactions involving a former Kings employee, Jeff David,” the team said in its statement. “That investigation is underway and on Monday, U.S. Department of Justice authorities began the formal process of recovering and seizing the properties involved in the investigation.
“We appreciate the swift action on behalf of the officials at the FBI and U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of California McGregor Scott as they work to complete this investigation and we will take all appropriate action once it is complete.”
David left the team June 1 when his position was eliminated. He currently serves as chief revenue officer for the Heat.
William Portanova, an attorney for the Kings, said the organization contacted federal officials as soon as it became aware of the situation. He offered assurances that all the missing money is being recovered. Team officials are expected to brief their ownership group on the progress of the investigation tomorrow morning.
Two sources told The Sacramento Bee that the cash in question was part of advertising contracts the companies signed with the team, including naming rights for the Golden 1 Center. David, who was in charge of negotiating ad contracts and corporate partnerships, allegedly asked for advance payments from the two companies and diverted that money into a company he set up called Sacramento Sports Partners LLC.
The Heat also issued a statement today and have placed David on leave while the probe continues, relays Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel (Twitter link).
“We are aware of the investigation of Jeff David, which focuses on events that took place prior to his joining our team,” the statement read. “We are fully cooperating with the authorities. Jeff David is on leave, pending the outcome of the investigation.”
- Heat power forward Yante Maten is excited to show people what he can do after signing a two-way contract with Miami this summer, reports Ira Winderman of the Sun-Sentinel. The 2018 SEC Player of the Year believes his ability to stretch the floor and play hard on both sides of the court will help find him success in the NBA.
- The Heat are unlikely to trade for a star player during the upcoming season, though they could dump some salary to avoid the luxury tax, Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel opines. The current roster doesn’t look strong enough to justify a bold move for a big-time player. Instead, it’s more likely the plan to return to prominence will center around 2020 free agency, Winderman adds.
- The Heat ought to experiment with Justise Winslow, and Josh Richardson in various situations and positions to find out how they fit into the long-term picture, Winderman argues in another mailbag post. They could look at Winslow anywhere from a backup point to an undersized power forward. They could also take a similar approach with Richardson, even though he’s already signed an extension, Winderman adds.