Nassir Little Rumors | Hoops Rumors

And-Ones: Theis, Little, Award Races, Roster Decisions

March 29th, 2025 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

When veteran center Daniel Theis was traded from New Orleans to Oklahoma City and then waived by the Thunder last month, there was a sense that he might draw some NBA interest from teams in need of center depth. But just days after clearing waivers, Theis reached an agreement to sign with AS Monaco.

In six EuroLeague games with his new team, Theis has posted impressive averages of 13.8 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks in 24.0 minutes per contest, helping to lead Monaco to a 4-2 record as the club looks to secure a top-four spot in the regular season standings. Given his individual and team success so far in Europe, the German big man isn’t having any second thoughts about his decision to head back overseas after seven-and-a-half NBA seasons.

“I feel great. I have no regrets at all,” Theis told Antonis Stroggylakis of Eurohoops. “We have a great a team and we have a big goal ahead of us. It’s all I’m thinking about right now.”

Theis’ contract with Monaco is said to run through the 2025/26 season, so there’s no indication he’ll be looking to return to the NBA this summer.

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

Former first-round pick Nassir Little has been playing for the Sioux Falls Skyforce in the G League this season. He spoke to Sean Highkin of Rose Garden Report (Substack link) this week about his experience in the NBAGL, why he opted against playing overseas, and whether he has received NBA interest during the season. “Multiple teams called,” Little said. “But a lot of this comes down to tax stuff and roster spots and all that stuff, so it just hasn’t happened so far.”
A handful of ESPN’s NBA reporters discuss a series of questions related to the award races, including which players they’d pick for MVP and Defensive Player of the Year, which Most Improved Player candidate is on a superstar track, and whether or not the NBA should tweak its 65-game rule. ESPN’s panel favors Shai Gilgeous-Alexander over Nikola Jokic for MVP, but is divided on which player is most deserving of DPOY honors.
Keith Smith of Spotrac highlights some late-season roster situations to keep an eye on, identifying which teams still have open 15-man roster spots and which two-way players might still be candidates for promotions to standard contracts.
Kevin Pelton of ESPN takes a deep dive into the rise in three-point attempts in recent years, explaining why the NBA hasn’t viewed it as an issue that needs to be addressed and exploring whether the number of outside shots could continue to increase going forward.

Team USA Announces Roster For February AmeriCup Qualifiers

February 10th, 2025 at 12:05pm CST by Luke Adams

Team USA has announced its 12-man roster for upcoming AmeriCup qualifiers games against Puerto Rico and the Bahamas, per a USA Basketball press release.

Four players will return to the team after representing the U.S. in the previous AmeriCup qualifying games in November. Those four players are as follows:

The following eight players will round out the roster, which will be coached by former Rockets head coach Stephen Silas:

Keita Bates-Diop, F
Norris Cole, G
Jalen Crutcher, G
John Jenkins, G
Miller Kopp, F
RJ Nembhard, G
Nassir Little, F
Reggie Perry, F/C

While this obviously isn’t the sort of star-studded roster that Team USA would typically send to the World Cup or the Olympics, it features a good deal of NBA experience. Kopp is the only one of the 12 players on the team to have never appeared in an NBA regular season game.

Ramsey and Smart have been Team USA’s top scorers in previous AmeriCup qualifying windows, with Ramsey averaged 17.8 points per game on .511/.478/.824 shooting in four outings, while Smart put up 20.5 PPG on .714/.455/.667 in two games.

Covington has the most NBA experience of any player on the team, with 614 regular season NBA appearances on his résumé. Little is among the most notable newcomers — he appeared in 237 games for Portland and Phoenix over the past five seasons, but hasn’t been on an NBA roster since being waived by Miami in October.

Bates-Diop is another new addition worth noting. The former first-round pick has made 283 NBA appearances and was poised to play in November’s qualifying games before having to be replaced at the last minute.

The qualifying rounds for the 2025 AmeriCup feature 16 teams divided into four groups of four teams each. Each club plays the other members of its group twice, with the top three from each group (12 total) qualifying for this year’s AmeriCup tournament, which will take place from August 23-31 in Managua, Nicaragua.

Team USA went 3-1 in the previous two qualifying windows, beating each of the three teams in its group once but also dropping a game to Cuba (2-2). The U.S. will play in Puerto Rico (2-2) on Feb. 20 and in the Bahamas (1-3) on Feb. 23 as it looks to secure its AmeriCup ticket.

