- North Carolina center Kennedy Meeks takes inspiration from Heat center Hassan Whiteside, writes Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel. They both played for the same AAU organization, and like Meeks, Whiteside wasn’t a highly regarded prospect coming out of college. “He’s always been a big brother to me,” said Meeks, who held his pro day in front of several scouts this morning. “And I’ve seen him grow tremendously from not being in the NBA to making a lot of money. So I’m definitely proud of him.” Others involved in today’s session were Miami forward Kamari Murphy, former Miami center Tonye Jekiri, Florida Atlantic guard Adonis Filer and Florida guard Kasey Hill.
Heat small forward Justise Winslow will need another month before he can fully return from shoulder surgery, reports Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel (link via Twitter). Winslow’s second NBA season was limited to just 18 games due to the injury. The former Duke Blue Devil started 15 of those contests, posting well-rounded averages of 10.9 PPG, 5.2 RPG, 3.7 APG, and 1.4 SPG.
Winderman also tweets (link via Twitter) that Winslow is prioritizing improving his shooting mechanics.
As expected, Dion Waiters intends to opt out of his 2017/18 player option, league sources tell Chris Haynes of ESPN. That means the 25-year-old guard who saw a resurgence this season will forego the guaranteed $3.2MM he had lined up with the Heat in order to test the open market.
Considering that Waiters put forth his most complete season as a professional this year, he is expected to yield a significant pay raise. The fifth-year player posted career highs with 4.3 assists and 3.3 rebounds per game while adding 15.8 points per contest.
Given the role that Pat Riley and the Heat played in the rejuvenation of his career and the stellar run that saw Miami fly from a 11-30 start to a near-playoff berth, Waiters is said to have an interest in returning to South Beach.
Whether or not the Heat prioritize retaining his services, however, is yet to be determined with some acknowledging that the organization could instead pursue an established star with their cap space this summer.
A medical review from the NBA and the players’ union has concluded that Chris Bosh‘s blood clotting condition is in fact career-ending, Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel reports. The decision goes along with what the Miami Heat had previously established.
Bosh hasn’t played since part-way through the 2015/16 campaign but has previously mentioned an interest in coming back to the NBA if he’s ever deemed medically eligible. By waiting to sort through the complex legalities of the unique situation as opposed to attempting to shed his salary as early possible, the Heat have now guaranteed that when they waive Bosh, they won’t run the risk of his salary ever returning to the books in the event that he’s cleared to play in the future.
Had they decided not to wait, they could have looked to exclude Bosh’s contract as early February 9, 2017.
All that’s left now, Winderman says, is for the Heat to formally waive the big man, something that they’ll do as soon as they need to clear up the cap space. If another team claims him through the traditional waivers, they will not be eligible for the same cap relief.
Although it won’t count towards Miami’s team payroll at any point, Bosh is guaranteed the remaining portion of his contract, totaling over $50MM through 2018/19, the majority of it covered by insurance.
Ultimately, now that the complications surrounding the cap impacts of Bosh’s health have come to a formal conclusion, the Heat can look forward to a summer with $37MM of cap space, Winderman writes.
If Bosh ever does decide to pursue a comeback, an unlikely outcome per TNT’s David Aldridge, he’ll need to present medical evidence that meets the league approval.
Milwaukee will begin formal interviews for its open GM position on Monday, Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical reports.
The team has been granted permission to speak with Blazer assistant GM Bill Branch, Heat assistant GM Adam Simon, and Pistons assistant GM Pat Garrity, according to Wojnarowski.
The scribe adds that the Bucks have reached out to the Spurs assistant coach Becky Hammon about the opening. Hammon has been working under coach Gregg Popovich for three seasons.
Milwaukee previously reached out to Indiana and gained permission to speak with the team’s VP of basketball operations Peter Dinwiddie. Wojnarowski adds that the franchise also has permission to speak with Denver assistant GM Arturas Karnisovas, Grizzlies VP of player personnel Ed Stefanski and Hawks special advisor Wes Wilcox.
