- Shannon Brown has signed with the NBA D-League and will be eligible for its draft, Chris Reichert of Upside & Motor tweets. The 30-year-old guard last appeared in the NBA in 2014/15, when he played five games for the Heat.
There isn’t enough support among NBA owners to retain the amnesty clause in the new CBA, which could impact the Heat’s long-term decision on Chris Bosh, Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com reports.
The amnesty clause was included in the past two CBAs, which allowed each team to waive one of its player contracts and have 100% of the player’s salary removed from the team’s salary for cap and tax purposes. The team still had to pay that player.
Without an amnesty clause included in the next agreement, the Heat would lose one of their best options regarding Bosh. They refuse to medically clear Bosh, whose last two seasons have been cut short by blood clots, leaving Bosh in limbo. Bosh has three years and approximately $76MM remaining on his contract.
The two sides are close to finalizing the new CBA, as Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical reported earlier. Windhorst offers a few more tidbits on the negotiations:
- Players are expected to have the ability to sign an extension two years after the date they signed their current contract, rather than three seasons.
- Restricted free agents will be able to agree to offer sheets on the first day of free agency — July 1 — instead of waiting to July 7. The window for teams to decide to match offer sheets would be reduced from 72 hours to 48 hours. That would make it more appealing for suitors to make those offers, since they are often hamstrung financially until a final decision is made.
- Teams would no longer be able to pull qualifying offers from RFAs, which is currently allowed prior to July 31.
While Rudy Gay has been the subject of trade speculation throughout the offseason, given his apparent discontent with his situation in Sacramento, a Tuesday report provided the most concrete update yet on potential trade talks involving Gay. According to Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders, the Kings and Heat have discussed a potential deal that would send Gay to Miami along with Darren Collison, with Goran Dragic heading to Sacramento.
While such a deal has been discussed, it’s believed to be in the “kicking the tires” stage, with nothing imminent. With that in mind, here’s the latest on Gay and the trade rumors surrounding him:
- Asked about the latest trade whispers, Gay downplayed the talk, as James Ham of CSN Bay Area details. “I’m in the same place I was earlier in the day, I’m in Sacramento,” Gay said. “It is what it is, man, it’s the NBA, it happens. Rumors are going to happen and you’ve just got to go out there and play basketball.”
- According to Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald, both he and fellow Herald reporter Manny Navarro have heard nothing is happening with the Heat and Kings at this time. Jackson adds that Miami likes Gay as a “complementary player,” but wants to see how Dragic looks with the current roster rather than trading him right now. Per Jackson, Gay would “love” to play in Miami, and the Heat will consider him a secondary option in free agency next July, whether or not they trade for him.
- Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel also explores the Gay rumors from a Heat perspective, suggesting the team probably wouldn’t do the rumored deal involving Dragic and Collison unless the Kings included a draft pick or Willie Cauley-Stein. Winderman also echoes what Jackson wrote, suggesting it’s too early at this point for Miami to make a major trade.
- Heat coach Erik Spoelstra is excited about the addition of swingman Luis Montero, who was signed by the team earlier today, Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel notes (Twitter links). “We were actually surprised that he was available and wanted to take advantage of that,” Spoelstra said. “He’s one of these long,athletic, combo wing guys that we’ve had success with.“
As ESPN’s Zach Lowe recently reported, the Heat and the Kings have engaged in some “vague” trade discussions since July. Today, Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders fills in some details on those talks, reporting that the two sides have discussed a trade that would send Rudy Gay and Darren Collison to Miami and Goran Dragic to Sacramento.
The Kings appear open to moving Gay, who has expressed some frustration with the franchise and has indicated he’ll opt out and explore the open market next summer. Sources tell Scotto that Sacramento would like to land a starting-caliber point guard in a deal involving Gay, and Dragic would fit that bill. However, the Heat gave up two first-round picks in their previous trade for Dragic, so they may require a more significant return to part with him.
Still, acquiring Gay and Collison would make some sense for the Heat. Gay is a talented scorer who could help make up for the loss of Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in the short term, while Collison could provide some backcourt depth — he likely wouldn’t require as significant a role as Dragic, which could free up some minutes for Miami’s younger players.
Both Gay and Collison will also come off the books in 2017, whereas Dragic has a pricey cap hit through at least the 2018/19 season. Moving Dragic for a pair of expiring contracts would give the Heat much more financial flexibility to go out and pursue top free agents next July.
No deal seems imminent at this point, with Scotto reporting that both teams are “kicking the tires” on the possibility. However, it’s worth keeping an eye on the Heat and Kings as potential trade partners before the 2017 deadline.
The Heat continue to cycle through camp invitees, announcing today in a press release that they’ve waived center Keith Benson, replacing him on their roster with guard Luis Montero. The Blazers just waived Montero on Saturday, so Miami didn’t waste much time in snatching him up once he cleared waivers.
A 6’7″ swingman from the Dominican Republic, Montero signed with the Blazers last summer. He appeared in 12 games as a rookie last season, averaging 1.2 points and 0.3 rebounds per night in limited playing time. Montero played just one game this preseason for Portland before he was cut, scoring three points against Utah on October 3.
Benson’s deal with the Heat was only partially guaranteed, with the big man getting $75K from the Heat. The details on Montero’s contract aren’t yet known, but he’ll likely receive little to no guaranteed money as well. Both players are candidates to end up with the Sioux Falls Skyforce, Miami’s D-League affiliate.