Fischer’s Latest: C. Johnson, Kumza, Kings, Little, NBA Cup

December 25th, 2024 at 2:59pm CST by Arthur Hill

NBA executives who gathered for the G League Showcase in Orlando are curious to see how apron restrictions will affect this year’s trade market, Jake Fischer writes in his latest Substack column (subscription required). Fischer states that there are fewer movable contracts than in past seasons, and teams will have to become more creative to get deals done. He adds that front offices will be “counting tens of thousands of dollars in wiggle room” as they try to stay below the aprons.

Fischer cites complications that could affect deals involving Nets forward Cameron Johnson and Wizards forward Kyle Kuzma, who are both rumored to be on the trade market. Johnson is making $22.5MM this season, but he also has $4.5MM in various incentives that bring his “apron salary” to $27MM. They include bonuses for playing at least 42 games, reaching the playoffs, scoring at least 15 points per game, and having a true shooting percentage better than 60%. There are five other bonuses, all of which figure into Johnson’s price for any team that acquires him.

Kuzma is in a similar situation, Fischer notes, with a $23.5MM salary and an extra $3MM in unlikely bonuses. His contract also includes a 15% trade kicker, and Fischer states that his apron salary would increase by another $2MM if he were to be traded today.

There’s more from Fischer:

Teams around the league are keeping a close watch on the Kings, who have dropped into 12th place in the West with four straight losses. That slump, combined with last week’s meeting on De’Aaron Fox‘s future involving his agent and team officials, has “raised expectations” that Sacramento will be active ahead of the February 6 trade deadline, according to Fischer.
Fischer hears that Sioux Falls forward Nassir Little has gotten the attention of several NBA teams with his play at the G League Showcase and during the early part of the season. Little, 24, appeared in 45 games with Phoenix last season, but was limited by numerous injuries. He was a first-round pick by Portland in 2019 and could provide immediate, low-cost help for any team with a roster opening. Sources tell Fischer that Little chose the G League over a chance to play in Europe because he believed it gave him a better path back to the NBA. “He’s one of the better game-ready call-up guys,” a scout told Fischer.
Several teams have discovered there are benefits to losing group play games in the NBA Cup, Fischer adds. In addition to often getting easier matchups in the two games that are added to the schedule, teams that didn’t advance to Las Vegas enjoyed a longer break and were able to work in additional practice time.

Heat Notes: Herro, Haslem, Burks, Adebayo, Richardson, Skyforce

October 30th, 2024 at 11:48am CST by Luke Adams

Udonis Haslem, who holds a position with the Heat as their vice president of basketball development, said in an appearance on ESPN’s NBA Today in May that he believes Tyler Herro should come off the bench for the club, then reiterated that point in a September interview. Speaking to Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald, Herro admitted that he spoke to Haslem about those comments.

“We had a conversation about it,” Herro said. “It was a friendly conversation. I told him my concerns about why I didn’t think he should have said that. He explained why he thought he should have said that. At the end of the day, it’s basketball. Our relationship is bigger than basketball. If he thinks I should start, that’s cool. If he thinks I should come off the bench, that’s his opinion. Everyone has their own. It’s cool. It’s really no big deal.”

Head coach Erik Spoelstra hasn’t taken Haslem’s advice this fall, having made Herro part of his starting lineup for each of the Heat’s first three games. Asked if he’s happy to still be a starter, Herro expressed appreciation for Spoelstra’s decision, as Jackson relays.

“I was hoping to be a starter, so yeah,” he said. “I thought I should start. I don’t think it’s even really a conversation anymore. It’s a narrative people create around me. I’m a starter in the NBA. I’m a team guy. I would love to come off the bench if that’s what was needed. But I’m a starter. It doesn’t take away from anything else that I bring, which is I’m a great teammate. I love seeing other guys have success.”

Here’s more on the Heat ahead of Wednesday’s game vs. New York:

