Miami Heat Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Florida Notes: Wade, Johnson, Isaac

February 25th, 2018 at 3:53pm CST by marksuleymanov

Dwyane Wade said the Heat can make a strong push toward postseason success if the team relies on its big men to be aggressive offensively, Ira Winderman of the Sun-Sentinel writes.

In his lone season with the Bulls and half a season with the Cavaliers, Wade did not have the luxury of a dominant presence in the paint. In Chicago, Robin Lopez was the primary center; in Cleveland, Kevin Love was more of an outside player. If the Heat bigs can play with the presence of past Wade-led teams in South Beach, he expects good results.

“When you got bigs like Hassan [Whiteside] and you got bigs like Bam [Adebayo] rolling to the basket, when they’re setting screens, you’re going to get into the paint,” Wade said. “Either all the way to the rim, some guys floaters, some guys pull-ups and lobs. Me, especially, I’m just getting back comfortable with it.”

Check out other news and notes from Florida’s NBA teams:

Tyler Johnson has played well since the Heat returned from the All-Star break, In two games back, Johnson posted 15 points in a loss to the Pelicans and 23 points in a win over the Grizzlies. He is 12 for 22 from the field in that stretch. Johnson admitted his struggles before the break were due to pressing for results, per the Sun-Sentinel. “I think before the break, I was settling for too many jumpers and trying to shoot my way out of a funk instead of doing what I do best [and] being an attacker,” Johnson said.
Jonathan Isaac has seen limited action in two G League contests with the Lakeland Magic as he resumes his comeback from an ankle injury. NBA.com’s Josh Cohen writes that Isaac is happy to shake off the rust with Lakeland before returning to Orlando. “I think it’s great, just getting back into things,” Isaac said. “I don’t take this time that I’m here for granted. I can still see I’m rusty. I missed some reads and stuff like that on defense and not being 100 percent there. Definitely will take this time for what it is.”

Examining The Heat Possibly Landing A Top Free agent

February 24th, 2018 at 9:40am CST by marksuleymanov

It has been three years since the Heat acquired an All-Star caliber player (Goran Dragic) and seven years since the team assembled LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade in South Beach. Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald looks at the future and Miami’s chance of landing another top free agent.

NBA G League Assignments/Recalls: 2/22/18

February 22nd, 2018 at 6:24pm CST by marksuleymanov

Here are Thursday’s G League assignments and recalls from around the NBA.

The Cavaliers have recalled rookie center Ante Zizic from their Canton affiliate, the team announced on its website. In 15 games for the Charge, Zizic has averaged 15.7 PPG and 8.9 RPG.
The Magic assigned forward Jonathan Isaac to their Lakeland affiliate, according to Orlando’s PR Twitter. Isaac will attend Lakeland’s practice but he is expected to be recalled back to Orlando before the team faces the Knicks on Thursday. Isaac, who has missed almost three months with an ankle injury, is expected to see his first game action tomorrow for the G League squad.
The Heat have assigned guard Rodney McGruder to their G League affiliate, the Sioux City Skyforce, the team announced in a press release. McGruder has not appeared in a regular season game after undergoing surgery on a left tibia stress fracture in mid-October. He is expected to play two G League games on Saturday and Monday before making his NBA return, tweets Manny Navarro of the Miami Herald.
The Lakers assigned rookie center Thomas Bryant to the South Bay Lakers for their upcoming two-game road trip, according to the G League team’s Twitter feed. Thomas has averaged 19.5 PPG, 7.0 RPG, and 1.6 BPG in 27 games with South Bay.
The Timberwolves have assigned rookie center Justin Patton to the G League’s Iowa Wolves, according to the team (Twitter link). Patton has yet to make his NBA debut but has averaged 11.9 PPG for Iowa in 25 games.

McGruder Getting Close To Return; Wade To Stay In Reserve Role

February 21st, 2018 at 9:54pm CST by Arthur Hill

Heat guard Rodney McGruder is getting closer to his season debut after participating in a second full-contract practice Wednesday, according to Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. McGruder has been sidelined since having surgery in mid-October to fix a left tibia stress fracture. He is hoping to be ready when the Heat resume play Friday in New Orleans, but coach Erik Spoelstra hasn’t commited to that.

Dwyane Wade plans to come off the bench for the Heat for the rest of the season, Jackson adds in the same story. Because of the All-Star break, he has only been in Miami for four days since being acquired in a trade two weeks ago and needs time to get used to playing alongside new teammates Wayne Ellington, Bam Adebayo and James Johnson. “It’s definitely going to continue to be a work in progress, but the biggest thing is getting to know them personally,” Wade said. “On the court, it comes. You practice together, you play together, that’s going to come. Getting to know each other on the personal side helps even more. That builds trust and on the court you need that trust.”

Olynyk Incentive; Youngsters Happy Wade Is Back

February 20th, 2018 at 6:58pm CST by clarkcrum

When the Heat signed Kelly Olynyk to a four year, $50MM contract this offseason, the team had to structure bonuses into his contract as a means to fit his first-year salary within the rules of the CBA. So with a current cap hit of $10.6MM, Olynyk could actually see his salary increase to $11.6MM if he reaches a $1MM bonus for playing at least 1,700 minutes during the regular season.

