Omer Yurtseven Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Heat Notes: Robinson, Martin, Yurtseven, Lowry

October 26th, 2022 at 9:54pm CST by Arthur Hill

Coming off a frustrating year, followed by a summer of hearing his name in trade rumors, Heat swingman Duncan Robinson is approaching this season with a “big chip” on his shoulder, writes Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. Robinson put together two straight outstanding shooting seasons that earned him a five-year, $90MM contract last summer. The expectations that came with the new deal seemed to affect him, and Robinson was pulled from the starting lineup in March.

“You go through something like I went through last year, you definitely grow from that between the ears for sure,” Robinson said, adding that he became “hardened” by the adversity.

He’s off to a much better start this season, though his playing time is about half of what it used to be. Coming into tonight’s game, Robinson has made 6-of-12 three-point shots and hasn’t committed a turnover in 47 minutes of action.

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Caleb Martin may consider an appeal of his one-game suspension for fighting with Toronto’s Christian Koloko, Jackson adds in a separate story. Martin sat out Monday’s game, but he could still potentially recover the roughly $45K in salary that it cost him. “It’s tough watching knowing you can contribute to a win,” he said. “Overall I’m feeling like I definitely could have contributed for sure. Especially when you lose, you are going to think that loss is on you. That’s how you learn. I learned from that, make sure I don’t do it again.”
Omer Yurtseven is traveling with the team, but he’s not expected to play during the three-game road trip, according to Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel. The back-up center has been sidelined with a left ankle impingement, and the coaching staff wants to be with him while he does rehab work. “I think I’m going to be back in less than a week, hopefully,” Yurtseven said. “But I’ve got to sacrifice and I’ve just got to take the pain that comes with it, and that’s what I’m going to do. But hopefully sooner rather than later. But less than a week is my hope.”
Kyle Lowry talks about the team’s early-season frustrations in another Winderman story. Lowry suggests there’s an adjustment period to having Tyler Herro in the starting lineup and trying to get more offense from Bam Adebayo, and says the players need time to get comfortable with the changes. In a mailbag, Winderman notes that last year’s Lowry trade didn’t look good for the Heat on Monday, with Precious Achiuwa grabbing 22 rebounds for the Raptors.

Heat Notes: Martin, Yurtseven, Oladipo, Dedmon

October 23rd, 2022 at 10:59am CST by Arthur Hill

Heat forward Caleb Martin and Raptors center Christian Koloko face fines and possible suspensions after being ejected for fighting in Saturday’s game.

According to Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald, the skirmish happened midway through the third quarter as both players were chasing a rebound. Koloko was knocked over and Martin was whistled for a loose ball foul. Koloko seemed to accidentally swipe Martin in the back of his head on his way down, and Martin angrily stood over Koloko before they began throwing punches.

“I just think that there’s a lot of plays that were kind of leading up to it. It was a chippy game,” Martin said. “That’s typically how the game goes with Toronto. It’s chippy back and forth. But ultimately I just think that emotions were high and the game was a close game. It was back and forth. Overall, I got to be more professional in the way I handle those type of situations.”

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra credited assistants Malik Allen and Caron Butler for keeping other players on the bench and not escalating the fight, which could have led to multiple suspensions. Koloko, who was playing just his third NBA game, said he didn’t understand what made Martin so angry.

“When he fouled me, he was basically grabbing me and pushing me,” Koloko said. “I don’t know … I’m confused. I don’t know why. I don’t even know him, so I don’t know what was going on in his head. He just stood there looking at me like crazy. I just stood up. I don’t know.”