It’s unclear how much offseason addition Alec Burks, who was a DNP-CD in the Heat’s first game last Wednesday, will play this season, but Spoelstra likes having the veteran swingman around. Miami’s head coach called Burks “such a pro” after he made three 3-pointers in 25 minutes off the bench on Saturday vs. Charlotte. “You hear that term tossed around so much in our league, but he is a pro’s pro,” Spoelstra said, per Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel (subscription required). “He’s professional, he’s ready, he stays prepared, he’s smart, he knows how to fit in and he’s got a great skill set, too. “He can knock down open shots. He gets to open gaps. But he also can handle the ball. So he can be a secondary handler for you. And he’s big, so defensively he fits into the things that we do.”
Honored this week with a statue outside Kaseya Center, former Heat guard Dwyane Wade made it clear that he continues to view Bam Adebayo as the next long-time face of the franchise and a torch-bearer for “Heat culture,” writes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald.
After recovering from shoulder and heel injuries, Heat guard Josh Richardson was active on Monday for the first time this season, but didn’t see any action. Now he’s back on the injury report, according to Chiang, who tweets that the Heat are listing Richardson as questionable due to a left calf strain.
The Sioux Falls Skyforce, Miami’s G League affiliate, officially announced a training camp roster that includes former first-round pick Nassir Little and nine-year NBA veteran Tony Snell.

Heat Notes: Ware, Defense, Love, Little

October 26th, 2024 at 6:11pm CST by Arthur Hill

The positive vibes that the Heat generated by winning the Summer League title in Las Vegas have carried over into the start of the regular season, writes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. That Vegas team included first-round pick Kel’el Ware and second-round pick Pelle Larsson, along with two-way players Josh Christopher and Keshad Johnson, and coach Erik Spoelstra said they’ve provided youthful energy since the start of training camp.

“What they have shown as a collective group as young guys, they’ve brought us some talent level that we’ve been able to restock our roster,” Spoelstra said. “They’ve given us an exuberance. But they’ve also found a way as a group to win, to impact winning, to find a way to gut out wins. I don’t know what it is, I just know it’s something. I think probably what’s different about this group is it’s been a pack, a pack of wolves. That’s what’s different.”

Ware was one of the stars in Las Vegas, earning a spot on the All-Summer League First Team after being drafted with the 15th pick. However, the 20-year-old center doesn’t have a clear path to playing time in Miami with Bam Adebayo, Kevin Love and Thomas Bryant ahead of him on the depth chart. He played the final 6:15 of a blowout in the season opener and will miss tonight’s game in Charlotte due to an illness.

“He’s put almost 10 pounds on since he’s been with us and he’s embraced how we do things,” Spoelstra said. “That was one of the encouraging things once we dove into his background — that he’s not afraid to work, particularly at [Indiana University].”

There’s more from Miami:

The Heat had two days off to recover from Wednesday’s 32-point loss to Orlando, Chiang adds in a separate story. Spoelstra concentrated on the need to become more aggressive defensively to create open-court opportunities. Chiang notes that Miami led the NBA during the preseason by forcing turnovers on 21.7% of possessions, but only managed five steals and nine deflections against the Magic. “You want them to feel you,” Spoelstra said. “It’s not necessarily going to be the metrics or steals or deflections every single time. It’s more about doing tough things, being physical, getting teams out of what they typically want to do at every point of attack that we’re there, and that wasn’t the case.”
Love will miss his second straight game tonight for personal reasons, according to Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press (Twitter link).
Nassir Little, who was with the Heat in training camp on a non-guaranteed contract before being waived last Saturday, will join the team’s G League affiliate in Sioux Falls, tweets Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel. The 24-year-old forward spent last season with Phoenix after four years in Portland.

Heat Waive Nassir Little, Three Others

October 19th, 2024 at 11:23am CST by Luke Adams

The Heat have requested waivers on Nassir Little, Zyon Pullin, Isaiah Stevens, and Warren Washington, the team announced today (via Twitter).

All four players were in camp with Miami on non-guaranteed contracts. Little had an Exhibit 9 deal, while Pullin, Stevens, and Washington each had Exhibit 10 language in their agreements. That means those latter three are good candidates to land with the Sioux Falls Skyforce, the Heat’s G League affiliate, whereas Little – who wouldn’t earn an Exhibit 10 bonus with the Skyforce – may seek out another opportunity.

Little is the most notable name in the group, having been a first-round pick in 2019 who has 237 career NBA regular season appearances under his belt. After spending his first four seasons in Portland, he was traded to Phoenix in last year’s Damian Lillard blockbuster, but struggled for his new team, averaging a career-low 3.4 points per game with a .300 3PT% in just 10.2 minutes per game.

Little, who has battled injuries since entering the league and has never played more than 54 games in a season, was waived by the Suns in August with three years and $21.75MM left on his contract. He had a chance to make the Heat’s regular season roster, but the odds were against him, given that retaining him into the regular season would have pushed Miami’s team salary above the restrictive second tax apron.

The Heat now have 14 players on standard contracts and three on two-way deals. Barring some last-minute moves for G League purposes, their roster could be set for opening night.

