Miami Heat Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Southeast Notes: Magic, Adebayo, Ware, Lambert

August 24th, 2024 at 8:28am CST by Tristan Tucker

After tearing down the iteration of the team that featured the likes of Nikola Vucevic and Aaron Gordon, the Magic are finally moving toward where they want to be in the league’s hierarchy, Keith Smith of Spotrac writes. Headlined by Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner and Jalen Suggs, the Magic made the playoffs as the No. 5 seed. And while they didn’t necessarily go all-in this summer, they added an NBA champion and top-tier role player in Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.

Banchero asserted recently that the Magic belong in the conversation about the East’s best teams. Assuming he, Wagner, Suggs and others continue to progress in linear fashion, that might be true. As Smith observes, the Magic don’t have a single untradable contract.

On the flip side of things, Orlando is still very young and added 2024 first-rounder Tristan Da Silva to a group of deep-bench reserves that also features Anthony Black and Jett Howard. While they aren’t necessarily on a two-timeline approach since their stars are all in their early 20s, the Magic continue to have intriguing upside for growth beyond their biggest names.

We have more from the Southeast Division:

The Heat‘s selection of center Kel’el Ware in this year’s draft could put the team in position to play Bam Adebayo at the power forward position more often. However, Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel believes that Adebayo won’t push for such a move and would be content with any opportunity to simply expand his game. Adebayo shot 35.7% on 42 three-point attempts last season and could increase that volume this season.
In a separate, subscriber-only story, Winderman ponders whether Ware is ready for – or deserving of – regular minutes as a rookie. The No. 15 overall pick averaged 18.3 points and 8.4 rebounds in Summer League, but ultimately Miami will decide when he’s ready for responsibility at the NBA level. In my view, the Heat have done an excellent job in assessing which rookies have been ready to contribute right away. For example, Tyler Herro and Jaime Jaquez quickly established themselves as rotation pieces despite varying levels of college experience. On the other hand, the club took a more patient approach to Nikola Jovic‘s insertion into the lineup while he fleshed out his defensive game.
The Hornets are hiring Ryan Lambert as their director of amateur scouting, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link). Lambert was previously with the Thunder since 2012, working his way up to a senior amateur evaluation scout position last season.

And-Ones: Diamond RSNs, Dragic, Nowtizki, Oppenheimer

August 23rd, 2024 at 8:20pm CST by Luke Adams

Diamond Sports Group – the parent company of the Bally Sports regional networks – announced on Friday that it has reached an agreement with the NBA to continue local broadcasts for 13 teams for the 2024/25 season, according to Evan Drellich and Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic.

Diamond’s agreements, including a deal with the NHL to continue broadcasting nine teams’ games, will need to be approved by a federal bankruptcy judge. That hearing is scheduled for September 3, per Drellich and Vorkunov. While the new deals will only cover the 2024/25 season for now, they could extend beyond that if Diamond gets out of bankruptcy.

Diamond won’t be moving forward on deals with the Pelicans or the Mavericks, according to Friday’s announcement. The Pelicans news was reported earlier this month, with the team making plans to broadcasting its games for free over the air through Gray TV.

The Mavericks’ broadcast plans for the coming season remain unclear. However, The Athletic characterized the split with Dallas as mutual, and an NBA spokesperson told The Dallas Morning News that the Mavs “declined to continue distributing their games” through Diamond/Bally Sports, so it sounds like the club has a new plan in the works.

The 13 teams whose games will continue to air on Diamond’s regional sports networks in 2024/25 are the Hawks, Hornets, Cavaliers, Pistons, Pacers, Clippers, Grizzlies, Heat, Bucks, Timberwolves, Thunder, Magic, and Spurs.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

