Heat forward Udonis Haslem remains hopeful that Dwyane Wade will return to Miami so that they can finish out their careers together, Tom D’Angelo of the Palm Beach Post reports. Haslem, 37, re-signed with the Heat in July on a one-year, veteran’s minimum deal. He previously expressed his desire to reunite with Wade and reiterated those feelings to D’Angelo. “We talked about finishing our careers together,” Haslem said. “We really want it to be the case. Plans change. So if it doesn’t happen it doesn’t put any strain on our relationship but it’s still a goal of mine. Hopefully we can end it that way.” That won’t happen unless Wade eventually reaches a buyout agreement with the Bulls. Wade opted in for the upcoming season in June, unwilling to leave $23.8MM on the table even though Chicago is in a rebuild mode after trading away Jimmy Butler.
Expect the Heat to make roster moves well into training camp to maximize their flexibility, according to Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel. The team will probably follow the same pattern it did last year when Keith Benson and Stefan Jankovic stayed with the team for most of camp before being replaced by Vashil Fernandez and Luis Montero. All four players wound up with the team’s G League affiliate in Sioux Falls.
Heat GM Andy Elisburg explains that teams have to be aware of building a 10-man G League team at the same time as the 15-man NBA roster. That process is complicated this year by the creation of two-way contracts for players who remain under team control in the G League and are limited to 45 days with the NBA club. “I think you’re going to see signings up to training camp,” Elisburg said. “You’re going to see signings throughout training camp. You’re going to see signings the last week or two of training camp, maybe last day or two of the preseason, of players who will be joining the roster, who will be probably working their way to various developmental-league teams.”
- The Heat might be reluctant to pursue any of the veteran free agents still on the market, Winderman writes in a separate piece. In response to a reader’s letter suggesting Tony Allen, Beno Udrih, Deron Williams, David Lee, Mike Dunleavy or Boris Diaw, Winderman explains that Miami already has a full complement of players with guaranteed contracts, and adding another would likely lead to getting rid of Okaro White, who has a partial guarantee, or A.J. Hammons, who is fully guaranteed at the minimum salary.
- The Heat committed to maintaining their core and culture this offseason even though it limited flexibility they may have had next summer when LeBron James and Paul George hit free agency. Ira Winderman of the Sun-Sentinel writes that the club didn’t put their club on hold for the chance at a superstar, adding that the roster is full of tradable contracts if Pat Riley does, in fact, look to carve out some cap room.
When top college prospects like Markelle Fultz or Lonzo Ball are drafted, there’s virtually no doubt that their next step will involve signing an NBA contract. However, that’s not the case for every player who is selected in the NBA draft, particularly for international prospects and second-round picks.
When an NBA team uses a draft pick on a player, it gains his NBA rights, but that doesn’t mean the player will sign an NBA contract right away. International prospects will often remain with their professional team overseas for at least one more year to develop their game further, becoming “draft-and-stash” prospects. Nikola Mirotic, Dario Saric, and Bogdan Bogdanovic are among the more notable players to fit this bill in recent years.
However, draft-and-stash players can be former NCAA standouts too. Sometimes a college prospect selected with a late second round pick will end up playing overseas or in the G League for a year or two if there’s no space available on his NBA team’s 15-man roster.
While these players sometimes make their way to their NBA teams, others never do. Many clubs around the NBA currently hold the rights to international players who have remained overseas for their entire professional careers and are no longer viewed as top prospects. Those players may never come stateside, but there’s often no reason for NBA teams to renounce their rights — those rights can sometimes be used as placeholders in trades.
For instance, earlier this summer, the Pacers and Raptors agreed to a trade that sent Cory Joseph to Indiana. Toronto was happy to move Joseph’s salary and didn’t necessarily need anything in return, but the Pacers had to send something in the deal. Rather than including an NBA player or a draft pick, Indiana sent Toronto the draft rights to Emir Preldzic, the 57th overall pick in the 2009 draft.
Preldzic is currently playing for Galatasaray in Turkey, and at this point appears unlikely to ever come to the NBA, but his draft rights have been a useful trade chip over the years — the Pacers/Raptors swap represented the fourth time since 2010 that Preldzic’s NBA rights have been included in a trade.