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Omer Yurtseven is listed as day-to-day with a left ankle impingement, but the Heat haven’t set a timetable for him to return, Chiang writes in a separate story. Yurtseven was competing for the backup center spot heading into training camp, but the injury has kept him out of action since the first preseason game. “They said structurally [it’s fine],” Yurtseven said. “I went to like five different doctors just to make sure everything was fine just to double, triple and quadruple check.”
The Heat also don’t have a timetable for Victor Oladipo, who has missed the first three games with left knee tendinosis, Chiang adds. The team is being careful with Oladipo after he underwent two surgeries on his right knee in a little more than three years. “I wouldn’t say extra cautious. I would say appropriate and measured approach with this,” Spoelstra said. “We’re looking at the long game. This has been about investing in him and his health for two years and we just want to make sure that we’re taking all the necessary steps to get him back out there where there’s not a setback.”
Reserve center Dewayne Dedmon has gotten off to a slow start and could see a reduced role as the season wears on, suggests Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel.

Southeast Notes: Banchero, Goodwin, Bridges, Hunter, Oladipo

October 18th, 2022 at 8:04pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Paolo Banchero‘s rookie season begins in Detroit on Wednesday. The Magic forward knows he’ll have a target on his back as the top overall pick and he’s looking forward to the challenge, Marc Stein reports in a Substack post.

“Every guy on the opposite team knows who I am and probably wants to prove something and is probably going to test me — especially with me also being a rookie — and try to see what I’m made of,” Banchero said. “So the key is just being ready for it and accepting the challenge. That’s not something I back down from.”

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Guard Jordan Goodwin had his Exhibit 10 contract converted into a two-way deal by the Wizards over the weekend. He will try to live up to the contract by being messy — in a good way, as he told Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington. “[I’m] just a guy that can do a lot of things,” Goodwin said. “I think my main focus here is just going to be defensively. Try to come in and muck things up, make things a little messy. Just make the right play offensively, whether that’s shoot the ball or make the extra pass, screening.”
A preliminary hearing regarding Miles Bridges’ felony domestic violence case in Los Angeles was delayed for the seventh time Monday and moved to November 3, according to Michael Gordon of the Charlotte Observer. In the hearing, prosecutors will be required to produce evidence to show the Hornets free agent forward committed a crime. Bridges was arrested on June 29 and faces three felony domestic violence charges.
De’Andre Hunter got his rookie scale extension. Now, the Hawks forward wants to show he’s worthy of the four-year contract, which can be worth up to $95MM, Lauren Williams of the Atlanta Journal Constitution writes. “I mean, it’s gonna be my home for the next four or five years, whatever,” Hunter said. “Like I said, I’m just grateful, thankful that they gave me the opportunity, that they have so much faith in me as a player, just trying to work my butt off and do what I need to do to become a better player for the team.”
The Heat’s Victor Oladipo (left knee tendinosis) and Omer Yurtseven (left ankle impingement) are listed as out for Wednesday’s opener against the Bulls, Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald tweets.

Heat Notes: Herro, Cap Outlook, Adebayo, Yurtseven

October 5th, 2022 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

When the Heat signed Tyler Herro to a long-term deal on Sunday, this year’s rookie scale extension deadline was still over two weeks away. But Herro told reporters, including Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald, that he was happy with the Heat’s offer and didn’t feel the need to take negotiations down to the wire to try to squeeze out a few more million.

“It was a number I couldn’t pass up,” Herro said. “It wasn’t worth going into restricted free agency. And at the end of the day, this is where I want to be. … So it made sense.”

Herro’s new contract has a base value of $120MM and can technically be worth up to $130MM, but his incentives won’t be easy to achieve. As Anil Gogna of NoTradeClause.com details (via Twitter), Herro’s various bonuses are tied to being named to an All-NBA team, winning the MVP, and/or being named Defensive Player of the Year.

