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NBA Confirms Lottery Reps, Will Announce All-NBA Teams On Thursday

May 15th, 2017 at 12:43pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA confirmed each team’s representatives today for this year’s draft lottery, which will take place on Tuesday night. As confirmed by the league (via Twitter), here are this year’s reps for lottery teams:

Boston Celtics: Wyc Grousbeck (owner)
Phoenix Suns: Devin Booker
Los Angeles Lakers: Magic Johnson (president of basketball operations)
Philadelphia 76ers: Joel Embiid
Orlando Magic: Frank Vogel (head coach)
Minnesota Timberwolves: Andrew Wiggins
New York Knicks: Walt Frazier (MSG Network broadcaster)
Sacramento Kings: Dave Joerger (head coach)
Dallas Mavericks: Michael Finley (assistant VP of basketball operations)
New Orleans Pelicans: Alvin Gentry (head coach)
Charlotte Hornets: Rich Cho (GM)
Detroit Pistons: Jeff Bower (GM)
Denver Nuggets: Gary Harris
Miami Heat: Alonzo Mourning (VP of player programs)

Additionally, the NBA also announced that it will reveal several award winners and award finalists later this week. The league will unveil its three All-NBA teams on Thursday. Then, prior to the Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Friday, the NBA will name its three finalists for each major award: MVP, Rookie of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Sixth Man of the Year, Most Improved Player, and Coach of the Year.

Those individual awards won’t be officially announced until June 26, during the NBA’s inaugural awards broadcast on TNT. However, the All-NBA announcement on Thursday will be an intriguing one. A team’s ability to offer a player a more lucrative Designated Veteran Extension hinges on whether or not he earns an All-NBA nod. So teams like the Pacers and Jazz will be watching very closely to see if Paul George and Gordon Hayward earn All-NBA spots and become eligible for those super-max extensions.

Cavaliers Notes: Lue, Brown, Blatt, Defense

May 14th, 2017 at 12:59pm CST by Arthur Hill

A broken hand suffered by reserve center Edy Tavares has reinforced Tyronn Lue’s decision not to scrimmage during the Cavaliers’ long break, writes Marla Ridenour of The Akron Beacon Journal. Lue is working to keep the Cavs focused during a nine-day layoff as they await the winner of the Celtics-Wizards series. Lue admits the team is “itching to play” as he guides the players through walkthroughs, but he won’t consider scrimmages because of the injury risk. Point guard Kyrie Irving supports the decision. “An incident happened in practice where somebody got hit in the hand and it just wasn’t good,” Irving said. “I was about to come out and play five-on-five and the incident happened three seconds later as T-Lue comes out of the door. Naw, I’m not for scrimmaging right now until the game.”

There’s more news today as the wait continues in Cleveland:

Mike Brown and David Blatt have both prospered since being fired by the Cavaliers, notes Terry Pluto of Cleveland.com. Brown took two years off after his dismissal, passing on chances to become a lead assistant with the Thunder and head coach at Nevada-Las Vegas. Last summer, he became the Warriors’ top assistant and has assumed head coaching duties with Steve Kerr sidelined for health reasons. Brown could wind up coaching against the Cavs in the NBA Finals. Blatt, who was fired midway through last year’s championship season, is the highest-paid coach in Europe, guiding Darussafaka Dogus in the Turkish League. He led the club to its first-ever Euroleague playoff berth.
After struggling on defense all season, the Cavaliers have improved on that end in the playoffs, writes Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com. The Cavs ranked 22nd in defensive efficiency during the season, but are fourth since the postseason began. Still, Lue jokes that he wishes the players could remember their defensive assignments as well as they remember their pre-game handshake routines.
The Cavaliers are among the teams showing interest in Arizona shooting guard Rawle Alkins, according to Sam Amico of Amicohoops. Cleveland doesn’t have a pick in this year’s draft, but could buy a late selection like it did last year to obtain Kay Felder. The Cavaliers, Thunder, Pelicans and Heat have all contacted Alkins’ high school coach to get more information, according to Adam Zagoria of Fanrag Sports (Twitter link).

