Miami Heat Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Heat Notes: Johnson, Whiteside, Winslow

December 4th, 2016 at 4:52pm CST by Will Joseph

James Johnson is thriving in a reserve role with the Heat, the veteran’s fifth team in eight years, after he chose Miami in free agency following an interesting sales pitch, Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel relays. Erik Spoelstra, Winderman writes, told Johnson, 29, to improve his shape and diet and in return the Heat would be afford him an opportunity to make the most out of his talents. Johnson, known as a solid perimeter defender, is averaging 9.9 points per game, which would be a career-high over the course of a single season.

Here is more out of Miami:

Hassan Whiteside likes the idea that Pat Riley envisions the offense going through him in a year or two, but he needs to stop turning the ball over as much as has for that to work,” Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald writes.
Spoelstra will have a decision or two on his hands regarding the starting lineup and minutes when Justise Winslow makes his imminent return, Jackson writes in a seperate story. The coach could opt to have Winslow return to small forward with Josh McRoberts or he can shift Winslow to power forward, Jackson notes. Jackson also floats the idea that Winslow could come off the bench.

Heat Notes: Whiteside, McRoberts, Winslow, Johnson

December 4th, 2016 at 9:04am CST by Arthur Hill

The Trail Blazers were Hassan Whiteside‘s second choice in free agency, writes Erik Garcia Gunderson in The Miami Herald. Portland reportedly pursued Whiteside, but didn’t get to meet with him before he re-signed with Miami. The center’s first meeting was with Heat president Pat Riley at midnight July 1st, and the only other team he talked with before making a decision was the Mavericks. “Portland was my second option,” Whiteside said before Saturday’s game with the Blazers. “I would have came here.” The Blazers, who used their cap space to add Evan Turner and Festus Ezeli and to re-sign their own free agents, currently have the worst defensive rating in the league.

There’s more news from Miami:

Josh McRoberts may have claimed the Heat’s starting power forward role with his play of late, contends Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel. McRoberts has scored in double figures in his last two games and is making a strong push to stay in the starting lineup. That will leave coach Erik Spoelstra with a difficult decision when Justise Winslow is healthy enough to return, Winderman notes, with Winslow possibly being used as a versatile sixth man who can fill in at several positions.
The Heat may trade some of their free agent additions for draft picks if they slip out of contention, Winderman writes in the same column. James Johnson, Dion Waiters and Wayne Ellington will all be eligible for deals starting December 15th. Because of injures and the fact that the playoffs are still a possibility after a slow start, Winderman doesn’t expect any of the three to be moved right away.
Johnson’s scoring has been a pleasant surprise for Miami, notes Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. The eighth-year forward has the highest scoring average of his career at 9.9 points per game and is shooting a career-best .344 from 3-point range. Johnson, who was sought mainly for his defense, leads all NBA forwards by holding the players he defends to 33.2 percent from the field. Johnson signed a one-year, $4MM deal and will be a free agent again next summer.

Heat’s Luke Babbitt May Be Out Two Weeks

December 2nd, 2016 at 3:28pm CST by Arthur Hill

The injury-ravaged Heat got more bad news Thursday night when forward Luke Babbitt suffered a hip-flexor strain, writes Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel.

Miami coach Erik Spoelstra describes the injury as similar to the one that has sidelined shooting guard Dion Waiters for at least two weeks.

“Probably a little bit similar to Dion,” Spoelstra said. “We’ll find out more. But it’s a hip-flexor strain. It’s not a contusion. So we’ll evaluate him.”

The seventh-year forward is averaging 4.2 points and 1.8 rebounds through 19 games, playing about 16 minutes per night. He has been in and out of the starting lineup as Spoelstra searches for the best combinations.

Babbitt was traded to Miami in July after spending the past three seasons in New Orleans. He is earning a little more than $1.2MM and will be a free agent when the season ends.

The Heat may be down to nine players for Saturday’s game after Josh Richardson was sent back to Miami on Thursday for treatment on his sore ankle. Waiters didn’t make the trip, nor did Justise Winslow, who has an injured wrist.

McGruder, McGee Receive Partial Guarantees

December 2nd, 2016 at 11:17am CST by Luke Adams

As our schedule of salary guarantee dates shows, four NBA players were originally believed to be on track to receive partial guarantees if they remained under contract through December 1. Two of those players – Briante Weber and Okaro White – were waived by the Heat earlier in the year, but the other two are still on their respective teams’ rosters.

The minimum-salary contract for Rodney McGruder, another member of the Heat, called for his partial guarantee to increase to $400K on Thursday, leaving only about $144K in non-guaranteed money on his deal. The rookie shooting guard has been a regular part of Miami’s rotation so far, averaging 22.9 minutes per game, so he looks like a safe bet to remain on the roster for the season, given his role and his contract situation.

Meanwhile, JaVale McGee‘s minimum-salary contract with the Warriors reportedly called for his partial guarantee to increase from $250K to $500K on Thursday. McGee has only played sparingly for Golden State in the early going, but he has a unique skill set on a Warriors team that lacks a traditional rim-protecting center. That could mean an increased role for him later this season, though his roster spot may not be entirely safe if the team finds a more reliable veteran center via free agency or trade.

So far, there have been no indications that either the Heat or Warriors pushed back their guarantee dates for McGruder or McGee, respectively, so we’ll assume both players received their increased partial guarantees unless we hear otherwise. Their salaries for 2016/17 will become fully guaranteed if they’re still under contract on January 10.