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With Herro locked up for the next five seasons, the Heat will face a cap crunch going forward, according to Chiang and Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. As The Herald’s duo observes, any major roster addition Miami makes in the next few years will likely have to come via trade, since the team won’t have any cap room available anytime soon, barring some major roster reshuffling. Re-signing Max Strus, Gabe Vincent, and/or Omer Yurtseven beyond 2022/23 will only push team salary further over the cap (and the tax line), Chiang and Jackson note.
After playing Bam Adebayo and Yurtseven together for just 18 total minutes last season, head coach Erik Spoelstra had the duo on the floor for 20 minutes in the Heat’s preseason opener on Tuesday, showing that he’s committed to determining whether the frontcourt pairing can work, writes Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel. “They’re not going to play this many minutes together (during the season), if they play together. We’ll figure that part out,” Spoelstra said. “But that takes more time than some of the space or speed lineups. That’s why we’re dedicating time to that now in the preseason and in training camp.”
Spoelstra intends to continue using the preseason as a time to experiment with different lineup combinations, telling reporters that he’s “open to whatever” as he gets a sense of what works and what doesn’t, per Winderman. “We view all of this as training camp until we get to that Chicago game,” Spoelstra said, referring to Miami’s first game of the regular season on October 19.

Southeast Notes: Clifford, Yurtseven, Wright, Hurricane

September 27th, 2022 at 8:35pm CST by Dana Gauruder

In his second stint as the Hornets‘ head coach, Steve Clifford says that individual agendas have to be put aside if they want to be more than just a play-in team, Roderick Boone of the Charlotte Observer writes.

“We have to be more selfless,” Hornets forward Kelly Oubre said. “We noticed that last year, that when we tried to go out and do things on our own it doesn’t work out as well as it would if we all did it together. So, coach talked about sacrificing some parts of our game to win and winning is the only option. Winning is what we practice and work hard for and we need to consistently do that to show that we are a serious team.”

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Omer Yurtseven has been putting up hundreds of 3-point shots during the offseason and he hopes that will convince Heat coach Erik Spoelstra to play him alongside Bam Adebayo at times, according to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. “We haven’t had the discussion, but I feel like it is in the plans,” Yurtseven said. “In pickup [games], we’ve started that rhythm that we have with each other. Training camp is going to be the real proving grounds.”
Delon Wright joined the Wizards on a two-year, $16MM contract in free agency. Part of their recruiting pitch was the desire to improve their backcourt defense, according to Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington. “When (coach Wes Unseld Jr.) and (GM Tommy Sheppard) called me in free agency, they told me about the need for defense. The team struggled last year defensively and I feel like I’m going to help the team get better at that,” Wright said.
The Magic have to alter their practice plans this week due to Hurricane Ian, Khobi Price of the Orlando Sentinel reports. The players are concerned about the deteriorating weather conditions. “We just talked about it,” big man Franz Wagner said. “Obviously, I’m nervous because I’ve never experienced anything like this. Just trying to listen to everybody here, what they’re telling us and making sure we have everything at home. Trying to be safe.” Wednesday’s practice has already been called off, Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press tweets.

International Notes: Jokic, Antetokounmpo, Yurtseven, Pokusevski, Jovic

August 3rd, 2022 at 9:40pm CST by Arthur Hill

Nuggets star Nikola Jokic is looking forward to representing Serbia on the basketball court for the first time in three years, writes Johnny Askounis of EuroHoops. The two-time MVP will join the national team for a pair of 2023 FIBA World Cup qualifying games, hosting Greece August 25 and traveling to Turkey August 28.

“I feel great, similar to every time I reunite with these guys. I just met some of them,” Jokic said in advance of the Serbian team’s training camp. “We are preparing, we just started and we will see how far we can go. Up first are the FIBA World Cup Qualifiers and the goal of helping Serbia qualify to the World Cup.”

Jokic also plans to participate in EuroBasket next month, and he could return for both the 2023 World Cup and the 2024 Olympics if Serbia qualifies. Jokic cited a special pride in being able to play for his home nation.

“It means a lot, I talked with my family, it’s a totally different feeling when you play for the national team,” Jokic said. “I felt different when I came here than when I go to Denver.”