Saturday’s farewell game in honor of Goran Dragic‘s retirement – dubbed “The Night of the Dragon,” will stream on the NBA App at 2:00 pm Eastern time, the league announced today (Twitter link). Luka Doncic and Nikola Jokic will team up as part of “Team Luka,” while Dragic’s roster features former MVP Steve Nash. Eurohoops published the full rosters on Twitter.
Speaking to reporters ahead of Dragic’s farewell game, Dirk Nowitzki suggested that he would like to continue working in basketball in some capacity, but he doesn’t plan on becoming a full-time coach for any team. “I don’t think I see coaching in my future,” Nowitzki said, per Cesare Milanti of Eurohoops. “Things could change very quickly, but I don’t see myself as a team coach. I see more myself as an individual coach.”
Former Bucks assistant Josh Oppenheimer has accepted a job on Porter Moser‘s coaching staff at Oklahoma, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link). Milwaukee parted ways with Oppenheimer – who had a “close working relationship” with Giannis Antetokounmpo, according to Wojnarowski – back in May as Doc Rivers made changes to his staff ahead of his first full season with the Bucks.

Eastern Notes: Council, Celtics, Lillard, ’24/25 Standings

August 21st, 2024 at 1:23pm CST by Luke Adams

As he prepares for his second NBA season, Sixers swingman Ricky Council has been participating this summer in the private runs held in Los Angeles by Sixers assistant Rico Hines, writes Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Council is working on fine-tuning his game in the hope of earning rotation minutes in Philadelphia in 2024/25.

“This summer has been a whole lot of work, maybe even more than last year,” Council said. “Keeping my shooting touch up, working on different finishing moves, just learning the game, playing against good competition every day. All that’s going to help me in the long run.”

Having spent most of his rookie season in 2023/24 on a two-way contract, Council didn’t see a ton of action at the NBA level, but he impressed in his limited minutes, averaging 5.4 points in 32 outings (9.0 MPG), with a shooting line of .482/.375/.746. He knows that in order to get more playing time in ’24/25, he’ll have to show he can excel in a complementary role.

“We have Paul George. We have Tyrese Maxey and we have Joel Embiid,” Council said. “I don’t expect they’ll need much off the dribble in that nature. So I just need to be able to hit open shots and guard people.”

Here’s more from around the Eastern Conference:

There’s “zero truth” to rumors that billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is interested in bidding on the Celtics, a source close to Bezos tells Nick Wingfield of The Information. As Kurt Helin of NBC Sports notes, there has been speculation in league circles that Bezos may have interest in being involved in an expansion franchise in Seattle, but it doesn’t sound like he’s looking to gain control of the defending champions, whose majority ownership group put its stake up for sale earlier this summer.
Appearing on the Club 520 Podcast (YouTube link), Bucks guard Damian Lillard admitted that his first year in Milwaukee last season was a “harder transition” than he expected. In addition to going through a tumultuous period in his personal life at the time, he also found it challenging to adjust to playing alongside Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton after being traded from Portland to Milwaukee just days before training camp. “I’m having to get used to playing with two (great) players and I don’t want to stop them from doing what they do,” Lillard said (hat tip to HoopsHype). “But I got to find how to be the best version of me within this too, so it was just a lot of moving parts. It was more difficult than I thought it would would be.”
The Celtics sit atop ESPN’s predictions for the 2024/25 Eastern Conference standings, followed by the Knicks, Sixers, Cavaliers, and Bucks, in that order. The Magic round out ESPN’s projected group of top-six playoff teams, followed by the Pacers, Heat, Hawks, and Bulls in the play-in group. For what it’s worth, ESPN’s panel sees a big disparity between the the top two and bottom two play-in teams, projecting 46 wins for Indiana and 45 for Miami, compared to 31 for Atlanta and 30 for Chicago.

Heat Notes: Herro, Ware, Larsson, Christopher

August 20th, 2024 at 10:59pm CST by Tristan Tucker

While the Heat didn’t make any splashy free agent moves this offseason, guard Tyler Herro still views the team as one the Eastern Conference’s best, Mat Issa of Forbes writes.

“I don’t see why not,” Herro said when asked if he viewed Miami as a contender. “We have everything we need.”

Herro was a critical part of the Heat’s NBA Finals appearance in 2020 as well as their push in the Eastern Conference Finals in 2022. While he played just one playoff game in the 2022/23 season, he averaged 20.1 points in the regular season for the team that went on to the Finals.

