Terrel Harris

Heat Sign Mickell Gladness, Jarvis Varnado

The Heat have signed a pair of bigs to make-good contracts, according to Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel. Mickell Gladness and Jarvis Varnado have received invitations to the team's training camp, with a chance to earn a spot on the regular-season roster.

Gladness, 26, made his NBA debut in 2011/12, spending time with both the Heat and Warriors in his rookie season. The Alabama A&M product saw very limited minutes in his eight games for the Heat, but is viewed as a low-cost project, and didn't require a guaranteed contract.

Varnado, meanwhile, was the Heat's 41st overall pick in 2010, and has played overseas for the last two seasons. We heard a month ago from Emiliano Carchia of Sportando that Varnado would be leaving his team in Italy to join Miami's training camp, but the Heat didn't make it official until now.

The Heat now have 15 players under contract, but can continue to add players on non-guaranteed deals, up to a total of 20. Miami may not bring that many players to camp, but according to Winderman, the club is expected to offer non-guaranteed contracts to Terrel Harris and Robert Dozier, a 2009 second-rounder. The Heat have also worked out Josh Harrellson and Jerome Dyson this week.

Odds & Ends: Harris, Curry, Shumpert

Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel reports that the Heat are currently in talks with free agent Terrel Harris. The 25-year-old guard played in 22 games for Miami last season and was a member of the team’s summer league roster in Las Vegas. Winderman admits that he is suprised that Miami hasn't made a quicker commitment to Harris at this point (Sulia link). Here's what else we've heard from around the league this evening: 

  • 76ers guard Jason Richardson looks to continue to have the same success playing off of Andrew Bynum the way he was able to with Dwight Howard in Orlando, says John Finger of CSN Philly.  
  • Howard Beck of the New York Times points out that the Knicks have yet to offer a reasoned explanation for declining to match Jeremy Lin's offer sheet with the Rockets
  • Charlie Westbrook tweeted that he will pass on two opportunities to attend an NBA training camp and will head to Europe instead. Westbrook was not drafted by an NBA team in June but participated in Orlando as a member of the Magic's summer league roster. 
  • Although he had been considering a job with the Magic, Rob Murphy chose to remain with Eastern Michigan University as the school's head basketball coach (the Detroit Free Press reports).
  • Marcus Thompson II of MercuryNews.com reports that Stephen Curry is optimistic that he will be ready for Warriors training camp and will undoubtedly be well enough to play by opening night. Curry, who says the only thing he hasn't done yet is play 5-on-5, had arthroscopic surgery on his right ankle in April and has been working out in Oakland.
  • Newsday's Marcus Henry says that Knicks guard Iman Shumpert rehabilitation process is progressing on schedule. The All-Rookie first team selection suffered a torn ACL in his left knee during New York's first-round playoff series in April and is projected to be able to return as early as December or January. 
  • Greg Payne of ESPN Boston noted Jason Terry's thoughts on his role as a sixth man and what he can bring to the Celtics
  • Jodie Meeks spoke with the Kamenetzky Brothers of ESPN LA today about why he chose the Lakers and what he hopes to accomplish. Andy Kamenetzky provided a breakdown of the talking points from the interview, including a post-interview discussion about the potential effect that Meeks can have on the team. 

 

Odds & Ends: Magic, Warriors, Stotts, Harris

On this date four years ago, the Suns signed 25-year-old forward Louis Amundson as a free agent. Amundson had played only 153 total minutes in 27 games over two NBA seasons at that point, but took advantage of the minutes he received for the next two years in Phoenix, evolving into an adequate role player. Today, at age 29, Amundson is a free agent once again, and was said last week to be in talks with the Bobcats and Knicks, among other teams. While Amundson continues to weigh his options in free agency, let's check in on a few other notes from around the league….

