Miami Heat Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Free Agent Rumors: G. Williams, Lakers, Gordon, Vincent, Brooks

July 1st, 2023 at 1:39am CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The Celtics are letting the market dictate how they proceed with the contract of restricted free agent power forward Grant Williams.

Sources tell Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe that, since Boston has the right of first refusal on Williams, the team is waiting to see if he gets an offer sheet before making a decision on his future.

The 3-and-D role player could be feeling some roster squeeze if he does return to the Celtics next season, as the club will now boast a frontcourt that features Kristaps Porzingis in addition to Al Horford and Robert Williams III.

Here’s more from around the league:

The Lakers may be open to bringing back unrestricted free agent shooting guard Malik Beasley for next season, even after deciding not to pick up their $16.5MM option on him for 2023/24. Sources tell Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports that team president Rob Pelinka still appreciates Beasley as a player and the club has some interest in re-signing him on what would have to be a significantly smaller deal. Fischer adds that the Lakers have not yet made a determination on the future of starting point guard D’Angelo Russell, though both Russell’s management and L.A. had been hopeful about reaching a new long-term deal earlier Friday.
Fischer adds that the Raptors were viewed as a prime suitor Gabe Vincent as it became increasingly clear that Fred VanVleet would sign a huge new contract with the Rockets. However, after Lakers mid-level target Bruce Brown joined the Pacers early on in free agency, Los Angeles weighed a pursuit of shooting guard Eric Gordon before ultimately deciding on Vincent. Sources tell Fischer that the Raptors didn’t end up reaching out to Vincent during free agency.
The Heat offered Vincent a four-year, $34MM contract to stay in Miami, a source tells Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press (via Twitter). The 27-year-old instead opted for a shorter-term deal with a higher annual salary, accepting a three-year, $33MM offer from the Lakers.
The Rockets‘ anticipated meeting with small forward Dillon Brooks is taking place either late on Friday or at some point on Saturday, reports Kelly Iko of The Athletic. According to Iko, the defensive-oriented 6’7″ swingman has had conversations with the Bucks and Lakers on Friday while Houston focused on locking up VanVleet. Now that the Lakers have committed most of their mid-level exception to Vincent, they’re likely no longer a viable landing spot for Brooks, Iko notes.

Free Agent Rumors: Lopez, Banton, T. Davis, Strus

June 30th, 2023 at 10:17pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Multiple NBA clubs are awaiting word on the future of unrestricted free agent center Brook Lopez, who has spent his past five seasons with the Bucks, per Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link).

Fischer reports that “increasing word” on Friday suggests the Rockets may bid in excess of the two-year, $40MM deal that has been floated as a possibility.

Lopez, 35, has enjoyed a fruitful relationship with Milwaukee. The seven-footer has been named to two All-Defensive Teams and won his first championship during his Bucks tenure, while totally transforming his game, from being a fringe All-Star post scorer while with the Nets to the gritty 3-and-D role player he is now.

In 78 regular season games for the 58-24 Bucks last season, the former Stanford big man posted averages of 15.9 PPG on .531/.374/.784 shooting splits, in addition to 6.7 RPG, 2.5 BPG and 1.3 APG. He was the runner-up for Defensive Player of the Year honors.

Here are further free agent rumors:

Free agent point guard Dalano Banton met with the Celtics on Friday, according to Rafael Barlowe of NBA Big Board (via Twitter). The 6’9″ vet out of Nebraska had spent both of his NBA seasons to date with the Raptors. In 31 contests, last year, he averaged 4.6 PPG, 1.5 RPG and 1.2 APG.
The Celtics, Suns, Bucks, Mavericks and Raptors are among the teams with some level of interest in free agent former Kings shooting guard Terence Davis, according to Mark Jones of ESPN and Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter links).
According to Fischer (Twitter link), the Spurs have emerged as a possible third team in a rumored sign-and-trade deal that would send Heat free agent shooting guard Max Strus to the Cavaliers. Sources tell Fischer that Cleveland has been looking to offload the contract of swingman Cedi Osman, whom Miami presumably has no interest in taking on. Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald reports (via Twitter) that the Heat are aiming to create a trade exception and a future second-round draft selection in any sign-and-trade involving Strus.

Kevin Love Signs Two-Year Deal With Heat

June 30th, 2023 at 7:57pm CST by Dana Gauruder

JULY 6: The Heat have made it official, issuing a press release to announce their new deal with Love.

JUNE 30: Veteran power forward Kevin Love is returning to the Heat on a two-year contract, according to Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press. The second year will include a player option (Twitter links).