“I’m really excited for this season. Obviously, there are a lot of teams in the East that think they have externally improved. But I think we’ve improved internally,” Herro said. “It may look a little different, but we have young guys that we hope will continue to get better. Bam Adebayo and I are young guys who are starting to become full-fledged veterans in this league. Terry Rozier is healthy now and ready to compete. Then you have Jimmy Butler, who is extra motivated after not being able to play in the playoffs last season.”

The Heat bowed out of the playoffs last season to the Celtics, losing 4-1. The team was riddled with injuries up and down the roster, and Herro himself only appeared in 42 regular season games.

“We haven’t been healthy yet,” Herro said. “But we feel like when we do get healthy, we have a very deep team – a team that is deep enough to make a run in the East and ultimately win the NBA title.”

Herro said he’s trying to get stronger and continue to increase his scoring efficiency while upping his volume. Check out Issa’s full interview with Herro at the link above.

We have more from the Southeast Division:

An anonymous veteran coach and scout praised the Heat’s 2024 draft class, headlined by No. 15 overall pick Kel’el Ware, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald writes. “They got a steal with Ware,” the scout said. “Everyone questioned his motor at Oregon; nobody questioned the talent. And people are going to be disappointed they didn’t take him [before Miami selected him 15th].” Ware averaged 18.3 points and 8.4 rebounds in eight Summer League games.
Pelle Larsson, Miami’s second-round pick, averaged 10.2 points, 3.3 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game in Summer League action, looking like a player who could crack the rotation sooner rather than later. “[Larsson is] smart as heck. He just knows how to play. If Jaime Jaquez is a 10 on the know-how-to-play scale, this kid is right there with him,” the anonymous scout said, per Jackson. “He’s not as physically gifted as Jaquez, but he can shoot. And he’s got a great feel for the game.“
The Heat recently added Josh Christopher to their roster after he came away with Summer League MVP. The scout Jackson interviewed was also impressed by the former Rockets first rounder. “He can really score,” the scout said. “He played in some competitive summer league games and showed late in games that he could be a threat. From talking to people who have worked with him, it wasn’t like he balked at going to the G League. He took the challenge to learn how to distribute and become a better player in the G League when asked to do that. His defense can improve. He has the elements to make him a very switchable, tough defender. He doesn’t back down from a player he would have to switch on.“

Will Lack Of True Point Guard Be An Issue?

August 15th, 2024 at 1:41pm CST by Rory Maher

The Heat enter 2024/25 with no true point guard on the roster, which could be an issue during the season, Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel states in a mailbag column. As Winderman observes, Miami has several capable ball-handlers, but no true table-setter after trading Kyle Lowry and a 2027 first-round pick for Terry Rozier in January.

Heat Notes: Hayward, Christopher, Ware, Larsson, Medal Winners

August 10th, 2024 at 8:40pm CST by Arthur Hill

In an interview with Dan Le Batard (video link), Gordon Hayward reveals that he gave serious consideration to joining the Heat before signing with Boston in 2017. Hayward, who announced his retirement last week, recalls being immediately attracted to Miami after meeting with team officials.

“I basically visited three teams,” he said. “I started with Miami, then did Boston, then finished with Utah, meeting with all those teams. I remember vividly telling my agent after each meeting, like I started with Miami, and I’m like, ‘I want to go to Miami. We don’t even need to do the other meetings.’ Miami is the place I want to be, and he kind of was like, ‘Well, we got to hear everyone out.’”

Hayward wound up accepting a four-year, $127.8MM offer from the Celtics, but he suffered a severe leg injury in his first game that affected the rest of his career. Even though Boston won the bidding war, Hayward never lost his affection for the Heat or the city.

“The Heat have always been a first-class organization, so I was really, really close to signing there,” he added. “I feel like (Erik Spoelstra) is one of the best coaches in the league, and obviously, Pat Riley is legendary in his own right. I was very close. Also, my brother-in-law lives in Miami. My wife would have loved living there and the beach and everything, but ultimately decided to go to Boston.”