Justin Zanik, who is currently running the team as its assistant GM, remains a strong candidate for the position. Zanik is gathering “significant support” inside and outside the organization, Wojnarowski writes. He joined the team with the expectation that he would be the GM-in-waiting once John Hammond‘s contract expired. Hammond recently left the franchise to become Orlando’s GM.
Heat big man Willie Reed will opt out of his contract with the Heat, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical, who reports (via Twitter) that Reed will turn down his player option for 2017/18. Declining that modest $1.577MM option will allow the 27-year-old to reach unrestricted free agency.
[RELATED: NBA Player Option Decisions For 2017/18]
Reed, who signed a minimum salary contract with the Heat last summer, appeared in 71 games for the team, averaging 14.5 minutes per contest in a part-time role. For the season, Reed recorded 5.3 PPG and 4.7 RPG with a .568 FG%.
While those numbers don’t jump off the page, Reed was a solid rotation piece for Miami and has likely earned a raise. The Heat only have Non-Bird rights on the 6’10” forward/center, so their ability to offer that raise will be limited, unless they can use cap space or their room exception.
Before he signed with Miami last July, Reed reportedly received interest from the Timberwolves, Spurs, Warriors, Thunder, and Pacers. Many of those teams could circle back to Reed this time around, and several more clubs will probably kick the tires, based on his solid performance in 2016/17.
Reed is one of three Heat veterans making a player option decision this summer. Josh McRoberts is opting into the final year of his contract, while Dion Waiters is considered a virtual lock to opt out.
The Heat have officially purchased a controlling interest in their NBA D-League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce, the team announced today in a press release. The two teams had already shared a single-affiliate relationship for the last four years, but the Heat will now have more freedom to own and operate the franchise.
“We are so proud to enter into this partnership with the Miami Heat,” said Mike Heineman, the president and owner of the Skyforce. “They have been so good for the Skyforce and for the city of Sioux Falls. To be able to expand our partnership with Miami while keeping the team in Sioux Falls were our two biggest goals throughout this process.”
Heineman’s reference to keeping the Skyforce in Sioux Falls is an interesting one. With more and more NBA teams securing geographically-adjacent D-League clubs, the Heat/Skyforce pairing is an aberration. The distance between the NBADL arena in Sioux Falls, South Dakota and AmericanAirlines Arena in Miami is 1,825 miles — a 26-hour drive, per Google Maps.
Buying a controlling interest in the D-League organization gives the Heat the opportunity to relocate the club to a more logical spot, perhaps a city in South Florida. However, Heineman’s statement suggests the deal may include an agreement not to move the Skyforce out of Sioux Falls — at least not in the short-term future. The Heat’s press release notes that Heineman and his family will continue to run the Skyforce’s off-the-court business operations and community initiatives.
The NBA Development League, which will be renamed as the NBA Gatorade League in 2017/18, is expected to feature 26 teams next season, with only a handful of NBA teams still lacking an affiliate. The Nuggets, Blazers, and Wizards have yet to announce D-League plans, while the Pelicans’ affiliate is expected to begin play in 2018/19.
A Wednesday report indicated that the Bucks have received permission to interview at least four executives from various teams around the NBA for their open general manager position. However, Milwaukee’s list of potential GM targets in longer than that. A source familiar with the team tells Gery Woelfel of The Racine Journal Times that at least five other execs are under consideration by the Bucks, with about three dozen NBA officials having expressed interest in the job.
While Woelfel doesn’t specify any additional candidates, Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical provides two more names, tweeting that Milwaukee has been granted permission to speak to Pistons executive Pat Garrity and Heat assistant GM Adam Simon. Garrity was said to be a candidate for the top job in Orlando before the Magic hired Jeff Weltman and John Hammond.
Woelfel has more info on the team’s GM search in his latest piece, so let’s dive in and round up the highlights…
- Head coach Jason Kidd may be considered down the road for a top basketball operations role, but he’s not a candidate to take over that role in the short term, sources tell Woelfel. Still, Kidd will meet with the finalists for the position to ensure that they’ll have a good working relationship.