The Heat are using their Non-Bird rights to re-sign Love, which will result in a $3.7MM cap hit for next season, the Miami Herald’s Anthony Chiang tweets. Miami could have gone as high as $3.84MM to retain Love, so they’ll get a little cap relief if the $3.7MM figure is correct.

In either case, it’ll be a bargain for a five-time All-Star and 34-year-old rotation player. After reaching a buyout with the Cavaliers, Love appeared in 21 regular-season games with the Heat, including 17 starts. He averaged 7.7 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.9 assists, though the 37% career 3-point shooter struggled from long range (29.7%).

Love played 20 postseason games with Miami, including 18 starts, and produced an average of 6.9 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 17 minutes. His 3-point shooting perked up to his usual level (37.5%).

While it remains to be seen how the rest of the Heat’s roster moves shake out, Love will likely be a starter or key second-unit player once again for the defending Eastern Conference champions.

Josh Richardson Signs Two-Year Contract With Heat

June 30th, 2023 at 7:42pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

JULY 2: Richardson’s deal with the Heat is now official, according to a press release from the team.

JUNE 30: Veteran free agent swingman Josh Richardson is reportedly inking a two-year, minimum-salary contract to return to the Heat, report Shams Charania of The Athletic and Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald (Twitter links).

Jackson notes that the deal includes a player option for 2024/25. Miami head coach Erik Spoelstra reached out to Richardson at the start of the free agent period to recruit Richardson, per Jackson. Jackson tweets that a rival club offered the 6’5″ shooting guard/small forward more money, but he was swayed by the conversation with one of the league’s best coaches.

Mike Scotto of HoopsHype reports that the Timberwolves and Celtics also were hoping to sign Richardson. Scotto reveals that team president Pat Riley was also involved in the recruitment call to reacquire Richardson.

Miami, which as of now is already in luxury tax terrain in terms of its current contracts, has done well in adding a quality 3-and-D rotation wing on a team-friendly deal. The annual cap hits on a minimum deal for Richardson will be $2,891,467 in 2023/24 and $3,051,153 in 2024/25.

Miami first drafted Richardson out of Tennessee with the No. 40 pick in 2015, and flipped him to the Sixers as part of the deal that brought All-NBA wing Jimmy Butler to South Beach.

Across 65 games split between the Spurs and Pelicans in 2023/24, Richardson averaged 10.1 PPG on .431/.365/.852 shooting splits, along with 2.7 RPG, 2.7 APG and 1.1 SPG.

Gabe Vincent Signs Three-Year Contract With Lakers

June 30th, 2023 at 6:24pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 6: Vincent is officially a Laker, having formally signed his new contract, according to the team (Twitter link).

JUNE 30: Free agent point guard Gabe Vincent will leave the Heat for the Lakers, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link), who reports that Vincent has agreed to a three-year, $33MM contract with Los Angeles.

Miami, wary of increasing the team’s projected tax bill, had offered Vincent a three-year deal that started at $7.7MM, tweets Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. The Lakers will give him an $11MM annual salary, presumably using a significant portion of their non-taxpayer mid-level exception.

The deal will be fully guaranteed with no player or team option on the third year, tweets Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports.

Vincent, 27, began the 2022/23 season as rotation player off the Heat’s bench, but was elevated to the starting lineup in early February due to a Kyle Lowry injury. On the year, he averaged 9.4 PPG, 2.5 APG, and 2.1 RPG with a .402/.334/.872 shooting line in 68 regular season games (25.9 MPG).

Vincent held onto his starting job during the Heat’s run to the NBA Finals and played well in the postseason. Notably, he averaged 13.8 PPG and shot .438/.426/.909 in the Heat’s final two series vs. the Celtics and Nuggets, despite spraining his ankle vs. Boston.

Even after agreeing to sign Vincent, Los Angeles still has interest in bringing back point guard D’Angelo Russell, tweets Jovan Buha of The Athletic. However, Buha expects Vincent’s deal means that Dennis Schröder won’t be back with the team.

Vincent was the No. 23 free agent on our top-50 list.

Eastern Notes: Dinwiddie, Bol, Pistons, Harris, Heat, Maxey

June 30th, 2023 at 4:30pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Spencer Dinwiddie is eligible for an extension later this offseason and there’s support within the Nets organization to add years to his current contract, according to Ian Begley of SNY.TV.

