Miami Heat Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Heat Notes: Bosh, Whiteside, Johnson

August 27th, 2016 at 8:20pm CST by ChrisCrouse

There remains no timetable for a decision on whether or not Chris Bosh will play for the Heat this season, Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel writes. Winderman believes that coach Erik Spoelstra will develop dual game plans as the team enters training camp and notes that it’s not something unusual, as many coaches have to prepare for stars sitting out as the seasons goes along.

Here’s more from Miami:

It’s unclear whether Hassan Whiteside and Bosh can coexist in the frontcourt, but the duo is talented enough to make it work should they see enough time on the floor together, Winderman opines in a separate piece. The Heat re-signed Whiteside to a four-year, max deal this offseason.
New addition James Johnson can be a valuable contributor if he can prove he can make 3-pointers at a reliable rate, Winderman argues in that same piece. Johnson signed a one-year, $4MM deal with the Heat this offseason.

Heat Plan To Keep Josh McRoberts

August 24th, 2016 at 7:43pm CST by Arthur Hill

Josh McRoberts has been informed that the Heat intend to keep him for the upcoming season, according to Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. The agent for the veteran power forward told Jackson that Miami officials recently called McRoberts to review his offseason training program and prepare him for the start of camp next month.

McRoberts has been the subject of trade rumors since early last season when Miami was trying to clear cap space to escape luxury tax penalties. More recently, there has been talk that McRoberts might be moved to clear up a shortage of minutes in the front court with the possible return of Chris Bosh, the re-signing of Udonis Haslem, the trade for Luke Babbitt and the free agency additions of Derrick Williams, James Johnson and Willie Reed.

Injuries have limited McRoberts’ effectiveness since he signed with the Heat in 2014. He played just 17 games in 2014/15 and 42 last season, when he averaged 3.6 points and 2.5 rebounds in a reserve role. McRoberts is set to make nearly $5.8MM in 2016/17 and holds a player option for a little more than $6MM for the following season.

Jackson notes that the Heat will have to get rid of someone with a fully guaranteed contract if they want to keep Briante Weber, whom they added in April. Weber signed for $874,636 next season, but only $218,659 is guaranteed if he is waived before opening night. Miami has 11 recently signed players who cannot be traded before December 15th.

Salary Cap Snapshot: Miami Heat

August 22nd, 2016 at 10:30pm CST by Eddie Scarito

With the free agent signing period winding down and teams looking ahead to the preseason, we at Hoops Rumors will be tracking the Salary Cap figures for each team around the league. These posts will be maintained throughout the season once financial data is reported. They will be located on the sidebar throughout the year, once all the teams’ cap figures have been relayed. You can always check RosterResource.com for up-to-date rosters for each franchise, with the Heat’s team page accessible here.

Here’s a breakdown of where the Heat currently stand financially:

Guaranteed Salary

Chris Bosh —$23,741,060
Hassan Whiteside —$22,116,750
Goran Dragic —$15,891,725
Wayne Ellington —$6,000,000
Josh McRoberts —$5,782,450
Tyler Johnson —$5,628,000 [Contract has 15% Trade Kicker]
Derrick Williams —$4,598,000 [Waived by team]
James Johnson —$4,000,000
Udonis Haslem —$4,000,000
Dion Waiters —$2,898,000 [Contract has 15% Trade Kicker]
Justise Winslow —$2,593,440
Luke Babbitt —$1,227,286
Willie Reed —$1,015,696
Josh Richardson —$874,636
Rodney McGruder —$543,471
Briante Weber —$327,989 [Waived by team]
Okaro White —$210,995
Stefan Jankovic —$100,000 [Waived by team]
Okaro White —$100,000 [Waived by team (Oct 22)]
Keith Benson — $75,000 [Waived by team]
Okaro White —$31,969 [10-day contract (Jan 17)]
Okaro White —$31,969 [10-day contract (Jan 27)]
Marcus Georges-Hunt —$31,969 [10-day contract (Feb 8)]

Total Guaranteed Salary= $101,820,405

Cash Sent Out Via Trade: $400K sent to Pelicans in Luke Babbitt trade [Amount Remaining $3.1MM]

Cash Received Via Trade: $0 [Amount Remaining $3.5MM]

Payroll Exceptions Available

Disabled player exception — $1,296,720 [Granted for Justise Winslow injury]
Room exception — $0 [Used to sign Dion Waiters]

Total Projected Payroll: $101,820,405

Salary Cap: $94,143,000

Estimated Available Cap Space: –$7,677,405

Luxury Tax Threshold: $113,287,000

Amount Below Luxury Tax: $11,466,595

Last Updated: 2/9/17

The Basketball Insiders salary pages and The Vertical’s salary database were used in the creation of this post.

