Kevin Love

Heat Notes: Slow Start, Injuries, Adebayo, Tournament

November 2nd, 2023 at 9:00am CST by Arthur Hill

After reaching the NBA Finals last season, the Heat have stumbled out of the gate, dropping four of their first five games. The team let an opportunity slip away Wednesday night, writes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald, squandering a 15-point lead midway through the third quarter in a home loss to the Nets, who were playing without three starters.

Tyler Herro, Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler combined for 71 points, but Miami only got 34 more from the other six players that coach Erik Spoelstra used. The Heat committed a season-high 18 turnovers, which led to 25 points for Brooklyn. At 1-4, the team is off to its worst start in 15 years, and the players are hoping to get control of the situation before it becomes urgent.

“We don’t want to dig this hole too deep,” Adebayo said. “So that’s the concern because the season starts going like this, then obviously you get to the (trade) deadline and you don’t know what’s going to happen. That’s the concern because we got a great group of guys, we just got to figure it out.”

There’s more from Miami:

Haywood Highsmith was able to play Wednesday after missing the first four games with a knee issue, but injuries continue to be a problem, Chiang adds. Caleb Martin sat out his fourth straight game with pain in his left knee and Kevin Love missed the contest with a left shoulder contusion as the Heat haven’t had a fully healthy rotation yet this season. “I’m not going to talk about anybody’s injuries anymore,” Spoelstra told reporters before Wednesday’s game. “If anybody is hurt, if they’re not available, all they have to do is focus on being available. That’s it. I’m not talking about any injuries or who’s in or who’s out. I know who’s playing tonight. That’s all I’m focused on.”
Udonis Haslem spent the past few seasons preparing Adebayo for the responsibilities of taking over as team captain before passing along that title when he retired, Chiang states in another story. “I think the only change is it’s official,” Adebayo said. “It was kind of like unwritten. Now it’s stamped. It comes with a whole bunch of responsibility, but also a great amount of opportunity. The biggest thing for me as a captain is being able to lead this team and get us over this hump and get us to a championship.”
Friday’s game against the Wizards will mark the start of the in-season tournament, notes Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel. Nikola Jovic has played in similar events in Europe, and he hopes it eventually produces the same atmosphere in the NBA. “Those are really big,” Jovic said. “People really compete for that. It means a lot. But this is a little different. I hope it’s going to translate here. The only thing is, it’s going to feel like a regular season game, it’s just going to have a different court and it’s going to be called something different.”

Heat Rumors: Beal, Adebayo, Haslem, Herro, Martin, Love

October 24th, 2023 at 2:13pm CST by Luke Adams

Writing for Andscape.com alongside Marc J. Spears, Suns guard Bradley Beal revisited his trade request from earlier this summer, sharing some behind-the-scenes details on how the process played out after he asked out of D.C.

As Beal writes, Miami was his “initial favorite” landing spot. According to Beal, he and his representatives were in touch with Heat president Pat Riley, who said he needed to talk to team owner Micky Arison. While he was waiting to hear back from the Heat, Beal and his camp received strong interest from the Suns, who emerged as the frontrunners when Miami opted not to move forward.

“I’m like, ‘OK, what’s Miami doing? Dragging feet,'” Beal writes. “And eventually it came to a point to where Miami said they just can’t do it.”

Following the publication of Beal’s Andscape diary, the Heat confirmed on the record that the guard’s no-trade clause was a sticking point, as Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald writes (and as The Herald previously reported).

Miami wanted the three-time All-Star to remove the no-trade clause from his contract as part of a trade to the Heat, so that they’d have the ability to move him down the road if needed. However, he was unwilling to do so, and Phoenix didn’t insist on it, so Beal still holds that no-trade clause as a member of the Suns.