Dinwiddie is entering his walk year with a cap hit of $20,357,143. After being reacquired from Dallas last season, Dinwiddie started 26 regular-season games and averaged 16.5 points and 9.1 assists in 35.3 minutes.

We have more from the Eastern Conference:

The Magic have pushed back their decision regarding Bol Bol‘s contract, Jamie Seh of WKMG-TV tweets. Bol has a non-guaranteed $2.2MM salary for next season and the original deadline to guarantee his deal was Friday. If they don’t guarantee his contract, he’ll end up on waivers.
By trading for Joe Harris and his expiring contract rather than pursuing a high-level free agent, the Pistons are protecting the cap space for next summer while avoiding a potentially bad contract, according to James Edwards III of The Athletic. Handing a huge offer sheet to restricted free agent Cameron Johnson, as had been anticipated, would have meant overpaying for a role player. They could easily have $60MM in cap space to play with next summer for a better free agent market. Detroit won’t give up a player to the Nets in the trade for Harris, who will provide shooting and wing depth.
Agent Mark Bartelstein said Harris has spoken with Pistons GM Troy Weaver, coach Monty Williams and executive Arn Tellem, Mark Medina tweets. According to Bartelstein, the Pistons have wanted Harris “for a couple of years” and “he’ll have a great role there.”
The Heat only have veteran’s minimum contracts to offer to free agents, Barry Jackson of Miami Herald tweets. The cap-strapped Heat don’t have a trade lined up to clear enough cap space to use exceptions within league cap rules.
While the Sixers aren’t expected to pursue a rookie scale extension with Tyrese Maxey, they haven’t made him available in trade discussions, Kyle Neubeck of Philly Voice tweets.

Eastern FA Rumors: Kuzma, Kyrie, Bridges, Crowder, Sixers

June 30th, 2023 at 3:05pm CST by Luke Adams

Free agent forward Kyle Kuzma is seeking a contract “well above the mid-level exception,” according to Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports, but it’s unclear which cap-room team might give him that sort of offer, especially if the Rockets and Pacers use their space on other players.

As Fischer writes, the Jazz were viewed as a legitimate suitor for Kuzma, but that option is almost certainly off the table following Utah’s deal for John Collins. People around the league have begun to consider it increasingly likely that Kuzma could re-sign with the Wizards, according to Fischer. While the Wizards are in the process of reshaping their roster, they’ll have Kuzma’s Bird rights and could view him as a future tradable asset as long as they don’t overpay him.

Here are more free agent rumors from around the Eastern Conference:

Following up on a report stating that Kyrie Irving had the Heat on his list of teams to meet with in free agency, Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald (Twitter link) cites a source who says the Heat have no meeting scheduled with the star point guard. Irving will, however, meet with the Rockets, sources tell Kelly Iko of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Interestingly, Fischer writes that the Hornets “don’t appear to have a straightforward path to re-sign” restricted free agent forward Miles Bridges. According to Fischer, Bridges and his representatives have broached the idea of Charlotte pulling its qualifying offer to make him unrestricted. Based on Fischer’s report, it sounds like Bridges’ camp may not feel confident about its leverage in talks with the Hornets entering the summer. The forward isn’t eligible to be signed-and-traded because he wasn’t on Charlotte’s roster last season.
Although Jae Crowder is considered likely to re-sign with the Bucks, the veteran forward has also drawn interest from the Heat, league sources tell Fischer.
While the Sixers may be fairly quiet at the start of free agency, it’s possible it won’t take the team long to come to an agreement with restricted free agent Paul Reed, according to Kyle Neubeck of PhillyVoice.com. The team’s odds of bringing back Georges Niang, Jalen McDaniels, or Shake Milton don’t appear as strong. A source tell Neubeck that Niang may get “a nice chunk of money” from a rival suitor on the first day of free agency. Milton is unlikely to return to Philadelphia, while McDaniels’ free agency could take some time to play out, Neubeck adds.

Trade Rumors: Harden, Bulls, Zubac, Brogdon, Osman, Morris

June 30th, 2023 at 2:16pm CST by Arthur Hill

There’s no urgency for the Sixers to complete a James Harden trade, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski said Friday in an appearance on “Get Up” (video link). Even though Harden has asked to be dealt and seems to prefer the Clippers, Wojnarowski notes that the track record of president of basketball operations Daryl Morey suggests he’ll explore all available possibilities before committing to a deal.

“You may let free agency settle,” Wojnarowski said, “see where players land, see where needs arise for different teams that might not be interested today but could be in a few days. I don’t anticipate necessarily that this is going to be quick because it doesn’t have to.”