This week, we’re taking a closer look at the players whose draft rights NBA teams currently hold, sorting them by division. These players may eventually arrive in America and join their respective NBA teams, but many will end up like Preldzic, plying their trade overseas and having their draft rights used as pawns in NBA trades.
Here’s a breakdown of the draft rights held by Southeast teams:
Atlanta Hawks
- Augusto Binelli, C (1986; No. 40): Retired.
- Alain Digbeu, F (1997; No. 49): Retired.
- Marcus Eriksson, G/F (2015; No. 50): Playing in Spain.
- Isaia Cordinier, G (2016; No. 44): Playing in France.
- Alpha Kaba, C (2017; No. 60): Playing in France.
Charlotte Hornets
- None
Miami Heat
- George Banks, F (1995; No. 46): Retired.
- Robert Duenas, C (1997; No. 57): Retired.
Orlando Magic
- Rashard Griffith, C (1995; No. 38): Retired.
- Remon van de Hare, C (2003; No. 52): Retired.
- Fran Vazquez, C (2005; No. 11): Playing in Spain.
- Janis Timma, F (2013; No. 60): Playing in Spain.
- Tyler Harvey, G (2015; No. 51): Playing in France.
Washington Wizards
- Aaron White, F (2015; No. 49): Playing in Lithuania.
Previously:
Information from Mark Porcaro and Basketball Insiders was used in the creation of this post.
- This will be Goran Dragic‘s last stint with the Slovenian national team, Niki Lupo of Sportando writes. The 31-year-old Heat guard tweeted that he’ll be done with the program following Eurobasket 2017.
The NBA had one of its most unpredictable offseasons in recent memory and Kevin Durant, who joined the Warriors last offseason before re-signing with them this summer, believes Golden State’s moves have caused other teams to be more active. Durant was particularly impressed with the Rockets’ acquisition of Chris Paul, as he tells The Ringer’s Bill Simmons.
“I think it was a great move,” Durant said. “You put two guys together that — crafty with the ball like that — they’re going to get everybody shots, and they’re going to get each other shots, so it was a ballsy move to pull off by [Daryl] Morey. And I don’t think nobody would have thought to do that, because especially when you’ve got James, who basically plays your point guard, you really have to have some type of clarity when you’re making a decision like that. Because it’s just like, you played well last year, but this — he cannot sustain this. You gotta know that. You can’t; just look at the numbers. So you can tell that he’s actually seeing some stuff within this team. He’s paying attention.”
The move gives James Harden, who played alongside Durant for three seasons, an opportunity to play alongside a future Hall of Famer and it gives the team an opportunity to compete with the Warriors this season. Harden isn’t the only former teammate of Durant’s who received help this summer, as Oklahoma City added Paul George from the Pacers. According to Durant, Indiana made a foolish trade.
“[The trade] was shocking because Indiana just gave him away,” Durant said before adding that he envisions George playing significant minutes at the four spot this season. The 2013/14 continued to discuss OKC, telling Simmons that his former team needs one more addition. “They need another wing,” Durant opined.
Durant went on to talk about another one of his former teammates—Dion Waiters. The 2013/14 MVP believes Waiters, who re-signed with Miami on a four-year, $52MM deal this summer, could have received an even larger deal had the shooting guard been more dedicated earlier in his career. Waiters previously discussed how he didn’t get in “world-class shape” until he inked a deal with the Heat last offseason.
- The Heat will have to keep Okaro White on their 15-man roster if they want to retain his rights, according to Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel. The power forward appeared in 35 games for the Heat last season, but spent much of the season with the team’s G League affiliate in Sioux Falls. White was claimed Wednesday in the G League expansion draft by the Memphis Hustle, the new affiliate of the Grizzlies. Because White has a guarantee of more than $50K, he cannot be deemed an affiliate player if he gets cut by Miami. He would have to either report to the Hustle or play overseas.
Butler’s post drew a response from ex-Celtic Ray Allen, who alienated many teammates in 2012 when he signed with the Heat. The bitter feelings still linger, as Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce excluded Allen from a Celtics reunion in May. “But since the team does it I guess it’s just business,” Allen wrote in response to Butler’s post. “Smh!! It is just a business so when the teams do it there’s no difference when the players do it!!”
