Miami Heat Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Heat Notes: Butler, Jovic, Garrett, Martin

January 2nd, 2023 at 6:44pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Jimmy Butler has missed 10 games this season due to right knee soreness and injury management and he’s still dealing with it, he told Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel. “I still got some work to do,” the Heat forward said. “It’s not where it needs to be.”

Butler, who has been medically cleared to play back-to-backs, and the Heat’s staff will continue to monitor the situation. “I can go out there and compete.” he said. “I can’t say that I’m fully healthy. .. The more rest that I have and able to get that recovery that I need is always going to be better.”

We have more from the Southeast Division:

Rookie big man Nikola Jovic has returned to South Florida for further evaluation of a back injury, Winderman reports in the same story. Jovic experienced back soreness after playing Saturday with the Heat’s G League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce.
Guard Marcus Garrett has played two games with the Skyforce, Winderman notes. Garrett underwent surgery in October for a right wrist fracture and the Heat subsequently waived him. They may consider bringing him back on a two-way deal depending upon how he performs in the G League.
Caleb Martin said after the Monday shootaround that he’s a game-time decision against the Clippers, Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald tweets. He has missed the last two games with a quad strain.

Herro Emerging As Go-To Clutch Scorer; Spoelstra Preaching Patience To Oladipo

January 2nd, 2023 at 1:32pm CST by Rory Maher

Heat guard Tyler Herro, who signed a four-year extension before the season started worth a guaranteed $120MM, is emerging as a go-to clutch scorer, writes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. Herro hit his third game-winner of ’22/23 on Saturday in Utah, Chiang notes, capping off a 29-point, nine-rebound, six-assist effort.
Victor Oladipo has had a difficult stretch over the past four years, missing a significant amount of time due to a series of leg injuries. While he has played strong defense since returning from left knee tendinosis, he has mostly struggled offensively. However, the Heat guard broke out of his slump by recording 23 points, five rebounds and five assists on Saturday. Head coach Erik Spoelstra believes it could take most of the season for him to really find his rhythm, according to Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel. “I told him the other day, I want him to have a little bit of grace with himself going through this process,” Spoelstra said as part of a larger quote. “We love being on this journey with him and, ultimately, I think it will still take 40 or 50 games for him to get fully in rhythm. But we got a snapshot of what it could look like at the end of this.” Oladipo has now played 11 games in ’22/23, and the Heat have 45 games remaining on their regular season schedule.

Southeast Notes: Butler, Lowry, McDaniels, Oubre

January 1st, 2023 at 4:18pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

A consultation with a Los Angeles doctor over the weekend resulted in good news on the state of Heat All-Star small forward Jimmy Butler‘s sore right knee, reports Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald (Twitter link). Butler sat out Miami’s narrow 126-123 victory over the Jazz last night but has been cleared to play in back-to-backs going forward, a source tells Chiang.

In 23 games this year, Butler is averaging 21.8 PPG on .528/.340/.829 shooting splits. He’s also chipping in 6.7 RPG, 5.8 APG and 2.1 SPG for the 19-18 Heat.

There’s more out of the Southeast Division:

$28.3MM Heat starting point guard Kyle Lowry may need to step up his game or risk being rotated out of the team’s closing lineups for good, writes Ira Winderman of The South Florida South Sentinel. The 36-year-old was recently sat for the entirety of the fourth quarter in the Utah win, after experiencing consecutive down nights in back-to-back games against the Nuggets and Jazz.
Fourth-year Hornets reserve small forward Jalen McDaniels recently spoke with Alex Kennedy of Basketball News about his long road to major rotation time. “Playing in the G League [for much of his rookie season], it just got me real confident — just letting me play through my mistakes and play a lot of minutes,” McDaniels said. “I learned a lot of the game, coming from the G League, playing in a lot of games and just knowing what to expect. I feel like my game is just locked in and I know where I’m supposed to be.” This season, McDaniels is averaging a career-most 10.6 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 2.2 APG and 1.0 SPG in 25.9 MPG.
Starting Hornets small forward Kelly Oubre Jr. will be sidelined for at least a few games as he grapples with a sprained left hand, reports Roderick Boone of The Charlotte Observer. “He’s working, doing as much as he can now to try and get back,” head coach Steve Clifford said. “Hopefully we’ll know more in the next couple of days. The hand is funny, it just got banged a bunch of times, and this was twice in a short period of time. It was really sore. You could see he was struggling to catch the ball. He definitely needs time for sure.”