Heat Need To Rebuild Draft Future; Important Contract Dates Ahead

May 14th, 2017 at 10:13am CST by Arthur Hill

The Heat should consider trading down in the draft if they don’t get lucky in Tuesday’s lottery, writes Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel. After barely missing the playoffs on a tie-breaker, Miami has the worst odds of any lottery team. The Heat have just a 0.5% chance to land the No. 1 pick and only a slightly better shot at slots two and three. While options such as Justin Jackson, Ivan Rabb, John Collins or T.J. Leaf might be tempting at No. 14, Winderman believes Miami would be better off trying to rebuild its draft future. The Heat owe their first-round picks in 2018 and 2021 to Phoenix and don’t have a second-round pick until 2022.
The Heat have some important contract dates in the next few weeks, Winderman notes in the same piece. Josh McRoberts, Dion Waiters and Willie Reed all have a June 29th deadline to decide whether to opt out for next season. Josh Richardson‘s $1,471,382 salary for 2017/18 becomes fully guaranteed a day later, as does Okaro White‘s $1,312,611 figure on July 1st. Winderman expects McRoberts to opt in for $6MM, Waiters and Reed to both opt out and the team to guarantee Richardson’s salary while getting White to defer his guarantee date.

Heat Notes: McRoberts, Waiters, Johnson

May 11th, 2017 at 3:27pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Heat could have between $33MM and $43MM in cap space this offseason depending on what happens with Wayne Ellington, who’s on a $6.27MM non-guaranteed contract for next season, and Josh McRoberts, who has a player option worth roughly $6.02MM, Bobby Marks of The Vertical writes. Marks notes that McRoberts is likely to opt in, but the team could utilize the stretch provision to generate additional cap space. The big man was only able to play in 22 games for Miami this season because of various foot injuries.

Here’s more from Miami:

Dion Waiters and James Johnson had excellent debut seasons for the Heat and Marks (same piece) projects both players to earn an annual salary above the $8.4 mid-level exception on their next deals. Teams over the cap will have that amount to spend, though teams that enter the offseason season with cap space will only have the $4.3MM mid-level at their disposal (after their cap space has been exhausted). Miami falls into the latter category.
Pat Riley, who signed a five-year extension to stay on as the team’s president last year, will continue to split his time between Malibu, California and Miami, Florida, Ira Winderman of the Sun-Sentinel relays. Winderman notes that it’s not uncommon for high-ranking executives to work in cities where their teams do not reside.
It may not make sense for the Heat to move up in the draft, Winderman opines in a separate piece. Miami will be without a first-round pick next year as a result of the Goran Dragic deal and Winderman believes it may not be wise to further mortgage the future.

Categories:
Miami Heat
Pat Riley

Heat Notes: Ellington, Carmelo, Gay, Draft

May 9th, 2017 at 8:56am CST by Luke Adams

While a few of his Heat teammates – including Dion Waiters and Josh McRoberts – hold player options for the coming season, Wayne Ellington doesn’t have the same sort of control over his future with the team. Ellington’s $6.27MM salary for 2017/18 is non-guaranteed, so he’ll have to count on Miami keeping him on its roster. And as he tells Tom D’Angelo of The Palm Beach Post, Ellington is hoping to stick around.

“This is the place that I want to be,” Ellington said. “This is the place that feels like home to me; that feels really good to me. I feel like the things that we accomplished on the court show that. So we’ll see what happens, man, but I have a good feeling.”

Ellington scored a career-high 10.5 PPG off the bench for the Heat this season, making 2.4 three-pointers per game at a 37.8% rate. As D’Angelo notes, the club would like to clear as much cap room as it can this summer to pursue outside help and retain its own free agents, but Ellington looks like a solid bargain at $6MM+, so it would be a surprise to see him go anywhere.