Here’s more on the Heat:

Bam Adebayo could have accepted a two-year, $97MM extension from the Heat in advance of Monday’s deadline, but chose to bypass a new deal at this time, recognizing that he could qualify for a more lucrative super-max extension with a big 2023/24 season, according to Barry Jackson and Chiang of The Miami Herald.
After spending two decades with the Heat as a player, Udonis Haslem will have a role with the franchise in player development and the front office, head coach Erik Spoelstra said on Monday, adding that Haslem’s exact title and responsibilities are still being figured out (Twitter link via Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel).
Heat guard Tyler Herro has stated repeatedly in recent weeks that he’s determined to prove his value this season after being at the center of offseason trade rumors and repeated that message in an interview with Wes Goldberg of The Ringer, admitting he “damn near had my s–t packed up” as Damian Lillard rumors swirled this offseason.
Speaking to Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press, Heat president Pat Riley said the club has never actively looked to move Herro, but tacitly acknowledged that it would have been willing to discuss him in the right deal. “We have never shopped him and had no interest in ever trading the guy,” Riley said of Herro. “But when you’re talking about acquiring one of the top five players in the league, there isn’t anybody on our team that won’t be discussed.”
Riley also spoke to Chiang of The Miami Herald about his expectations for this year’s Heat and possible next step, identifying Kyle Lowry as a potential “X factor.” While Riley admitted that there’s some added urgency to contend for a title due to Jimmy Butler‘s age (34), he made it clear he has no plans to blow up the roster if the team falls short in 2023/24. “It should not be any kind of, OK, warning to [Butler] or to the team that if you don’t get it done this year that this whole thing is going to go in the incinerator,” Riley said. “That’s not what we’re looking for. We’re looking to add to this.”
Caleb Martin said on Tuesday that he expects to come off the bench to start the season, which signals that Kevin Love will likely start at power forward, per Jackson and Chiang. Martin added that he’ll play in Wednesday’s opener even though his knee isn’t 100%. “Still feel some discomfort for sure,” Martin said. “It’s a work in progress. Staying with the treatment. I’m making really good progress, feeling a lot better. We’ll proceed with caution, see how my body responds.”

Heat Notes: Adebayo, Hampton, Swider, Jaquez

October 11th, 2023 at 2:05pm CST by Luke Adams

Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra had another impressive showing in John Schuhmann’s annual general manager poll, earning 73% of the GMs’ votes for best head coach in the NBA. However, when he was asked about that survey during a media session on Tuesday, Spoelstra ended up bemoaning the fact that Bam Adebayo didn’t receive a single vote as the league’s best defensive player.

“That one is just unbelievable to me,” Spoelstra said, per Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald (Twitter link). “I think Bam is the best defensive player in the league and I just can’t understand why he’s not recognized for how impactful he is on that end of the court. So he’s just going to have to prove it again and just do it this year until everybody notices.”

While Spoelstra acknowledged that the pursuit of certain individual awards can interfere with team success, he suggested that Defensive Player of the Year – which Adebayo has talked about wanting to win – is “a good award to go for.”

“I think he just has to be who he is, do what he does and just be that dynamic force on that end of the court,” Spoelstra said. “Then I think he’s going to get recognized for that and hopefully we’ll have a great defense this year and he leads us on that end of the court.”

Here’s more on the Heat:

In a notebook column for The Miami Herald, Barry Jackson explores whether Thomas Bryant has the right skill set to share the court with Adebayo, notes that Kevin Love has no preference between starting or coming off the bench, and relays Spoelstra’s comments on camp invitee R.J. Hampton. “(He’s) an out-of-this-world athlete,” Spoelstra said of Hampton, adding that he led the Heat in deflections and steals during training camp. “But he has to find a template to find immediate success in a role.”
Cole Swider‘s impressive fall continued on Tuesday as he poured in five three-pointers in the Heat’s preseason opener. While the camp invitee has made a good case for a promotion to a standard contract or two-way deal, he’s not taking anything for granted, writes Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel (subscription required). “I mean, I’m not on a contract, still,” Swider said. “You know what I mean? There’s nothing to be really excited about. … I just want to keep on stacking one day at a time, keeping on trying to help myself and help this team get to a point where I’m in the rotation and helping this team win.”
Coming off a strong preseason debut in which he scored 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting, Heat rookie Jaime Jaquez strained his left groin during Wednesday’s practice, tweets Winderman. The severity of the injury isn’t yet known, but the team will likely be in no hurry to get Jaquez back on the court.
While it may not have been ideal for young players like Jaquez and Nikola Jovic to have their names bandied about in trade rumors all summer, Spoelstra believes there’s a silver lining, according to Winderman (subscription required). “It’s not easy for young players to have their names thrown out there in the media. It’s just happening more and more each year, it seems like. And it’s not exclusive to us. I think it’s just league-wide, so you have to learn how to manage all of that,” Spoelstra said. “… And I think that’s a good thing for young players to experience early on — all the different components of being a professional basketball player.”