Heat Notes: Weber, Jankovic, Udrih

August 22nd, 2016 at 8:01pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Heat’s roster currently stands at 19 players, which is four over the regular season maximum. This places a number of young players on the bubble, with each of them hoping to be a member of the team when the regular season kicks off, Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel writes. The signing of Beno Udrih has made the path to a regular season spot more difficult for Briante Weber, whose contract includes a partial guarantee of $218,659, but the guard hasn’t let that discourage him, Winderman adds. “My mindset is never going change, no matter who’s in front of me, no matter how many people it is,” said Weber. “I’m just going to be me. I’m not going to change anything about how I do my things. I’m not going to try to be a different person.”

Here’s more from South Beach:

In response to a reader question in his latest “Ask Ira” column, Winderman notes that a strong defensive guard like Weber is something the team could use, given the playing styles of the other members of Miami’s backcourt. “It is surprising that Weber could be squeezed out despite having three-eighths of his 2016/17 contract already guaranteed,” Winderman opined. “One thing the Heat have lacked for years has been a lock-down defensive point guard, one who could pick up full court and wear down an opposing ballhandler. It is not what Goran Dragic does. Not what Beno Udrih does. That’s what has made Briante so intriguing. But what we haven’t witnessed are the Heat’s private drills, and it’s possible that Josh Richardson or Tyler Johnson have turned into such defensive prospects/pests, perhaps reducing the need for a specialist at point guard such as Briante.“
Stefan Jankovic, another member of the team who isn’t assured of a roster spot this season, was offered a chance to tryout for Serbia’s National team, but declined it because he had already made a commitment to play for the Heat’s summer league squad, Winderman tweets. Jankovic, 23, appeared in eight games this summer for Miami, averaging 7.0 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.0 assist in 13.9 minutes per outing. His shooting line was .444/.333/.786.

Big Plans For Whiteside; Too Many Players In Miami?

August 20th, 2016 at 8:33pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Heat have big expectations for $98MM center Hassan Whiteside, writes Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel. Now that the big man is under contract for the next four seasons, coach Erik Spoelstra posted a video on the team’s website discussing Whiteside’s responsibilities. “He will be working on all of it,” Spoelstra said. “Low-post scoring, that’s the number one thing he wants to work on, and I’m all for it. He will also work on his skill level at the top of the floor, handling the ball, getting us into second situations as a playmaker, rebounding off the glass.” Spoelstra is planning more minutes and more games for Whiteside, who sat out nine contests last season and only started 43 times.
The need to sign players before the deadline arrived on Tyler Johnson’s offer sheet with the Nets may have caused the Heat to add too many players, Winderman writes in a separate story. Faced with the possible loss of $4MM in cap space, Miami signed free agents Wayne Ellington, Derrick Williams, James Johnson and Willie Reed, then traded for Luke Babbitt before matching Johnson’s offer. Later, they signed Dion Waiters and Beno Udrih, along with Briante Weber and three other players who may be ticketed for the D-League.

No Guarantees For Udrih

August 19th, 2016 at 9:02am CST by Dana Gauruder

Beno Udrih has no assurances of playing time despite re-signing with the Heat, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reports. Udrih gives the club a natural point guard behind starter Goran Dragic, but combo guards Tyler Johnson and Josh Richardson will also see action at that position, Jackson continues. Udrih signed a one-year guaranteed deal at the veteran’s minimum of $1.4MM. Udrih had a standing offer from the Heat for more than a month, sources told Jackson, and turned down some other options because of his comfort level with the organization.

Heat Re-Sign Beno Udrih

August 17th, 2016 at 11:38am CST by Eddie Scarito

11:38am: The signing is official, the Heat announced.

10:10am: The Heat have agreed to a deal to re-sign unrestricted free agent point guard Beno Udrih, Shams Charania of The Vertical reports (via Twitter). It’s a one-year, fully guaranteed pact, notes Charania. The scribe didn’t relay the dollar value of the arrangement, but with the Heat well over the cap with $102,872,092 in salary already committed for next season and having used the room exception to ink Dion Waiters, it would have to be for the league minimum.

Miami reportedly had a “standing invitation” for Udrih to join them in training camp if he was unable to land a better deal elsewhere. Udrih played 36 games with Miami last season before agreeing to a buyout in February to help the team avoid the luxury tax, which certainly gained him some fans within the organization. Udrih’s addition now gives the Heat 15 fully guaranteed pacts.