There’s more international news to pass along:

Another MVP, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and his brother and Bucks teammate, Thanasis Antetokounmpo, are in Athens waiting to join the Greek team for training camp, per Aris Barkas of EuroHoops. An agreement limits NBA players to 28 days of preparation before major FIBA tournaments and 14 days before the Olympics. The other Antetokounmpo brothers, Alex and Kostas, are already training with Greece. New Mavericks signee Tyler Dorsey is under the same restrictions as Giannis and Thanasis and can’t start training until Thursday.
Heat center Omer Yurtseven elected not to join the Turkish national team’s training camp in Italy, but he didn’t inform team officials of his decision or seek permission in advance, according to a EuroHoops report. The decision was made by Yurtseven rather than the Heat, the story adds, as the rookie center chose to stay in Miami and focus on preparing for training camp. The report notes that Yurtseven was suspended for eight games in 2018 for skipping national team activities without providing notice.
Thunder forward Aleksej Pokusevski and Heat rookie Nikola Jovic were denied permission by their respective teams to join Serbia for EuroBasket and the World Cup qualifiers, Askounis states in a separate story. Hawks forward Bogdan Bogdanovic is also unavailable because he’s recovering from knee surgery.

Heat Notes: Lowry, Crowder, Yurtseven, Jovic

August 3rd, 2022 at 6:08pm CST by Arthur Hill

Heat point guard Kyle Lowry still won’t reveal the specifics of the family situation that caused him to miss nine games in January and February, and he tells Doug Smith of The Toronto Star that it hasn’t been fully resolved. Lowry said the issue continued to be a distraction even after he resumed playing.

“It’s definitely something that kind of derailed my whole season and kept me derailed for a long time,” Lowry said. “Still to this day, it’s still something I deal with every single day, I actually got a phone call just now about it. It’s life, life happens and you just have to continue to get better and focus on the things you can control and try to help as best you can because at the end of the day, I can’t do this or that, all I can do is go to people who can help me and hopefully I can help them and we can kind of work together and collaborate.”

Lowry was in Toronto today to take part in the Nick Nurse Foundation golf tournament. Even though he chose to leave the Raptors in free agency last summer, Lowry has remained friendly with his former coach.

“Nick’s a friend of mine and we got closer and closer and as the years went on we trusted each other more and more,” Lowry said. “To keep a relationship with a guy like him, obviously I’m here for a reason, he’s such a great man, he’s helped me in my career tremendously and all I can do is try to give back as much to him as he’s given to me.”

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Miami would be interested in bringing back versatile forward Jae Crowder, but there’s no easy way to match salaries in a trade with the Suns, tweets Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. Crowder, who is entering the final year of his contract, raised some eyebrows this week when he tweeted, “Change is inevitable.. Growth is optional.!! I believe its time for a change… I wanna continue growing!” Although Crowder doesn’t specify that he’s talking about basketball, the message has led to speculation that he wants to play somewhere else.
Omer Yurtseven will have to improve defensively to earn regular playing time, per Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel. Winderman adds that the Heat view Yurtseven as a backup to starting center Bam Adebayo, but he’ll have to compete with Dewayne Dedmon for those minutes.
First-round pick Nikola Jovic won’t play for the Serbian national team in the World Cup qualifier or EuroBasket, according to Winderman (Twitter link). Jovic will focus on preparing for Miami’s training camp, which starts in late September. Yurtseven is also expected to bypass international competitions with Turkey (Twitter link).

Heat Notes: Adebayo, Yurtseven, Jovic, Durant

July 24th, 2022 at 2:00pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Though the Heat are still making an effort to trade for a star like Nets forward Kevin Durant or Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell, the team could eventually consider pivoting to pursuing a solid veteran like John Collins, Myles Turner, or Harrison Barnes in their frontcourt, says Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel.

Winderman writes that Miami’s front office has had conversations about potentially including young All-Defensive center Bam Adebayo in a deal for Durant, but not everyone in the Heat brain trust is on board with offloading the 25-year-old big man for the injury-prone 33-year-old veteran.

Winderman adds that the team could trade up to three future first-round selections at present, but could theoretically acquire more to include in a deal if it opted to move other young players like Tyler Herro, Max Strus, Omer Yurtseven, Gabe Vincent, or Nikola Jovic in separate trades with other clubs for additional draft picks.