Heat Notes: Bryant, Love, Little, Smith, Quinn

October 3rd, 2024 at 7:13pm CST by Tristan Tucker

The Heat invested in the backup center position this offseason, committing two years to 36-year-old Kevin Love and bringing back free agent big man Thomas Bryant despite already having signed Love and drafting Kel’el Ware 15th overall.

Bryant’s decision in particular came under a microscope, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald writes, as it was assumed that he was asked to opt out of his previous contract that would have paid him $2.8MM with a promise that he could come back on a new minimum deal if no other offers materialized elsewhere.

Bryant will receive a similar salary on his new deal (approximately $2.8MM), but it actually saved the Heat $700K, Jackson explains. Salaries on one-year contracts count at the two-year minimum of $2.1MM for cap purposes. If he had simply picked up his player option, that $700K additional charge would have applied. However, while Bryant said the Heat gave him a deadline to make his free agent decision by, he denies that there was ever such an understanding between him and the team.

“I know it seemed that way but it wasn’t the case at all,” Bryant said, per Jackson. “They basically said: ‘We know you have options and we want you to be able to look at those.’ They said, ‘We would love to have you back here and from the top down, everybody loves what you’ve done here and see the work you put in and everyone wants you around.’ But there wasn’t any promise they would re-sign me.”

It’s an interesting commitment by the Heat, not only due to the resources they already committed to the center spot, but also because Bryant’s playing time for Miami last season was inconsistent. He appeared in just 38 games with four starts and averaged 5.7 points and 3.7 rebounds.

In essence, it seems like one of two scenarios is likely. The first option is that the Heat felt fine with the resources they had at the backup wing position (where they lost major contributor Caleb Martin to free agency) and wanted to bring Bryant back because they valued him. For what it’s worth, president Pat Riley expressed excitement a year ago about bringing in Bryant. The second option, which Bryant denies, is that Miami brought him back at that lower cap hit in exchange for him opting out.

That first option is interesting, because at the time of signing the contract, Miami hadn’t re-signed Haywood Highsmith or added Nassir Little. That would have left them with Jaime Jaquez and rookie two-way forward Keshad Johnson as their only real wing defenders. In other words, Miami seems ready to trust some of its returning players with large roles this coming year.

We have more on the Heat:

As for bringing back Love, Jackson writes in the same piece that the Heat didn’t feel like skill has declined as he enters his late 30s (he turned 36 last month). They believe his two-year, $8MM valuation is correct. Love said his goal is to reach 20 years in the NBA, which would take him two years beyond his current contract. “I feel really good, fresh, fleet of foot,” Love said. “I don’t feel I’m necessarily in the [Udonis Haslem mentorship] role, where he was late in his career.“
Little, a former first-round pick for the Blazers, had other options besides signing a fully non-guaranteed deal with the Heat, Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald writes. Little, who averages 5.5 points for his career, has until Oct. 19 to audition for Miami as that’s the league-wide cut-down deadline. “With Miami, I just feel like they valued the type of player that I am the most,” Little said. “Yeah, there were other opportunities. But I just felt like the reputation that Miami has with players like myself and just the conversations that I had with the staff around here, it wasn’t to that extent with any of the other organizations. … I definitely feel like they wanted me the most.“
The Heat see Dru Smith being a capable ball-handler and defender on a two-way contract, Jackson writes in a separate piece. While he’s coming off a major injury, Smith showed promise last season and the Heat showed their value in him by letting him be a part of offseason meetings. His two-way spot might be the one that’s most in jeopardy, since Josh Christopher and Johnson had tremendous summer league stints, but it’s clear Miami cherishes him.
Chris Quinn earned a promotion from assistant coach to associate head coach this offseason, Chiang writes in another story. Head coach Erik Spoelstra said the promotion is more of a formality than anything, but the Heat wanted to reward someone who has been instrumental to their successful development system and who has earned several head-coaching interviews across the league over the years. “It means a lot,” Quinn said. “Obviously, the title is one thing. But the responsibility that comes along with it. … It’s a huge responsibility for me to keep moving in the right direction.”

What Carrying A 15th Man Would (And Wouldn’t) Mean For The Heat

September 27th, 2024 at 7:20am CST by Luke Adams

We've spent much of the offseason discussing the roster moves that an NBA team operating over the first or second tax apron can and can't make, and why it makes sense for a front office to do its best to stay under one or both of those aprons if it's in position to do so.