Here’s more from out of Miami:

One person in touch with the Heat tells Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald that he doesn’t expect the Heat to pursue Carmelo Anthony as a trade target this offseason. As Jackson explains, Anthony’s onerous salary and trade kicker make him an unappealing option for the club.
Rudy Gay may be a more realistic target for the Heat, according to Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel. However, Winderman doesn’t think Miami would be in on Gay if he’s hoping to match or exceed the $14MM+ salary he’s turning down for 2017/18. Miami’s plans for Justise Winslow and the club’s ability to bring back James Johnson would also be complicating factors.
Since the Heat often trade first-round picks and rarely finish in the lottery, the team’s scouting department doesn’t have many chances to target top prospects in the draft. So with an opportunity to pick in the lottery this season, Miami can’t afford to swing and miss, Winderman writes in a separate Sun Sentinel piece. “We probably don’t draft a guy who’s really a project and feel like he’s two or three years away,” said Chet Kammerer, the Heat’s VP of player personnel. “We are not going to gamble quite as much as some other organization because they have two picks in the first round every year. So they look at it a little bit different.”

Tyler Johnson Possibly Being Moved?

May 7th, 2017 at 3:24pm CST by marksuleymanov

The Thunder may look to free up cap space this summer to lure a superstar free agent to pair with possible 2017 MVP Russell Westbrook. Trading big man Enes Kanter could be one option, as he’s owed $17.9MM next season; however, the Heat would likely not be a trade partner, Ira Winderman of the Sun-Sentinel says in his latest Ask Ira column.

Winderman is asked if a potential Tyler Johnson-for-Kanter swap makes sense given both players’ lofty contracts. However, Johnson will make just $5.9MM next season, so a hypothetical swap would cut down Miami’s cap space from $37MM to $25MM next season. Also, the Heat will likely pursue new deals with James Johnson and Dion Waiters, and committing significant dollars to Kanter is not conducive to keeping that core intact.

While the allure of having Hassan Whiteside and Kanter manning the frontcourt sounds enticing, Winderman notes that neither man is an outside shooter, which would clog the paint for the Heat.

D’Antoni, Spoelstra Share New Coaching Award

May 7th, 2017 at 11:05am CST by Arthur Hill

Houston’s Mike D’Antoni and Miami’s Erik Spoelstra have been announced as co-recipients of the NBA Coaches Association’s first Coach of the Year Award, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com. The award is determined by a vote of NBA coaches and is named for Michael H. Goldberg, the longtime director of the organization.

D’Antoni led the Rockets to a 55-27 record and the third seed in the West in his first year in Houston. He turned James Harden into a point guard and unleashed a powerful offense that set a record for most 3-pointers made in a season.

Spoelstra rallied the Heat after a terrible start and led them to a 41-41 record, just missing a playoff berth on a tie-breaker. He was able to reconfigure the lineup in Miami after the loss of Dwyane Wade to free agency and Chris Bosh to a blood clot condition.

The media’s choice for Coach of the Year will be announced at the NBA’s awards show on June 26th.

Heat Notes: Wade, Bosh, J. Johnson, Draft

May 6th, 2017 at 7:39pm CST by Arthur Hill

Udonis Haslem and Tyler Johnson made a public appearance today to help Dwyane Wade sell sneakers, but they avoided questions about whether their former teammate might rejoin them with the Heat, writes Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel. Wade is considering whether to opt out of his $23.8MM contract with the Bulls for next season. If he does, many believe he will decide to return to Miami, where he spent his first 13 seasons. Haslem and Johnson have both been in touch with Wade since Chicago was eliminated from the playoffs last week. “He’s going to have to make the best decision for him,” Johnson said. “I know he wants to be in a situation where he’s playing for a team that’s kind of established. I don’t think he wants to go through a rebuilding process.”