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The Heat will probably wait to move on to Plan B trade targets until they have exhausted their possibilities for adding Durant or Mitchell, writes Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald. According to Chiang, Miami most likely will want to keep its coffers open should another superstar become available via trade.
Following summer training obligations with their respective national teams, Heat big men Omer Yurtseven and Nikola Jovic will have to hop directly to a training camp with Miami, with possibly as little as a two weeks off in between, notes Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel.
In a separate piece, Winderman wonders if the Heat are hurting themselves as they await a potential Durant deal. With league activities essentially on hold until Durant is moved, Miami finds itself at something of a crossroads. The team currently lacks a true NBA rotational power forward after having let P.J. Tucker walk in free agency and thus far not opting to re-sign Markieff Morris.

Heat Notes: Garrett, Mulder, Yurtseven, Jovic

July 10th, 2022 at 9:52am CST by Arthur Hill

Saturday’s Summer League contest marked the first game in more than six months for Heat guard Marcus Garrett, who underwent season-ending wrist surgery in January, writes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. Garrett recently received medical clearance to start playing again and didn’t take part in any of Miami’s games in the California Classic.

Garrett earned a two-way contract last summer and appeared in 12 games before the injury. He’s an effective defender with a 6’10” wingspan, but Chiang says he’ll have to prove he can contribute enough on offense to earn another chance with the Heat.

“It was great to see him back there,” Summer League coach Malik Allen said. “When he gets between those lines, he’s a tough competitor and obviously he lifted us up. It was just great to have him back.”

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After struggling with his three-point shot in California, Mychal Mulder bounced back with a 5-of-8 performance in his first game in Las Vegas. Mulder currently holds one of Miami’s two-way slots, but Chang notes that he’ll have to show he can be a reliable outside shooter to remain on the roster. “He was due,” Allen said. “But the big thing with Mike was, he really did make a lot of great plays. That’s what I just kind of kept stressing to him. I know he wanted some shots to fall, but he’s made some really great plays for us.”
The Heat aren’t sure if Omer Yurtseven will see any Summer League action because of a quad injury he suffered with the Turkish national team, Chiang adds in a separate story. Yurtseven, who’s entering the final season of his two-year contract, flew to Las Vegas after helping Turkey win a World Cup qualifier last Sunday. “I do want to play. That’s the reason I’m here,” he said. “I’m just here to pretty much get better and I think playing is the best way to do it.”
Miami is still experimenting with the best Summer League role for first-round pick Nikola Jovic, per Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel.

Heat Guarantee Salaries For Strus, Vincent, Yurtseven

June 30th, 2022 at 7:20am CST by Luke Adams

As expected, the Heat let a June 29 salary guarantee deadline come and go for three players who had non-guaranteed minimum salaries for 2022/23.

According to Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel (Twitter link), Max Strus ($1,815,677), Gabe Vincent ($1,815,677), and Omer Yurtseven ($1,752,638) now have guaranteed contracts for next season.

Strus, 26, emerged as a regular part of the Heat’s rotation this past season, averaging 10.6 PPG with a .410 3PT% in 68 regular season games (23.3 MPG). He entered the starting lineup down the stretch and for all 18 of Miami’s postseason contests, since he was more reliable defensively than fellow sharpshooter Duncan Robinson.

Vincent, serving as the primary backup at the point for Kyle Lowry, averaged 8.7 PPG and 3.1 APG on .417/.368/.815 shooting in 68 regular season appearances (23.4 MPG).

Yurtseven didn’t have as significant a role as Strus or Vincent, but did get into the starting lineup for 12 of his 56 appearances, averaging a double-double (12.1 PPG, 12.7 RPG) in those 12 starts. He registered 5.3 PPG and 5.3 RPG in 12.6 minutes per contest for the season.

Strus and Vincent are now on track to reach unrestricted free agency in 2023, while Yurtseven will be eligible for restricted free agency next summer.