Miami continues to carry 20 players on its roster after waiving one and adding another. The team will have to make five cuts before opening night.
Heat swingman Justise Winslow has made tangible improvements from a season ago, according to coach Erik Spoelstra, Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel relays. Spoelstra compared his second-year player to Spurs star Kawhi Leonard, whom Miami squared off against last week, Winderman adds. “He does what he’s always done, and that’s make winning plays,” Spoelstra said of Winslow. “He is one of those unique players. The guy he was playing against on the other side [Friday] night is very similar. They make a lot of winning plays. And you can’t define them necessarily by a box score. Now, Justise can fill up a box score, and he’s showing his development. We plan on using him all over the court — handling the ball, posting up, drives, spacing the floor. The more responsibility we’ve given him, the more inspired his play has become.”
Miami recently picked up Winslow’s third-year option and will likely do the same next October when it needs to decide on his fourth-year one, Winderman writes. “It’s new to me, some parts of it,” Winslow said regarding contract deadlines. “But you’ve just got to understand the situation. You’ve got to understand the business. So a lot of guys are just talking to me about the business of basketball, and that’s just one part of it, the two-year team option. You’ve just got to know it and be aware of it, because it’d be crazy if they didn’t pick it up and I had no idea about it. So just being aware of the situation is the first step.”
Here’s more from South Beach:
- In his latest “Ask Ira” column, Winderman opines that Miami is likely to keep Beno Udrih on its roster over Briante Weber to start the regular season, with Weber on-deck as a call-up option from the D-League later in the campaign.
- The Heat must wait until at least February 9th, 2017 to release Chris Bosh if they wish to clear him from its cap, provided an independent doctor says the forward is still unfit to play. But despite that cutoff, Miami may wait longer to part ways with Bosh, given that they would be back on the hook for his salary if the player appeared in 25 regular season or playoff games with another team, writes Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald.
The Heat have tweaked the back of their roster slightly, announcing today in a press release that they’ve cut Stefan Jankovic and replaced him with newly-signed center Vashil Fernandez. Jankovic will become a free agent if and when he clears waivers, and will likely end up with Miami’s D-League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce.
Fernandez, meanwhile, went undrafted this June after spending his four-year college career at Valparaiso. The 6’10” big man averaged just 5.6 PPG during his senior season, but also chipped in 7.3 RPG and 3.3 BPG over the course of 36 games.
Jankovic had a $100K guarantee on his deal with Miami, so the Heat have a vested interest in continuing to develop him in the D-League. Another NBA team could claim him off waivers or sign him as a free agent, but they’d have to keep him on their 15-man roster to start the season in order to get his D-League rights.
While details of Fernandez’s deal aren’t yet known, a modest guarantee – if that – on a minimum-salary contract is a safe bet. Like Jankovic, Fernandez likely won’t make Miami’s regular-season roster. In fact, the two players could end up being teammates in Sioux Falls at some point this season.
OCTOBER 17, 8:37am: The move is official, as Bobby Marks of The Vertical tweets. Winslow becomes the first player to have his 2017/18 team option formally exercised, though plenty will follow in the next two weeks.
OCTOBER 16, 6:44pm: The Heat will pick up the third-year rookie-scale option on Justise Winslow, according to Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel. The long-expected move will guarantee Winslow a $2.7MM salary for 2017/18.
Miami has an October 31st deadline to pick up the option, but GM Andy Elisburg confirmed that the decision has already been made. The Heat just have to prepare an official “exercise letter” and send it to Winslow’s agent.
Winslow made an impression with a strong rookie year after dropping to No. 10 in the 2015 draft. He quickly earned a spot in the Heat’s rotation and averaged 6.4 points and 5.2 rebounds in 78 games. With the departure of Luol Deng in free agency, Winslow will move into a starting role. He is the only Miami player to start the team’s first five preseason games.
Winslow said he expected to have his option picked up and he is learning all he can about how the NBA handles contracts.
“This is a business,” he said. “You’ve got to know every aspect of it. Of course, I felt 99 percent sure that they would pick it up, but it’s something that you’ve still got to be aware of. If not for yourself, you’ve got to tell other rookies coming down the line. Because this is a brotherhood. You want to look out for everybody.”
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra is happy with Winslow’s progress so far and sees much brighter things in his future.
“He does what he’s always done, and that’s make winning plays,” Spoelstra said. “He is one of those unique players.”
Miami now has five players with guaranteed contracts for 2017/18, including Chris Bosh, whose salary could be removed from the team’s cap if he is not medically cleared to return after repeated issues with blood clots. The others are Hassan Whiteside, Tyler Johnson and Goran Dragic.
- Miami’s Goran Dragic clarified some remarks Friday, saying he didn’t intend to convey unhappiness with the Heat, relays Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel. In an interview last week with TNT’s David Aldridge, Dragic admitted that the loss of Dwyane Wade to free agency and Chris Bosh to health problems have put the current Miami team in a much different position than he expected when he re-signed last summer. “He asked me that question,” Dragic explained. “Didn’t I sign to be part of a great team, championship team? I said, ‘Yeah, of course.’ Then I said sometimes your career, this is business, you cannot have every decision go the way you want it on your own. This is a team decision. Sometimes you need to do two steps back to go one step forward. I’m happy to be here. This is the team that I want to be here. But I understand this is business.”