Central Notes: Pacers, Strus, Z. Smith, Wiseman, Bagley, Pistons

October 4th, 2023 at 3:59pm CST by Luke Adams

The Pacers aren’t loaded with star power, but they have one of the NBA’s deepest rosters, according to Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star, who suggests that all 15 players on standard contracts could make a legitimate case for rotation minutes. Due to that depth, Indiana’s training camp figures to be a very competitive one.

“Nothing is going to be given to anybody,” swingman Jordan Nwora said. “This is going to be different from past years. Guys are going to have to really earn it this year. That’s part of the reason why myself and a lot of other guys have been in the gym a lot this summer. … Outside of (Tyrese Haliburton, Myles Turner and Buddy Hield), no one here is really proven. Everyone here has to earn it.”

As Dopirak writes, the front office and coaching staff has indicated that only two starting spots are locked in so far: Haliburton will man the point, while Turner plays the five. The other three starting lineup spots are up for grabs, as are some rotation roles, and head coach Rick Carlisle is looking forward to seeing his players battle to earn minutes.

“The term that I like is competitive integrity,” Carlisle said. “If you really want to be a championship teammate, you have to do all the hard things. You gotta be a tenacious competitor defensively. You have to fight like hell competing against a guy you’re directly competing for for minutes and then you have to encourage him if he’s playing ahead of you.”

Here’s more from around the Central:

Former Cavaliers forward Kevin Love, who played with Max Strus in Miami, helped Strus make the decision to sign with Cleveland as a free agent this offseason, as Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com (subscription required) details. “Kevin was one of the first people I called, and he couldn’t have been more positive about the city and the organization. He told me it was a no-brainer,” Strus said. “He was like, ‘Max, you’re everything they need. You’ll be a great fit. The guys are great, the organization’s great.’ Kevin talked very highly of it, and he hasn’t steered me wrong once.”
Speaking to Sam Yip of HoopsHype, former first-round pick Zhaire Smith, who is on an Exhibit 10 contract with the Cavaliers, said he’s not taking his comeback for granted after dealing with so many health issues early in his professional career.
Addressing the backup center spot in the Pistons‘ rotation, head coach Monty Williams told reporters today that James Wiseman and Marvin Bagley III are competing for that role. As Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press notes (via Twitter), it sounds like there may only be room in the rotation for one of the two big men.
In his latest mailbag at Pistons.com, Keith Langlois addresses several Pistons-related topics, explaining why he thinks Detroit will add a 15th player on a standard contract for the regular season and why he’s skeptical that Ausar Thompson will be an opening night starter.

Heat Notes: Lillard, Roster, Herro, Hampton

September 28th, 2023 at 10:59am CST by Arthur Hill

The Heat suffered a major loss when news of the Damian Lillard trade broke on Wednesday, failing to acquire a future Hall of Famer who specifically wanted to be dealt to them, writes Greg Cote of The Miami Herald. Nearly three months after Lillard told the Trail Blazers that he only wanted to go to Miami, he wound up in Milwaukee, where he and Giannis Antetokounmpo may be the greatest obstacle to the Heat’s chances to repeat as Eastern Conference champions.

Miami missed out on Lillard because team president Pat Riley wasn’t willing to increase his offer to Portland and couldn’t find a third team to help facilitate a deal, Cote adds. Riley was counting on Lillard’s preference for Miami and a lackluster trade market to eventually work in his favor.