- Assistant GM Justin Zanik is viewed as a strong candidate to be promoted to GM, but even if he doesn’t receive an official promotion, he’ll be well-compensated. According to Woelfel, Zanik’s contract includes a unique clause that stipulates his pay will be equal to that of the new GM.
- Grizzlies VP of player personnel Ed Stefanski, one of the four candidates the Bucks received permission to interview, is viewed by several NBA officials as the frontrunner for the Bucks’ top job, reports Woelfel. Previous report have indicated that the relationship between Stefanski and Bucks consultant Rod Thorn is a strong factor working in Stefanski’s favor. The two men worked together in New Jersey and are longtime friends.
- On Thursday, we examined five key questions facing the Bucks this offseason, including who will be calling the shots on personnel decisions.
In another rousing edition of Ask Ira, Ira Winderman of the Sun-Sentinel discusses whether Pat Riley might pursue bigger names than Dion Waiters and James Johnson this offseason. In particular, might the Heat go after Paul Millsap and/or Gordon Hayward? Winderman concludes that, while he would not understate the likelihood of Riley and company engaging both Millsap and Hayward in free agency, the Heat may not have enough cap room to nab two elite free agents. If the team were to prioritize big-name free agents at the expense of Waiters and/or Johnson, it would likely raise its chances of signing a star player or two, but it may lose either or both of its key free agents from last season, depending on the timing of the decisions being made. Winderman also brings up the possibility, though a long shot, of augmenting Goran Dragic and Hassan Whiteside with “something far more potent.” Here are some more relevant team-specific notes:
- In the same installment of Ask Ira, Winderman doubts Lauri Markkanen falling to the Heat at No. 14, but speculates that the team would pounce if he did. Winderman contends that his excellent outside shooting would fit a key need for the Heat and asserts that the Heat’s developmental program could adequately address the Arizona product’s defensive question marks.
- Suns forward Jared Dudley sees the Heat as a Plan B for Blake Griffin in free agency this offseason, reports Ira Winderman. Dudley, Griffin’s former teammate with the Clippers, believes that Griffin’s top choice is to remain with the Clippers and that that is likely where he will end up. Miami is a “good city” in a place with no state tax and “the only case scenario” where Griffin will be able “to be the man on the team,” according to Dudley. Dudley made his comments on an ESPN podcast.
- In a separate iteration of Ask Ira, Ira Winderman discusses Waiters’ proper pricing point, which he admits is “speculation” at this point. NBA insiders have told Winderman that Waiters’ hype may be exaggerated “considering the limited market last summer and the small sample size this past season due to injury.” Regardless, it takes just one suitor to set the market, and there is plenty of available cap space around the league.
The Heat and Chris Bosh have reached a tentative agreement to part ways, and while that deal is not yet official, the players’ union has OK’d it, and it appears likely to be finalized in the coming weeks. When that happens, Bosh will reach free agency, and technically would be able to sign with another team. However, as TNT’s David Aldridge details in his latest NBA.com column, there’s skepticism around the NBA that Bosh’s health will allow him to return to the court for a new club.
Bosh’s history of blood clots, which is the reason the Heat are removing him from their books in the first place, will continue to be a concern as other teams explore the idea of signing him. As Aldridge writes, were it not for the health issues, teams around the NBA would be clamoring to sign Bosh. But, as one Western Conference executive observes to Aldridge, if Bosh was unable to play for the Heat, he’s unlikely to receive clearance to suit up for another team anytime soon.
“Miami had about $50 million reasons for him to play and could not get a doctor to clear him,” that Western exec said. “Very unlikely the answer will be different at a team with $0 million reasons for him to play.”
While Bosh remains hopeful that he can find a treatment plan that will allow him to resume his NBA career, league execs aren’t sure the upside of signing Bosh would outweigh the risk. Although teams will have interest, it will be difficult to find a doctor willing to sign off on his return, per the execs who spoke to Aldridge.
“I don’t see how medical people will want to sign off and clear him,” another Western exec said of Bosh. “Unless something has changed with his health recently … I don’t know of a team that would want to take that type of a risk. If something were to tragically happen, it’s hard to recover from that. Very unfortunate.”