Andrew Greif of The Los Angeles Times also hears that a Harden trade may not happen right away. He cites league sources who said they’ll be watching how patient the Sixers decide to be and what they’ll be seeking in return. Greif names Terance Mann as a player the Clippers might be reluctant to include in a Harden deal.

There are more trade rumors to pass along:

The Bulls may be an option for Harden, sources tell Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports. Chicago has already explored trade scenarios regarding Zach LaVine and might be willing to part with DeMar DeRozan to acquire Harden. Fischer also cautions that Morey has a lot of options to consider before deciding how to handle Harden’s trade request.
The Clippers, who would like to re-sign Mason Plumlee have let teams know that Ivica Zubac is available in a trade, Fischer adds. L.A. may also have interest in acquiring P.J. Tucker in a Harden deal, as Fischer notes that the Clippers previously reached out to him when he was a free agent.
The Clippers pulled out of an original version of the three-team Kristaps Porzingis trade because of medical concerns regarding Malcolm Brogdon, but they recently contacted the Celtics about Brogdon again, according to Fischer. L.A. was also willing to offer Norman Powell to the Wizards for Chris Paul before the Warriors landed him in exchange for Jordan Poole, Fischer states.
Fischer hears that the Cavaliers are engaged in trade talks regarding Cedi Osman and offered him to the Nets in a deal for Dorian Finney-Smith or Royce O’Neale.
Numerous teams have reached out to the Wizards about point guard Monte Morris, Fischer adds. The Timberwolves, Bulls, Pelicans, Jazz and Nets are all considered possibilities for Morris, and Fischer believes the Heat could be added to the list if they lose Gabe Vincent in free agency.

Pacers May Offer Bruce Brown More Than $20MM Per Year

June 30th, 2023 at 1:18pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Pacers may be prepared to offer Nuggets free agent Bruce Brown a contract worth more than $20MM per season, sources tell Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports.

Brown has become one of the hottest names on the free agent market, and several teams are hoping to land him with the $12.4MM non-taxpayer mid-level exception. Brown has reportedly scheduled meetings with five teams — the Knicks, Rockets, Mavericks and Lakers as well as Indiana. The Cavaliers and Timberwolves also consider Brown their top target, according to Fischer.

The Pacers have roughly $30MM in cap room, so signing Brown would account for most of that and would take them out of the running for other free agents, such as Heat shooting guard Max Strus.

Returning to Denver is also in play for Brown, according to Fischer, although the Nuggets can only pay him $7.8MM next season. Brown would be eligible to earn more than $50MM over four years from Denver next summer, which is still well short of the Pacers’ reported offer.

Latest On Gabe Vincent, Max Strus

June 30th, 2023 at 11:01am CST by Arthur Hill

Free agent guard Gabe Vincent isn’t satisfied with the Heat‘s contract offer and will likely leave the team unless it improves, sources tell Barry Jackson and Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald.

Jackson and Chiang report that Miami proposed a deal worth slightly more than the three-year, $20.6MM contract Caleb Martin signed last summer. Vincent was reportedly expecting a lot more after taking over as the Heat’s starting point guard and helping them reach the NBA Finals. Team president Pat Riley traveled to Los Angeles this week to meet with Vincent and urge him to re-sign, according to the authors.

Backcourt partner Max Strus seems certain to get a better deal that what the Heat can offer, according to Jackson and Chiang, who report that a three-team sign-and-trade swap has been discussed that would send Strus to the Cavaliers. They don’t identify who else would be involved, but Miami would receive a trade exception and a second-round pick in return. The Pacers, Pistons and Magic have also been identified as potential destinations for Strus.

Re-signing Vincent or Strus would be expensive for the Heat, who already have $179.3MM committed for next season, which is above the projected $165MM luxury tax line. The authors note that giving either player a new deal starting at $12MM would add more than $30MM to the team’s tax bill.

Marc Stein confirms in his latest Substack column that Cleveland is a legitimate threat to add Strus. Stein, who reported this week that Indiana was considering a three-year, $48MM offer for the 27-year-old shooting guard, has since been told that there are multiple suitors for Strus and that Indiana may not be his most likely destination. Cleveland is working to upgrade its outside shooting, Stein adds.

The Raptors could be an option for Vincent if Fred VanVleet signs with the Rockets, suggests Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca (Twitter link). Sources tell Grange that Vincent isn’t expected to return to the Heat and that an offer worth the full $12.4MM non-taxpayer mid-level exception should be enough to land him.