Cote contends that acquiring Lillard is the type of win-now move the Heat need to make because their championship window is limited with 34-year-old Jimmy Butler as their best player. Adding Lillard would have provided a shot of energy the team needs as it approaches a long season, Cote adds. Instead Miami will open camp wondering how he got away.

There’s more from Miami:

With Lillard off the table, the Heat’s options to improve their roster are now limited, observes Ben Rohrbach of Yahoo Sports. Age is an issue as Kyle Lowry and Kevin Love are older than Butler, Rohrbach notes, and so are financial concerns as Butler, Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro and Duncan Robinson are owed about $130MM for the 2025/26 season, which represents 90% of the projected salary cap. Rohrbach adds that the summer-long pursuit of Lillard showed Herro’s limited trade value around the league.
Butler’s Instagram post on Wednesday accusing the Bucks of tampering in the Lillard deal received an endorsement from Herro, who tweeted, “What he said.”
RJ Hampton, who is joining the Heat on a two-way contract, is grateful to be in Miami after spending time with three teams in his first three NBA seasons. “A PRIVILEGE to be apart of this organization, let’s go,” Hampton wrote on Twitter. The Heat opened a spot for Hampton with a series of moves on Wednesday.

Heat Notes: Lillard, Jovic, Martin, Love

September 27th, 2023 at 10:01am CST by Luke Adams

Despite the recent deluge of rumors linking Damian Lillard to the Raptors, Toronto-based reporter Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca (Twitter link) says the growing consensus around the NBA is that the Trail Blazers guard will ultimately land in Miami, his preferred destination.

If Lillard is sent to Miami, what would the Heat realistically have to give up? One veteran scout who spoke to Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald believes that a package of Tyler Herro, three first-round picks, cap filler (likely Kyle Lowry‘s expiring contract), and one player from the trio of Nikola Jovic, Jaime Jaquez, and Caleb Martin would make sense for both sides.

“If I’m the Heat, I offer two (first-round) picks, Herro and one of the three young players, preferably Jovic or Jaquez, and see if anybody tops that,” the scout said. “If you have to give up one more pick, fine. Three picks are rich for a guy who’s 33 with ($216MM) left on his contract. But I could understand offering a third. I would do it if that made the difference in making the deal.”

Previous reporting indicated that Miami initially made an offer that included Herro and two first-round picks.

Because they owe a protected 2025 first-round pick to Oklahoma City, the Heat can currently only include two first-rounders in any trade package, due to the Stepien rule. They would have to reach a separate agreement with the Thunder amending the terms of that traded pick in order to free up a third movable first-rounder. Alternatively, they could offer one or more first-round pick swaps.

Here’s more on the Heat:

Speaking to Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald, Nikola Jovic discussed his experience playing for Serbia in the FIBA World Cup, the status of a back injury that bothered him earlier in the year, and how it felt to have his name pop up in the Lillard trade rumors. A busy summer helped Jovic not spend much time thinking about that trade speculation, he told Chiang. “You just concentrate on other things. I was just so concentrated on basketball there that I didn’t have time to think about what’s going to happen,” Jovic said. “It’s a business. So what happens happens. But of course, right now when I’m (in Miami) and more people talk about it, it’s different than when I was there and just playing and being in the game all the time.”
Chiang also interviewed Caleb Martin, who said that Miami feels like a “second home” to him after two years with the Heat and spoke about the offseason departures of Max Strus and Gabe Vincent. “We have to find that new connectivity and chemistry with the new guys,” Martin said. “But I feel like we got the right type of guys who fit that system and that shouldn’t be hard. It seems like everybody is about winning. You know what it is when you come to play for the Heat. So you just gotta jump in line with the culture. I feel like we got the right guys to do that.”
In a pair of articles for The Sun Sentinel, Ira Winderman evaluates the Heat’s depth chart at small forward and power forward. As Winderman observes, one starting lineup decision on tap for Miami will be whether to try Martin as a starter at the four again or stick with a more traditional power forward like Kevin Love.