Richardson Returns To Miami For Treatment

December 1st, 2016 at 10:39pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Guard Josh Richardson returned to Miami during the Heat’s current three-game road trip to get treatment for his sore ankle, Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel reports. Richardson suffered the injury against the Celtics on Monday. Miami is already playing without two of its top wings, Justise Winslow and Dion Waiters, due to injuries. “It’s an easy decision for us,” coach Erik Spoelstra told Winderman and other beat writers. “His ankle is really sore. He has a bunch of other little, minor things going on. So we just wanted to go back, get his body right, feel right for the next three days, four days. We’ll reevaluate him then.”

Dion Waiters Expected To Miss At Least Two Weeks

November 30th, 2016 at 5:59pm CST by Arthur Hill

Heat guard Dion Waiters will be out of action for at least two weeks with a Pectineus tear, the team announced on its website.

Waiters, who was diagnosed today after an MRI, has been sidelined for more than a week with what was thought to be a groin ailment. He didn’t accompany the team on its current three-game road trip. Coach Erik Spoelstra said Waiters’ condition will be re-evaluated in two weeks.

Waiters was one of several free agents signed by the Heat this summer. He agreed in late July to a two-year, $6MM contract with a player option on the second season. The 24-year-old has appeared in 16 games, all starts, with averages of 14.2 points, 4.0 assists and 3.4 rebounds per night. He is shooting 38.4% from the field and 34.4% on 3-pointers.

The pain of losing Waiters is lessened somewhat by the recent return of Wayne Ellington, who missed the first five weeks of the season after suffering a quad injury in Miami’s final preseason game.

Heat Notes: Winslow, Waiters, Dragic

November 30th, 2016 at 9:00am CST by Luke Adams

The Heat are currently tied for the NBA’s fourth-worst record, as our 2016/17 Reverse Standings show, and the team will continue to be a little shorthanded on its upcoming road trip. According to Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel, Justise Winslow and Dion Waiters didn’t travel with the team to start the three-game trip to Denver, Utah, and Portland. Winslow is still dealing with a left wrist issue, while Waiters is sidelined with a groin injury. It’s not clear if both players will miss the entire road trip, but if the Heat continue to dig a deeper hole and slip in the standings, it will have an impact on the team’s approach leading up to this season’s trade deadline.

While a trade isn’t necessarily the end goal for the Heat with Goran Dragic, it doesn’t hurt to be able to point to games like Monday’s if the team has to make a case for the point guard’s value, writes Winderman in another piece for The Sun Sentinel. Dragic posted 27 points, 17 assists, and just one turnover in Miami’s loss to Boston on Monday.

Heat Still Recovering From Loss Of Wade

November 28th, 2016 at 5:10pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Heat are still struggling to recover from the loss of Dwyane Wade via free agency this past summer and are likely headed to the 2017 Draft lottery as a result, Marc D’Amico of NBA.com writes.

Heat Notes: Whiteside, Ellington, McGruder, Fizdale

November 27th, 2016 at 10:24am CST by Arthur Hill

Heat center Hassan Whiteside is ready to go from target to recruiter in the free agent market, according to Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel. Whiteside was one of the top names in free agency over the summer, attracting interest from several organizations before re-signing with the Heat for $98MM over four years. Now he wants to be part of the effort to bring other big names to Miami. “When you start being around those guys a lot more, when you’re making the All-Star Game and when you’re making those different events where you get to meet the best players and hang around, that’s especially when you can build a bond with a lot of those guys,” Whiteside said. “I think that’s where a lot of recruitment comes from.”

There’s more news out of Miami:

Wayne Ellington should return soon from the quad injury that has sidelined him since the final preseason game, Winderman writes in a separate piece. The Heat signed Ellington in July to a two-year deal worth more than $12MM to bolster their outside shooting.
The Heat’s injury problems have created more playing time for Rodney McGruder, writes Manny Navarro of The Miami Herald. The rookie guard played more than 30 minutes twice this week, including some late-game experience. “It just puts you in those situations earlier than you ever would have expected,” he said. “I’m in a great situation with great teammates, a great coaching staff that believes in all of us. It makes it that much easier to go out there and play. For me, I just try to stay the course, and the minutes I do have — whatever they are — I treat them like crunch-time minutes. Because whenever you get out there those are important minutes.”
Grizzlies head coach David Fizdale says work ethic was the most important thing he learned during his time as an assistant under Erik Spoelstra, Navarro adds in the same story. Fizdale spent eight seasons in Miami before taking the Memphis job over the offseason. “I would put him against anybody in the league from the standpoint of preparation, time spent on watching film, really time spent on deep thought on what motivates his team, what guys to play,” Fizdale said of Spoelstra. “He’s a forward-thinking guy, really open minded, forward-thinking guy.”

Whiteside's Road To Stardom Provides Lesson

November 26th, 2016 at 1:15pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Heat center Hassan Whiteside‘s winding road to NBA stardom provides hope for other players scrapping to make the league, Pistons coach and president of basketball operations Stan Van Gundy told the media earlier this week. Whiteside played 19 games for the Kings his first two seasons and wound up in the D League, China and Lebanon before resurfacing with the Heat, where he emerged as one of the league’s top centers. Whiteside, who re-signed with the Heat for four years and $98MM over the summer, is averaging 16.9 points and a league-best 15.1 rebounds. “Hassan Whiteside is a great lesson for other players and a great lesson for those of us making personnel decisions in the league, especially with big guys,” Van Gundy said. “Sometimes it doesn’t happen overnight. Hassan Whiteside right now is playing as well as any big man in the league. His numbers are mindboggling.”