There’s more from Miami:

Josh Christopher is hoping to revive his career with the Heat after winning championship game MVP honors during the Las Vegas Summer League and signing a two-way contract. Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald talked to an unidentified scout about the former first-round pick, who was stuck in the G League last season following two uninspiring years in Houston. “He can score. He’s still young. He’s got NBA talent,” the scout said. “You don’t write him off. If he’s going to play in the NBA, he’s going to have a much more limited role [than the shoot-first starring role in summer league]. Can he make threes at a reasonable rate and play within himself and not think he’s a star? He needs to be an off-ball guy. He needs to accept he’s a 3 and D guy. If there’s any role for him, it’s that.”
The scout was complimentary of the Heat’s two draft picks, Jackson adds. He sees first-rounder Kel’el Ware as possibly “this year’s Dereck Lively” due to his size and ability to block shots, and lists second-rounder Pelle Larsson‘s attributes as “high IQ, decent athlete, good body, can create a shot, can defend, competes.”
Today marked the first time that Heat teammates received medals for different nations in the same Olympics, notes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. Bam Adebayo was part of gold-medal-winning Team USA, while Nikola Jovic picked up a bronze with Serbia.

Eastern Notes: Lee, Peterson, Hornets, Ivey, Duren, White, Pullin

August 7th, 2024 at 10:42am CST by Tristan Tucker

After speaking with more than 10 candidates, the Hornets decided on Charles Lee to be the franchise’s next head coach, having been won over by Lee’s basketball and business backgrounds, as well as his experience in player development and championship history, according to executive vice president of basketball operations Jeff Peterson, who spoke to The Athletic’s Mike Vorkunov about Lee and the state of the Hornets.

“His tactical skills are great,” Peterson said of Charlotte’s new head coach. “He’s a champion. He’s won two championships. Which, obviously, there’s a premium on just being a winner, and he has that. And he’s just an amazing teacher and communicator. He’s going to do his best just to get everything he can out of each player. That’s a big reason why I went with him as well.”

This offseason, the Hornets continued supplementing their young core by adding Tidjane Salaun with the No. 6 overall pick in the draft. He joins young talent like LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller, who were among the best players in their respective draft classes.

“[Salaun] loves being in the gym, loves to get better and loves the process,” Peterson said. “So, again, we can sleep at night knowing that he has those qualities, and then, not to mention, he has some skill to him, too. He can rebound and push. He can make his shot. So, we’re just really excited about, more than anything, his mindset and his approach to how we’re going to progress and build this thing out.”

We have more from the Eastern Conference:

The Pistons have never had three players in three consecutive seasons earn rookie scale contract extensions, but that could change next year when Jaden Ivey and Jalen Duren become eligible. James L. Edwards III of The Athletic details the fascinating seasons ahead for the young duo, who are playing for a front office that didn’t draft them, a team looking to be active in trades and their third head coach in as many years. Their situation is particularly tricky because if they show significant growth, it would make sense for the organization to keep them. But if either or both players stagnate, their trade value will be hampered compared to what it is now, Edwards opines. How they’re used will be worth monitoring closely ahead of the February trade deadline.
Entering his sixth season in the NBA after a year in which he was a Most Improved Player finalist, Bulls guard Coby White is transitioning to a leadership role for a franchise that looks to be getting younger, K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago writes. White cited DeMar DeRozan‘s leadership style as a model he wants to emulate. “DeMar always led by example,” White said. “He wasn’t always the loudest guy in the room or most talkative guy in the room. But if we had a meeting, he was early. If we had a bus time, he was one of the first ones there. He was never late to a meeting. He was always ready to go. When the game came, it was always about business. And the way he took me, [Ayo Dosunmu], [Dalen Terry], Pat [Williams] under his wing, it shed light on the things that I’m looking forward to when I get older. And that can start now for me.“
Zyon Pullin has had an unorthodox start to his NBA career after going undrafted out of Florida. He earned a two-way deal immediately from the Heat but was waived to make room for Josh Christopher. This week, he was re-signed to an Exhibit 10 deal, signaling Miami still wants him in the organization. Ira Winderman of South Florida Sun Sentinel thinks Pullin will have an opportunity to compete for a two-way deal this fall. As we detailed on Tuesday, that may be an uphill battle, as he’d have to beat out Isaiah Stevens, Dru Smith and possibly Alondes Williams for that final spot. Smith is currently under contract in that two-way slot, while Williams is an unrestricted free agent. Pullin and Stevens are both on Exhibit 10 deals.