Injury Updates: Payne, Shamet, Jovic, Green, Antetokounmpo, Holiday, Middleton, Hill

January 1st, 2023 at 3:32pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Suns reserve guards Cameron Payne (right foot strain) and Landry Shamet (sore right Achilles) have seen their statuses updated to probable for Monday’s game against the Knicks, Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic reports (Twitter link). Payne has been unavailable since December 13, while Shamet has been sidelined since Christmas Day.

Long-term, Phoenix is still without All-Star shooting guard Devin Booker (groin strain) and power forwards Cameron Johnson (right meniscus surgery) and Jae Crowder. Crowder has been away from the Suns all season while hoping for a trade.

We have more injury-related news:

While getting some run with the Heat‘s G League team, the Sioux Falls Skyforce, rookie Miami power forward Nikola Jovic has been sidelined with back spasms, reports Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel (via Twitter).
Mavericks shooting guard Josh Green (sprained right elbow) remains shelved for a Monday matchup against the Rockets, the team announced (Twitter link). The elbow was reportedly reassessed on Friday. Dallas also confirmed that Dorian Finney-Smith (right adductor strain), expected to miss at least another week, and Maxi Kleber (right hamstring surgery), out indefinitely, remain unavailable.
The Bucks could be missing their three best players on Sunday night as they square off against the Wizards, reports Josh Robbins of The Athletic (via Twitter). Khris Middleton (sore right knee) and Jrue Holiday (non-coronavirus illness) will miss the contest against Washington, while All-NBA forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (sore left knee) and reserve point guard George Hill (non-coronavirus illness) are both questionable to play.

Heat Notes: Robinson, Butler, Adebayo, Oladipo

December 31st, 2022 at 5:15pm CST by Arthur Hill

Duncan Robinson is the Heat‘s new career leader in three-pointers, but it’s not a record he expects to keep very long, writes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. Robinson sank three shots from long distance Friday at Denver to give him 807, one more than Tim Hardaway, and while it’s a function of the way the league has changed, it’s notable that Robinson was able to reach his mark in 265 games, while it took Hardaway 367.

Robinson savored the accomplishment, but he acknowledged that the record will eventually belong to Tyler Herro, who already has 491 career three-pointers in his fourth NBA season.

“Tyler is on my heels,” Robinson said. “I just told him that I got it for now, but you’re going to get it soon. I’ll enjoy it while it lasts.”

The record comes amid a season of adjustments for Robinson, who has returned to a reserve role after being a starter for the past three seasons. Robinson also faces an uncertain future in Miami, as he’s considered to be an important trade chip as the franchise tries to land another star.

“I haven’t really taken too much time in the process of it. But yeah, I’m proud of the journey,” Robinson added. “A lot of people helped me along the way. A lot of people in this organization, a lot of teammates, a lot of people in my corner. It’s not just me, so I celebrate it with them, for sure.”

There’s more on the Heat:

Instead of accompanying his teammates to Utah for Saturday’s game, Jimmy Butler flew to Los Angeles to have a doctor examine his right knee, Chiang adds. Butler hopes to receive medical clearance to begin playing in back-to-back games.
Friday’s loss to the Nuggets left Miami with a .500 record through 36 games, and center Bam Adebayo is among the players frustrated at the regression after having the best record in the East last season, per Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel. “The thing about it, we don’t want to be mediocre,” Adebayo said. “We don’t want to be in the middle of the pack.”
Victor Oladipo is still a valuable defender, but his contributions on offense have been minimal since returning from left knee tendinosis, Winderman states in a separate story. In the 10 games he has played this season, Oladipo is shooting just 36.4% from the field and 24.4% from three-point range. Winderman also observes that Oladipo’s first step seems slower and he’s not as controlled on his drives to the basket.

Dedmon Enters Protocols; Profile On Strus

December 30th, 2022 at 10:40pm CST by Rory Maher

Heat backup center Dewayne Dedmon is away from the team as he continues to be plagued by plantar fasciitis in his left foot. On top of that, he has now entered the NBA’s health and safety protocols, per Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel. The 33-year-old might be a trade chip ahead of the deadline if the Heat look for a roster upgrade — his salary for next season is non-guaranteed, and he’s making $4.7MM this season.
Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports details how wing Max Strus went from an undrafted free agent to a rotation regular for the Heat, becoming a developmental success story in the process. Strus, an unrestricted free agent in 2023, has been in a prolonged shooting slump this month, posting a miserable .328/.266/.500 slash line leading up to Friday night’s loss in Denver, when he scored 19 points on .539/.500/1.000 shooting. Twenty-year veteran Udonis Haslem, another former undrafted player, says Strus can be hard on himself — a byproduct of having a chip on his shoulder due to his difficult path to the NBA. “My message to Max, a lot of the time, outside of leading and teaching, is don’t be so hard on yourself sometimes. It’s OK to give yourself a break,” Haslem said.