  • Magic CEO Alex Martins wrote a letter to Magic season ticket holders, as Iliana Limón Romero of the Orlando Sentinel documents. Martins says the team did all it could to keep Dwight Howard and encourages fans to look forward as the team builds for the future. "A primary goal for our basketball team is to achieve long-term sustainability while maintaining a long-term vision," the letter said. "We feel this deal puts us in a position to begin building in that direction. In addition to the six players joining our team, we will be in a position to maximize our salary cap flexibility in the near future, as well as utilize the multiple draft picks we have acquired going forward."
  • Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News provides some reasons why the Lakers' acquisition of Howard isn't entirely bad news for the Warriors.
  • As Matt Steinmetz of CSNBayArea.com writes, Warriors GM Bob Myers cleared up some recent remarks about coach Mark Jackson, clarifying that he never meant to suggest Jackson's job could be on the line if Golden State doesn't make the playoffs this season.
  • New Trail Blazers coach Terry Stotts spoke to SI.com's Zach Lowe about a number of topics, including some ofhis thoughts on the Blazers going forward.
  • The Bulls officially announced today in a press release that they've named Brian Hagen as the team's assistant general manager. Hagen had spent the previous nine seasons in the Hornets' front office.
  • Unrestricted free agent Terrel Harris is drawing some interest from overseas, according to a Sportando report. Harris played in 22 games for the Heat in 2011/12.

Winderman On Cole, Bosh, Free Agency

The Heat head to Boston on Sunday afternoon to take on the Celtics in what could potentially be a playoff preview. Today's game marks the first of three between the two squads during the month of April after the Heat knocked off the Celtics at the beginning of the season. Let's check in with the South Florida Sun-Sentinel's Ira Winderman for the latest on the Heat. 

  • Winderman says that the Heat have made the right decision by sticking with backup point guard Norris Cole during his rough patches rather than turning to an unknown entity like Terrel Harris. Cole, a rookie out of Cleveland State, has struggled to run Erik Spoelstra's offense this season while still managing to score 7.1 PPG in just under 20 minutes per contest.
  • While the Heat lack a true center, Winderman contends the easiest path to a championship is taken by accumulating the best players possible rather than considering their respective positions. As such, trading a player like Chris Bosh for a mid-level center would not be the best move the Heat could make to move them closer to achieving their goal of a winning a ring.
  • There's been a great deal of talk recently from upcoming free agents expressing interest in joining the Heat. From Steve Nash to Jason Terry, the desire to come to South Beach is there, but Winderman questions whether it's really just talk once it comes down to actually signing a contract for less than market value.

Heat Re-Sign Gladness To 10-Day Contract

After clearing the 48-hour waiver window, the Heat have re-signed center Mickell Gladness to a ten-day contract.

According to Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, who broke the story via Twitter, Gladness can be signed to up to two 10-day contracts (they don't have to be consecutive), after which he must be signed for the entire season or released. Gladness, 25, made his NBA debut with the Heat in December and is currently averaging 1.3 RPG in limited action this season. The former Alabama A&M star has spent most of his career in the NBA Developmental League having averaged 4.5 PPG and 3.7 RPG with the Dakota Wizards and the Rio Grande Valley Vipers in 77 games.

One player who should be happy to see Gladness return to the Heat is Terrel Harriswho was known to eat dinner on the road with his fellow rookie.

Decisions On Non-Guaranteed Contracts

February 10th marks the day that all players on non-guaranteed contracts will have their deals guaranteed for the remainder of the season. However, if a team wants to meet that Friday deadline, it will need to make its decisions today, allowing its player(s) to pass through waivers in time.

Some non-guaranteed players, such as DeJuan Blair and Jeremy Lin, are in no danger of being waived. However, with a few dozen players on non-guaranteed deals across the league, there will be plenty of cuts before the day is out. Some of those players will sign 10-day contracts shortly after being cut, while others could join the D-League or find a place on our list of current unrestricted free agents.

We'll track all the day's decisions on non-guaranteed contracts right here, with the latest news up top:

Zach Links contributed to this post.