Heat Notes: Mills, Jovic, Adebayo, Swider, Williams

August 6th, 2024 at 5:26pm CST by Tristan Tucker

Unrestricted free agent and Australian national team guard Patty Mills, who finished last season with the Heat, turned back the clock in an Olympic quarterfinal game against Serbia on Tuesday. He made 11 of his 21 shots to finish with 26 points in a 95-90 overtime loss to Serbia.

“I mean, he deserved better,” Australian teammate Josh Giddey said, per The Athletic’s David Aldridge.

Mills scored 12 of his points in the first quarter and knocked down a shot over Nikola Jokic that forced overtime.

“I thought we threw everything at them in the first half,” Mills said. “You’re playing against world-class individuals, world-class teams, world-class coaches. And this is why you play international basketball. It’s a different sport than any other league around the world. It brings the best out of everyone. I think for us, we just threw everything we could at them, and maybe nothing left in the tank at the end of the day. Full credit to what Serbia was able to do — get us out of our comfort zone. And in international basketball, once you lose that momentum, it’s hard to get it back.”

The 35-year-old guard signed with the Heat toward the end of the 2023/24 regular season after being waived by the Hawks and immediately stepped into a sizable role. He started in five of his 13 appearances with the team and appeared in three playoff games.

However, barring a trade, Mills is unlikely to be back with Miami, at least for the first part of the season. Due to their positioning against the second apron, the Heat don’t appear willing to add a 15th player to their roster to begin the year.

We have more on the Heat:

Heat forward Nikola Jovic missed Serbia’s win over Australia due to an illness, Ira Winderman of South Florida’s Sun Sentinel reports. Jovic’s offseason has been marred with an ankle sprain that threatened his Olympic availability and now an illness.
If Jovic is healthy, he and Heat teammate Bam Adebayo will face off for the third time this summer in the Olympic semifinal round, Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald observes. Team USA defeated Brazil on Tuesday, with Adebayo finishing with nine points and seven rebounds in 19 minutes. Adebayo is averaging 8.5 points and 5.3 rebounds in the Olympics while Jovic has averaged 7.0 points for Serbia. The two previously matched up in an exhibition on July 17 and the group stage opener on July 28. The U.S. won each game by more than 20 points.
Due to the fact that the Heat don’t seem to be bringing in a 15th player on a standard contract to begin the season, it was always unlikely they’d be able to funnel all the talented pieces who brought home a summer league championship to their G League affiliate. That rang true when Cole Swider signed with the Pacers after averaging 13.5 points on 49.1% shooting from deep in eight summer league games. In a recent mailbag, Winderman explores Swider’s departure, ultimately concluding that the Heat rarely play pure shooters and that Duncan Robinson‘s minutes only came around when he developed other areas of his game. While the exact details of Swider’s deal with Indy are unknown, it’s possible he competes for a standard roster spot if not a two-way pact, giving him a higher likelihood of ending up with the NBA team than if he came back to Miami.
Unrestricted free agent Alondes Williams, who – alongside Swider – finished last season on a two-way deal with the Heat, finds himself in a similar position. Williams had an impressive summer league, averaging 11.5 points and 4.4 assists in eight games but remains unsigned. The Heat currently have Keshad Johnson, Josh Christopher and Dru Smith on two-way deals. However, Isaiah Stevens also positioned himself well to compete for and potentially replace one of the Heat’s two-way players, giving Williams an outside shot to earn back his spot on the roster. If he doesn’t end up signing a standard contract elsewhere, Winderman is optimistic Williams would get the chance to compete for a two-way deal in training camp.