Tuesday’s massive trade between the Celtics and Cavaliers shook up the NBA during a time in the offseason when the news cycle is typically at its slowest. Like an oasis in the desert, the deal – which features a pair of All-Stars in Kyrie Irving and Isaiah Thomas – has provided NBA observers with a fascinating topic of discussion, just when it seemed as if we’d said nearly all we could say about the roster changes made in June and July.
Of course, we already delved into the blockbuster trade at length on Tuesday night with a discussion post and a cap/roster analysis, but we have plenty more items from around the league to pass along today. Let’s dive in and round up some of the highlights, sorted by Cavs- and Celtics-centric stories…
Cavaliers:
- While some Cavaliers players had hoped Irving would remain with the team, the star point guard had let it be known prior to Tuesday’s deal that he would rather not report to training camp than to begin the season with Cleveland, sources tell Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com. McMenamin also reports that Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert had a desire to add a “big-name” player in an Irving trade — Thomas, the Eastern Conference’s leading scorer in 2016/17, fit that bill, despite questions about his hip.
- Gilbert issued a much more traditional and respectful statement following Irving’s departure than he did when LeBron James left the franchise back in 2010. As Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com details, Gilbert thanked Irving for his six years in Cleveland and wished him well during the next phase of his career.
- James issued a statement of his own via Twitter on Tuesday night, indicating that he has “nothing but respect” for Irving and calling the point guard a “special talent.”
- In a piece focused on the Cavaliers‘ long-term outlook, ESPN’s Bobby Marks examines how swapping Irving for Thomas and picking up the Nets’ 2018 first-rounder will give Cleveland some options and insurance in the event that LeBron leaves next summer.
- James’ silence on his plans beyond 2018 was a driving force behind the Cavaliers‘ decision to honor Irving’s trade request and plan ahead for the team’s future, writes Sam Amick of USA Today.
Celtics:
- After president of basketball operations Danny Ainge finally used some of his top assets and pulled the trigger on a blockbuster trade, the Celtics have signaled that they’re ready to go for it now, not later, writes Steve Bulpett of The Boston Herald.
- Thomas’ emotional bond with Celtics fans and his role as the team’s leader made the decision to trade him a very difficult one for Ainge and the franchise, as Mark Murphy of The Boston Herald outlines.
- The Celtics had 16 players on guaranteed contracts prior to the trade, but now have just 14, leaving a potential open spot for their regular season roster. According to Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe (Twitter link), the Celtics expect many agents to reach out about that opening, but Boston would be comfortable starting the regular season with just 14 players and maintaining some roster flexibility.
- As John Schuhmann of NBA.com observes (via Twitter), the Celtics now have just four players returning from last year’s roster, and fall to 29th in Schuhmann’s team continuity rankings. There’s optimism in Boston that the club’s new-look roster has more talent and upside, but the roster turnover will be a challenge for head coach Brad Stevens, particularly at the start of the season.
The rest:
- ESPN’s Stats & Information department takes a look at some of the stats behind the trade, while ESPN’s Kevin Pelton (Insider link) assigns grades for the swap, handing out an A to the Cavaliers and just a C to the Celtics.
- Tom Ziller of SBNation.com likes the deal for both teams on the surface, but explores how it could go “terribly wrong” for both the Cavaliers and Celtics.
- Although the Heat were named as one of Irving’s preferred landing spots, the package the Cavaliers received from the Celtics was one that Miami couldn’t possibly match, says Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel. Even if a Goran Dragic/Justise Winslow package might have intrigued the Cavs, the 2018 Nets pick included by Boston was a “game-changer,” Winderman adds.
The Heat’s decision to sign forward Jordan Mickey on Sunday will not impact their ability to make another roster addition, as Ira Winderman of the Sun-Sentinel points out. Mickey signed a $1.5MM contract for the upcoming season and Miami holds an option on a second year. The Heat were already over the salary cap, so it didn’t eat into any available space. Miami still has its $4.328MM room exception available to fill out the roster.
- Impressive summer-league outings by Derrick Walton convinced the Heat to sign the undrafted point guard to a two-way contract, Winderman reports in a separate story. Walton’s offensive pacing and 3-point shooting while playing for the Magic’s summer team caught Miami’s attention, Winderman notes. “We just had a mutual interest in joining each other and making something work out and when the opportunity presented itself, we both took it,” the former University of Michigan star told Winderman.