Southeast Notes: Heat Centers, Kispert, Hornets

September 25th, 2023 at 9:21am CST by Arthur Hill

The Heat will enter training camp next week with several options to back up starting center Bam Adebayo, writes Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel. Miami’s roster could change dramatically with a Damian Lillard trade, but for now the candidates to be the second-string center are Thomas Bryant, Orlando Robinson and Kevin Love, who may be the starter at power forward.

Bryant signed a two-year, veteran’s minimum contract after spending last season with the Lakers and Nuggets. Winderman notes that the 26-year-old was the only big man added to the roster this summer, so it appears the organization is committed to giving him a steady role.

Robinson, 23, signed a standard contract in July after playing on a two-way deal as a rookie. He showed promise last season and during Summer League, Winderman observes, and may be able to earn rotation minutes if he can improve his defense and avoid foul trouble.

There’s more from the Southeast Division:

Trading for Lillard isn’t the Heat’s only path to success, Winderman adds in a separate Sun Sentinel story. He contends that with the current roster, the team’s outlook will depend on how much improvement from Adebayo, Tyler Herro, Nikola Jovic and Haywood Highsmith can offset the loss of Max Strus and Gabe Vincent.
Wizards swingman Corey Kispert established himself as one of the NBA’s best three-point shooters during his second season, writes Josh Robbins of The Athletic. Robbins consulted several NBA scouts to get their view of Kispert, who connected at 42.4% from long distance last year. “The one thing you want to look for often with young guys is: Does he have an elite skill? Does he have something that the coaches can rely on? (Does he have a skill where) they can say, ‘We’re going to put him out there and we know for sure he can do this,’” one scout said. “And Corey does, right? No one’s going to question his ability to shoot.”
Theoden Janes of The Charlotte Observer talks to country music star Eric Church about his love for basketball and how he became part of the Hornets‘ new ownership group. He calls owning his favorite childhood team “beyond any dream I ever had when I was a young man.”

Eastern Notes: Collins, Thompson, Antetokounmpo, Love

September 18th, 2023 at 5:23pm CST by Dana Gauruder

John Collins, who was dealt to the Jazz this summer, posted a farewell message on Instagram to the city of Atlanta, Hawks fans, teammates, and the organization. His message to the franchise included mixed feelings, thanking it on one hand while also saying his growth was being “stunted.”

“Thank you for sticking with me, even at my lowest,” Collins wrote. “Thank you for allowing me a place to grow. But as I see, it is this hawk’s time to fly away from the nest. As my growth here is being stunted.”

We have more from the Eastern Conference:

Ausar Thompson, the Pistons’ lottery pick, could be anything from a starter to out of the rotation in his rookie campaign, Keith Langlois of Pistons.com writes. His 3-point shot is the main concern but he has enough attributes to complement the starting backcourt of Cade Cunningham and Jaden Ivey by employing his defense on the opposition’s top perimeter play-maker. Thompson could also be a force on the second unit with a number of proven perimeter shooters around him, Langlois notes.
Bucks fans don’t want to think about it, but what if Giannis Antetokounmpo eventually demands a trade? HoopsHype’s Yossi Gozlan looks at potential landing spots for the two-time MVP, with the Knicks, Thunder and Pelicans topping his list due to their surplus of assets.
Kevin Love could take over the role of sage veteran on the Heat‘s bench, which Udonis Haslem filled in recent seasons, Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel opines. Like Haslem, Love is a player with championship pedigree and he’s already served as a mentor inside the Heat locker room. Love could especially be helpful in the development of young forward Nikola Jovic, Winderman adds.

Heat Notes: Love, Adebayo, Free Agency, Training Camp

September 15th, 2023 at 4:42pm CST by Luke Adams

Kevin Love didn’t join the Heat until late February this year and appeared in just 21 regular season games for the team. However, he saw enough during that time – and during Miami’s extended playoff run – to get comfortable with the organization and to decide he wanted to re-sign as a free agent, writes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald.