Heat Sign Zyon Pullin To Exhibit 10 Contract

August 5th, 2024 at 2:37pm CST by Luke Adams

Zyon Pullin has become the first player from the 2024 draft class to sign his second NBA contract, having returned to the Heat on a non-guaranteed deal. The team officially announced the signing on Monday, with Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald reporting that it’s an Exhibit 10 agreement (Twitter links).

A 6’4″ guard out of Florida, Pullin played for UC Riverside from 2019-23 before transferring to the Gators for his super-senior year. He was an All-SEC honoree in 2023/24 after averaging 15.5 points, 4.9 assists, 3.9 rebounds, and 0.9 steals per contest in 33 games (27 starts), with a shooting line of .444/.449/.847.

Pullin quickly agreed to terms with the Heat after going undrafted in June, officially signing a two-way contract with the team on the first day of the new league year on July 1. However, he didn’t see much playing time for Miami’s Summer League squad and was waived on July 25 when the club needed to open up a roster spot to sign Summer League standout Josh Christopher to a two-way deal.

Pullin’s new deal signals that the Heat still view him as a prospect they want in their system. He could be converted back to a two-way deal anytime up until the day before the regular season if he impresses in camp, but the more likely scenario is that he’s waived and becomes an affiliate player for the Sioux Falls Skyforce, Miami’s G League team.

A player on an Exhibit 10 contract can earn a bonus worth up to $77.5K if he’s waived by his NBA team and then spends at least 60 days with his club’s G League affiliate.

Eastern Notes: Booker, Heat, Hornets, Nnaji, Tominaga

August 4th, 2024 at 9:53am CST by Rory Maher

Suns star Devin Booker, who is currently competing in the Olympics with Team USA, told D’Angelo Russell he wanted to be drafted by the Heat back in 2015 (YouTube link). Miami ultimately selected former Duke forward Justise Winslow at No. 10 overall, while Booker went No. 13 to Phoenix.

“You knew it was Phoenix though leading up to (the draft)?” Russell asked Booker.

“Oh, no,” Booker replied.

“I thought you was going to Miami,” Russell said.

“That’s where I was hoping,” Booker said (hat tip to HoopsHype). “Because Miami was my best workout, and then I remember, I think (Heat president) Pat Riley did an interview and he’s like, ‘we’re looking for a Klay Thompson-type player, we need to up our shooting.’

“I just shot 40 (percent from three) in college, I’m like, ‘Oh yeah.’ I’m looking at spots right down there by the arena. … Draft is crazy though, your life changes like that, you have no control over it really.”

Booker, 27, is under contract through 2028, and there’s no indication he’s angling to join the Heat in the future — the conversation was merely a couple of friends reminiscing about their draft experiences, as Russell was taken No. 2 that same year by the Lakers. Still, it’s something to keep in mind if Booker ever decides to seek a change of scenery.

Here are a few more notes from around the Eastern Conference:

Roderick Boone of The Charlotte Observer takes a look at the Hornets‘ roster, projecting a starting five of LaMelo Ball, Josh Green, Brandon Miller, Miles Bridges and Mark Williams, with Grant Williams and Tre Mann among the top reserves. As Boone notes, Mann is eligible for a rookie scale extension until the day before the 2024/25 season begins.
Big man James Nnaji, whom the Hornets selected No. 31 overall in 2023, will play for Girona during the 2024/25 season, per BasketNews. Nnaji will be on loan from Barcelona, which announced the move on Sunday. The 19-year-old draft-and-stash prospect struggled to get rotation minutes with Spanish powerhouse Barcelona in ’23/24, but he should have an opportunity for more playing time with Girona, which also competes in Spain’s top basketball league. Girona is owned by former NBA Defensive Player of the Year Marc Gasol. Nigerian center Nnaji reportedly hoped to make the leap to the NBA this season, but that plan was curtailed by back surgery in the spring.
Guard Keisei Tominaga, who played for the Japanese national team at the Olympics, is thrilled with the opportunity to join the Pacers on an Exhibit 10 training camp deal, he told Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews. “This summer I’ll prepare for this NBA opportunity, I just got to show every day that I can accomplish my dream and get into the NBA, so yeah I am very excited,” said Tominaga, who spent the past three college seasons at Nebraska.