Per Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel, Olynyk only needs – barring injury – to average 18.2 minutes per game for the remainder of the season to reach the bonus, well below his 23.4 per game season average. And while it may be difficult for Olynyk to keep that pace given the emergence of Heat rookie Bam Adebayo and the recent focus of more playing time for Hassan Whiteside, he doesn’t seem to mind too much.

“I mean, it’s obviously nice to get,” he said. “But it’s not something that you’re stressing about or striving toward. You want to be able to play minutes to help the (Heat) succeed, to help the team win, and whatever comes with that, comes with that.”

Dwyane Wade is back in Miami, and for four of the Heat’s youngest players, this is welcome news, reports Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. Josh Richardson, Tyler Johnson, Justise Winslow, and Whiteside all have fond memories of their time with Wade the first time around, and they reveal what they learned most from Wade when asked how he most helped their game/career.

Johnson's Contract Will Be Tough To Move

February 19th, 2018 at 8:12pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Heat are expected to seek offers for combo guard Tyler Johnson as early as this summer but his contract provisions will make that difficult, as Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald explains. Johnson will make $19.2MM in each of the final two years of the backloaded deal, plus Miami would have to pay a $3.2MM trade kicker, Jackson continues. Any team trading for Johnson this offseason would have to take on the additional $1.6MM cap hit in each of the next two seasons. Miami matched the Nets’ offer sheet for Johnson during the summer of 2016.

NBA Players Weigh In On 2018 Free Agency

February 19th, 2018 at 11:30am CST by Luke Adams

With a big offeason looming once the 2017/18 NBA regular season comes to an end, several ESPN writers spoke to NBA players to get their predictions on where they expect some of this summer’s top free agents to land. In total, 48 players weighed in. Here are some highlights from the results of ESPN’s survey:

LeBron James is considered likely to return to the Cavaliers, with 59% of the respondents picking Cleveland as his free agency destination, while 22% chose the Lakers. “He won’t leave after all the moves they made last week,” one Eastern Conference forward said of LeBron, referring to the Cavs’ trade-deadline deals. Asked where James should sign, even more respondents (66%) voted for Cleveland.
If James does decide he wants to join the Lakers, the LaVar Ball show won’t be a deterrent, according to 89% of the players surveyed. “If LeBron comes to L.A., then it’s the LeBron show. Not the Ball show,” said one Eastern Conference center.
Most of the survey respondents (80%) believe DeMarcus Cousins will re-sign with the Pelicans.
Only 33% of the players surveyed expect Paul George to be in the Thunder‘s opening-night lineup for 2018/19.
The respondents are slightly in favor (59%) of maximum salary contracts existing in the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement. “LeBron, Steph and KD, all those guys bring a lot more than what they’re getting paid,” said one Western Conference guard. “But being a lower-tier salary guy myself, if you pay those guys even more, the lower guys on the totem pole don’t really get anything.”
Asked which teams make the best pitches to free agents, players chose the Celtics (27%), Heat (15%), Lakers (12%), and Warriors (9%), with nine other clubs receiving votes. One Eastern Conference guard on Boston: “If you bring Tom Brady? That’s pretty damn cool.”

One Scout Believes Heat Should Dismantle Current Roster

February 18th, 2018 at 7:17pm CST by marksuleymanov

In his latest installment of Ask Ira, Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel addressed the possibility of Justise Winslow losing playing time once Kelly Olynyk and Rodney McGruder return from injury. While Winslow is a talented player, his role on the Heat will likely diminish now that Dwyane Wade has returned and other players are healthy, Winderman writes.
Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald spoke to a veteran NBA scout who said that the Heat must blow up their roster this offseason. “Let’s put it this way,” the scout said. “Goran Dragic is their best player, but if you had a really good team that would contend for a championship, you would want him to be your fourth-best player, maybe [third if you had two superstars]. Jackson goes up and down the roster, with the veteran scout assessing each player’s value for next season.

Wade Happy In Miami; OK To Play Back-To-Backs

February 14th, 2018 at 8:30pm CST by clarkcrum

Despite a well-documented friendship, two championships won together as members of the Heat in 2012 and 2013, and having an integral role in bringing King James to Miami back in 2010, Dwyane Wade will not involve himself in the upcoming free agency of LeBron James, writes Ira Winderman of the Sun-Sentinel.

As part of his interview with ESPN’s Jorge Sedano, Wade also spoke on his time with the Cavaliers, saying that he is appreciative of General Manager Koby Altman for helping to facilitate his reunion with the Heat.

In another piece for the Sun-Sentinel, Winderman reports that Wade will not be held out of back-to-back games as a matter of course as he was during his previous tenure with the Heat. In fact, Wade is active tonight against Philadelphia after playing 21 minutes in last night’s loss to Toronto.

Dwyane Wade Excited For Any Role With Heat

February 11th, 2018 at 3:52pm CST by marksuleymanov

Dwyane Wade is back with the Heat and he has already played in his first game back. The fans welcomed the three-time NBA champion with open arms, as did the organization. It’s clear that Wade is no longer the perennial All-Star he was for his first 13 seasons, but he appreciates whatever role he is given, Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel writes.

Wade, 36, already said that he does not intend to leave the Heat again and wants to retire with the franchise. In the few days Wade has been back, he made it clear that his goal is to help the team in any role.