So it came as a bit of a surprise when one of the top free agents left on the market - Nassir Little - agreed to a contract with the Heat, who had been carrying 14 players on standard contracts and were operating approximately $1.64MM below the second apron line. After all, the expectation had been that Miami would stick with a 14-man roster to open the regular season in order to remain below the second apron -- a minimum-salary deal for Little (or any other player) would push them above that threshold.

Now, there are a couple points worth clarifying on Little's contract.

First, his one-year, minimum-salary deal is fully non-guaranteed, with Exhibit 9 language, Hoops Rumors has confirmed. That means that the forward's salary doesn't currently count against the salary cap, and if he's waived before the season begins, the Heat's cap situation will be right back where it was before the signing, about $1.64MM away from the second apron.

Even if Little makes the team, he'd be paid by the day during the season, so if he's waived in the first month or two, Miami would be stuck with only a partial cap hit and would be able to move back below the second apron.

The second point is more complex and it's the one we'll focus on at length today. Let's say the Heat decide they want to keep Little on their opening night roster, then he earns a regular rotation role in the first couple months of the season, making himself indispensable and forcing Miami to guarantee his full-season salary.

In that scenario, the Heat would go from operating under the second apron to operating approximately $449K over it. However, for the most part, their proximity to the apron wouldn't actually change the moves they can and can't make during the season in any material way.

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Heat Sign Nassir Little To Non-Guaranteed Contract

September 24th, 2024 at 7:24pm CST by Dana Gauruder

SEPTEMBER 24: The Heat have officially signed Little, the team announced today in a press release.

According to Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald (Twitter link), Little’s one-year contract is fully non-guaranteed.

SEPTEMBER 23: Nassir Little has agreed to a one-year contract with the Heat, NBA insider Chris Haynes tweets.

The free agent forward had worked out for a number of other teams, including the Celtics, Warriors and Kings.

The Heat already have 14 players on fully guaranteed deals, plus others on training camp or non-guaranteed contracts. They have major luxury tax considerations and would surpass the second tax apron threshold by carrying a 15th man, so it remains to be seen what kind of contract Miami offered. It’s likely to be a non-guaranteed or partially guaranteed deal.

Little, 24, has been a free agent since Phoenix waived him late last month. The combo forward appeared in 45 games for the Suns last season, making two starts and posting 3.4 points and 1.7 rebounds in 10.2 minutes per night. The former No. 25 overall pick spent his first four NBA seasons in Portland before coming to Phoenix in a three-team trade last September.

Justin Holiday Reportedly Worked Out For Warriors

September 19th, 2024 at 4:05pm CST by Rory Maher

Justin Holiday is among a group of “several” veteran free agents who have worked out for the Warriors in recent weeks, league sources tell Anthony Slater of The Athletic. Slater also confirms that Nassir Little worked out for Golden State, as previously reported.

Holiday, 35, spent last season with the Nuggets. He averaged 4.0 PPG, 1.2 RPG and 1.2 APG on .454/.404/.750 shooting in 58 regular season games with Denver in 2023/24 (14.9 MPG).

Holiday is the definition of a journeyman, having played for 10 NBA teams over the course of his 11 seasons in the league. One of his first stops was with the Warriors — he played for Golden State in ’14/15. He holds career averages of 8.0 PPG, 2.7 RPG and 1.4 APG on .400/.365/.817 shooting in 680 regular season games, including 296 starts (23.1 MPG).

However, a reunion seems pretty unlikely. According to Slater, the Warriors have no plans to fill their 15th standard roster spot to open the season due to their proximity to the first tax apron, at which they’re hard-capped for the ’24/25 campaign. While it’s possible that a veteran could outplay Gui Santos or Lindy Waters — both of whom are on non-guaranteed deals — in training camp and preseason, Slater expresses skepticism that the Warriors will release either player.

Slater also provides an update on No. 52 overall pick Quinten Post, who remains unsigned. According to Slater, Post has been earmarked for a two-way contract, which means one of Golden State’s three two-way players — Pat Spencer, Reece Beekman or Daeqwon Plowden — will have to be cut soon.

It’s worth noting that Atlanta’s G League affiliate recently gave up a second-round NBAGL draft pick in a trade to acquire Plowden’s returning rights. While G League draft picks (especially second-rounders) aren’t all that valuable, it still seems unlikely that the College Park Skyhawks would’ve given one up if they expected Plowden to remain with the Warriors all season, since he’d continue to play for Santa Cruz in the NBAGL as long as he remains on his two-way deal with Golden State.