“I think naturally I wish that I would have found my rhythm and found my fluidity and feel on the court faster,” Love said. “But I think my impact was both on the floor and off the floor. Just being around the locker room, whether it be pregame or postgame, at practice, I felt like I could make a major impact there in helping bring us together.

“I also have a great relationship with the front office, with ownership, with all my teammates, coaching staff. It just felt like a good home for me and I wanted to continue that and see what was possible if I started the year out for the Miami Heat and see the impact that I could have there.”

When they re-signed him this summer, the Heat used their Non-Bird rights on Love to give him a salary that’s 20% above the veteran’s minimum, so he’ll earn $3,835,738 in 2023/24 instead of $3,196,448.

Here’s more on the Heat:

William Guillory of The Athletic contends that, given its lack of interior size and rebounding at this year’s World Cup, Team USA needs to make sure that Heat big man Bam Adebayo is part of its roster for the 2024 Olympics — especially if Joel Embiid doesn’t commit to playing for the U.S.
The holding pattern in the Damian Lillard trade talks isn’t the only reason why the Heat are holding off on pursuing veteran free agents, according to Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel. As Winderman explains, Miami likely assured early free agent additions such as Josh Richardson of a certain role, and adding another free agent at the same position – such as Kelly Oubre – would cut into that role.
In a separate article, Winderman argues against the idea of considering a trade for Kevin Porter Jr. In Winderman’s view, even though Porter would never play a game for any team that acquires him, the downside of having him even briefly associated with your franchise isn’t worth it for some minor draft assets and possibly a bit of financial relief.
The Heat announced on Friday that they’ll hold their training camp at the Florida Atlantic University campus in Boca Raton from October 3-7 following their Oct. 2 media day at the Kaseya Center in Miami, per Winderman.

Heat Notes: Lillard, Starters, Wood, Rebounding

September 10th, 2023 at 9:01am CST by Arthur Hill

The Heat don’t have any reason to increase their offer for Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard unless they’re determined to have him when training camp opens, Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald writes in a mailbag column. No other team has made a significant offer for Lillard, Chiang notes, so Miami would essentially be bidding against itself by giving more assets to Portland.

Chiang adds that the first step would be for the Heat and Blazers to resume trade discussions, which have been dormant for several weeks. Sources around the league tell Chiang that they expect the teams to start talking again some time before they both open camp in early October.

Chiang also speculates that things might get “messier” in Portland if Lillard is still on the roster at the start of camp, which would mark three months after he submitted his trade request. It’s not ideal for the Heat to start preparing for a new season amid so much uncertainty, so the time pressure could renew both teams’ interest in getting a trade completed.

There’s more from Miami:

Without a trade, the Heat’s most likely starting lineup appears to be Kyle Lowry, Tyler Herro, Jimmy Butler, Kevin Love and Bam Adebayo, Chiang adds in the same piece. Butler and Adebayo are the only full-time starters returning from a team that just reached the NBA Finals a few months ago, although Herro was sidelined with an injury and Lowry and Love both have extensive starting experience. Chiang speculates that Caleb Martin could take Love’s place on occasions when Miami wants to use a smaller starting five, and Herro could be used as a makeshift point guard with Josh Richardson starting alongside him in the backcourt.
The Heat were mentioned as a possible destination for Christian Wood before he signed with the Lakers this week, but Miami isn’t in position to make complementary roster moves until it knows what’s going to happen with Lillard, according to Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel. Wood reportedly had been watching the trade requests involving Lillard and James Harden to see if a situation might open up that would offer him regular playing time, but he decided not to wait any longer to find his next team.
Erik Spoelstra’s experience as an assistant coach with Team USA during the World Cup provided him with another example of the need for size on the front line, Winderman adds. The Americans were routinely outrebounded by larger opponents, just as Miami was in losing to the Nuggets in the NBA Finals. The Heat finished 27th in the league in rebounding last season, which may affect Spoelstra’s decision on whom to start at power forward.

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