Lowry Out Weds. For Personal Reasons; Backup Center Might Be A Strong Point?

December 28th, 2022 at 7:21pm CST by Rory Maher

Heat stars Jimmy Butler (right ankle sprain) and Bam Adebayo (illness) were both out for Monday’s victory over the Wolves, but were back in action for Wednesday’s game against the Lakers, writes Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel (subscriber link). However, point guard Kyle Lowry was ruled out for personal reasons, the first time he’s missed a game with that designation in 2022/23 after missing extended time last season due to personal reasons. Gabe Vincent was moved into the starting lineup in Lowry’s place, Winderman adds.
Head coach Erik Spoelstra suggested that backup center Dewayne Dedmon could miss an extended period of time for the Heat as he continues to be hobbled by plantar fasciitis in his left foot, Winderman writes in another subscriber-only story for The Sun Sentinel. “There’s no point in resting him and then if we’re going to be right back to where he is where we’re managing it every single day,” Spoelstra said. “He would like to put it behind you. I don’t know necessarily if he’ll be able to fully put it behind him the way Gabe [Vincent] was with the week or two weeks rest. But our hope is that it will be a lot better than it was.” Still, being down Adebayo and Dedmon on Monday showed the that Heat might have decent depth in the middle, with rookies Nikola Jovic and Orlando Robinson capably filling in, according to Winderman, who notes that Omer Yurtseven shouldn’t be overlooked going forward either, despite being sidelined following ankle surgery.

Orlando Robinson A Candidate For 15th Roster Spot?

December 28th, 2022 at 2:13pm CST by Luke Adams

Heat center Orlando Robinson is making a strong impression on the team with his recent performances, including a 15-point, nine-rebound showing against Minnesota on Monday, but he can only be active for 27 more games due to the limitations of his two-way contract, observes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. Robinson’s recent play prompts Chiang to wonder if the big man is emerging as the frontrunner to take Miami’s 15th standard roster spot later in the season once signing a player will no longer put the team’s salary into the tax.

Strus Shows Signs Of Ending Shooting Slump

December 27th, 2022 at 9:37pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Max Strus made half of his 10 three-point attempts for the Heat on Monday, a sign he may be breaking out of a shooting slump, Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald writes. It was the first time Strus made more than three 3-pointers in a game since Nov. 30. Strus, an unrestricted free agent after this season, shot 24.7% from deep in 11 games prior to Monday’s breakout.
Guard Gabe Vincent scored 11 points in 18 minutes on Monday after missing eight consecutive Heat games with tendinosis in his right knee. “It’s hard to not be present,” he told Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel. “But it’s hard to see something that you can help and not being able to help. I think that applies to every aspect of life, when you feel like you can help a situation but you’re not able to. It’s difficult.” Vincent is also headed to unrestricted free agency after the season.

Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo Out Monday For Heat

December 26th, 2022 at 4:55pm CST by Rory Maher

Heat stars Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo have been ruled out for Monday’s contest against the Timberwolves, according to Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel.

Butler, who recently expressed his frustration with his inability to stay on the court due to a variety of injuries, suffered a right ankle sprain in Friday’s loss to Indiana. The veteran forward was previously listed as questionable, but was ruled out after testing the ankle during Miami’s shootaround on Monday morning, tweets Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald.

Adebayo is dealing with a non-COVID illness. Unlike Butler, he has been mostly healthy this season — this will be his fourth missed game, with the Heat going 1-2 in his three absences thus far, per Winderman.

Unfortunately, Adebayo’s primary backup at center, Dewayne Dedmon, was also ruled out Monday due to “ongoing plantar fasciitis in his left foot,” Winderman adds. The team will likely lean on a pair of rookies (first-rounder Nikola Jovic and two-way big man Orlando Robinson) to fill minutes in the middle.

The Heat have been dinged up seemingly all season long, and being without their two best players certainly won’t help matters tonight. They are currently 16-17, the No. 9 seed in the East.