In those 36 games for the Heat last season, Udrih averaged 4.4 points, 1.8 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 16.3 minutes per outing. He shot .434/.333/.882 from the field.

Spoelstra Doesn't Mention Bosh

August 16th, 2016 at 3:30pm CST by Arthur Hill

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra made no mention of Chris Bosh in two video messages posted today on the team’s website, relays Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. The status of the veteran big man remains uncertain after his past two seasons were cut short because of blood clots. Spoelstra singled out Hassan Whiteside, Josh Richardson, Justise Winslow and Tyler Johnson as defensive leaders who will define the team in the post-Dwyane Wade era. “You learn pretty quickly in this league that your roster is going to change,” Spoelstra said, “sometimes your staff changes. Expectations change. It’s like that every year. Just when you get comfortable, it will change. This is a new challenge. We’re embracing the change. We’re excited about the future, excited about the guys we have on our team. You also have to have the right kind of players.” Owner Micky Arison named Bosh as part of the Heat’s future in a recent letter to Miami fans.

Heat Notes: Udrih, Williams, Ellington, Bosh

August 14th, 2016 at 11:33am CST by Arthur Hill

The Heat could use a veteran like Beno Udrih to serve as a backup to Goran Dragic, writes Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel. Miami doesn’t have anyone else on its roster who has played point guard on a regular basis at the NBA level, and Winderman points out that Dragic, who missed 10 games last season, is susceptible to injury with his attacking style of play. The Heat reportedly have a “standing invitation” for Udrih to join them in training camp on a veterans’ minimum contract if he can’t get a better deal elsewhere. Udrih played 36 games with Miami last season before agreeing to a buyout in February to help the team avoid the luxury tax.

There’s more news out of Miami:

There could be a shortage of minutes on the front line for recent additions Derrick Williams, James Johnson and Luke Babbitt, Winderman notes in the same piece. They will essentially be competing at the same position, and shooting guards Josh Richardson, Dion Waiters, Wayne Ellington and Tyler Johnson could all see time at small forward because of an overcrowded backcourt.
Ellington is a prime candidate to be traded once this year’s offseason signees are eligible to be dealt starting December 15th, Winderman writes in a separate story. The Heat signed the 28-year-old shooting guard away from the Nets in July, but later added Waiters in free agency. Winderman believes Ellington will have to be exceptional from 3-point range to earn a regular spot in the Heat’s rotation. He shot 36% from long distance last season and is at 38% for his career.
The Heat are “cautiously optimistic” that Chris Bosh will be able to play this season, writes Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. However, he cautions that nothing is certain with the veteran big man, who has had his last two seasons cut short by blood clots.

Kings Notes: Gay, McLemore, Cousins, Casspi

August 13th, 2016 at 10:00pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Heat could be interested in a Rudy Gay trade if the Kings are willing to wait until after December 15th, writes Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel. That’s the date when the free agents that Miami added to its roster this offseason are eligible to be moved. Gay’s salary would require the Heat to send back about $13.3MM, which means point guard Goran Dragic would probably have to be included, and Miami doesn’t seem inclined to part with him. By waiting until mid-December, Winderman notes, the Heat will have a better feeling for how much Chris Bosh will be able to contribute and whether Justise Winslow will have to spend more time at power forward, which would create a greater need to have Gay on the roster.

There’s more tonight out of Sacramento:

The Kings almost certainly won’t negotiate a rookie contract extension with shooting guard Ben McLemore, contends Bobby Marks of The Vertical. McLemore, who was drafted in 2013, is the only Sacramento player eligible for the extension before this year’s October 31st deadline, but Marks says the Kings have been trying to trade him for more than a year. McLemore averaged 7.8 points in 68 games last season and will have a $1oMM cap hold next offseason.
DeMarcus Cousins will become eligible for a contract extension on September 30th, Marks notes in the same piece. The Kings’ all-star center still has two seasons and more than $35MM left on his current deal, but he can agree to an extension at the end of September because it will be three full years from his when the contract was signed. If he takes an extension, Cousins would be limited to 7.5% raises from his $18,063,850 salary in 2017/18, so it’s more likely that he waits for free agency.
Omri Casspi sees improved camaraderie as a key to ending Sacramento’s 10-year run of missing the playoffs, writes Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee. Casspi is touring Israel this week with Gay and a group of former NBA players and celebrities. “We’ve added some good guys, some good quality players and quality individuals to our locker room, which is important, I think,” Casspi said. “The great teams in the NBA have great locker rooms.Just in general we need to start making strides, try to make the make playoffs. With a new coaching staff, we need to make a big stride forward.”