There’s more news out of Miami:

The Heat are expected to petition the league office soon to have Chris Bosh‘s salary removed from their cap. Bosh was kept on the roster all season after failing a physical in training camp over blood clot problems that have plagued him for the past two seasons. Haslem tells Winderman in the same story that he has contacted Bosh but hasn’t discussed his NBA future. “Chris is one of those guys, when he puts his mind it, he can do anything,” Haslem said. “So he doesn’t lack opportunity. He’s going to have a lot of opportunity to do a lot of things. He’s a very well-rounded guy. And whatever he does, he’s going to be great at it.” If Bosh is able to play enough games for another team, his $52MM salary would be put back onto the Heat’s cap.
Free agent forward James Johnson may not be guaranteed a starting job if he re-signs with the Heat this summer, Winderman speculates in another piece. With Dion Waiters and Goran Dragic both starting, Johnson may give Miami too many players on the court at the same time who need to handle the ball. Also, Justise Winslow may claim one of the starting forward slots when he returns from injury.
Winderman examines who the Heat might take if they keep the No. 14 pick in the May 16th lottery. Players who have been linked to Miami in that spot include Duke’s Harry Giles, UCLA’s T.J. Leaf, North Carolina’s Justin Jackson, California’s Ivan Rabb, Florida State’s Jonathan Isaac, Gonzaga’s Zach Collins, Indiana’s OG Anunoby, Duke’s Luke Kennard, Wake Forest’s John Collins and two overseas players, Terrence Ferguson of Australia and Frank Ntilikina of France.

Spoelstra May Be Heat's Ultimate Recruitment Tool

May 4th, 2017 at 10:50pm CST by marksuleymanov

Despite seemingly messy breakups with Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade and missing the playoffs this season, the Heat are not concerned with difficulties of luring free agents to South Beach, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald writes. As Jackson notes, Bosh and the Heat seem to be on good terms despite the controversial circumstances surrounding the former All-Star’s battles with blood clots, which prompted to Heat to not play him this season. Also, an associate of Wade tells Jackson the Miami legend is open to playing for the team again in the future.

However, the team’s ultimate calling card may be its coach, Erik Spoelstra. In addition to coaching the Heat to two NBA titles during his tenure, Spoelstra has created a culture that allows players to thrive. Heat forward James Johnson explained to Jackson that “consistency” is the coach’s strength.

Miami’s culture includes rigorous training, which Jackson says will deter certain veteran players who do not want to add mileage to their bodies. As Spoelstra has said, the Heat are “not for everybody.”

Heat Notes: J. Johnson, Waiters, Wade

May 4th, 2017 at 6:44pm CST by Joshua Fischman

James Johnson is an unrestricted free agent this offseason and teammate Tyler Johnson wants him back with the Heat, reports Anthony Chiang of the Palm Beach Post. Since last summer when James signed with the Heat, the pair have been inseparable.

While James has publicly made it clear that he wishes to remain with the Heat, Tyler, who himself is under contract for three more seasons, knows that anything can happen and ultimately wants the best for his close friend. James enjoyed a career season in 2016/2017, averaging 12.8 PPG, 4.9 RPG, 3.6 APG, while shooting 47.9% coming off the bench in all but five of the 79 games he played (27.4 MPG).

Here’s more on the Heat:

Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel contends that Dion Waiters is set to field contract offers big enough “to create pause when it comes to making the Heat salary-cap math work.” Winderman cites Waiters’ excellent final half of the 2016/2017 season as reason why he’ll be coveted in free agency, despite having drawn little interest a year ago.
Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald writes that a Dwyane Wade reunion with the Heat is a possibility. The Bulls front office has been noncommittal about whether it will look to trade Jimmy Butler, who was perhaps the biggest reason Wade signed with the Bulls in the first place. According to Jackson, while the Heat may lack the assets to appeal to the Bulls, Pat Riley will likely at least explore the possibility of a trade for Butler, if the Bulls are taking calls.
Furthermore, according to Jackson, a Wade associate has indicated that he would consider re-joining the Heat under the right conditions. The veteran guard hasn’t closed the door on accepting a bench role, and if Miami were to pursue him, it would likely be for a bench role — and at a reduced salary. Wade has yet to decide whether he will opt out of the final season of his contract with the Bulls.