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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.

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Heat Sign Warren Washington, Waive Caleb Daniels

October 10th, 2024 at 6:36pm CST by Tristan Tucker

The Heat have made a change to their training camp roster, adding center Warren Washington and waiving guard Caleb Daniels, according to a team release (Twitter link).

Washington went undrafted out of Texas Tech in 2024 after a five-year collegiate career that also included stops at Oregon State, Nevada and Arizona State. In 134 collegiate games, he averaged 8.1 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.1 blocks.

After not being selected in the 2024 draft, Washington suited up for the Heat’s Summer League team. He made a total of six appearances, totaling 14 points and 13 rebounds in limited time. Presumably, Miami will waive him ahead of the beginning of the regular season. While the terms of the agreement weren’t revealed, it’s almost a certainty that he agreed to an Exhibit 10 deal. If that’s the case, he’s eligible for a bonus worth up to $77.5K if he spends at least 60 days with the Sioux Falls Skyforce (Miami’s G League affiliate).

Daniels was occupying a spot on the 21-man roster on an Exhibit 10 deal. He’s likely to head back to Sioux Falls for a second straight season. He averaged 12.3 points while shooting 36.8% from deep for the Skyforce last season across 47 games. He helped the Skyforce to the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference G League playoffs last season and then was a member of the Heat squad that won the Summer League championship in Las Vegas. He averaged 6.0 points in seven summer league games this year.

Daniels appeared in one preseason game, recording eight points behind a pair of threes and nine rebounds. Miami has 21 players under contract, with Washington joining Isaiah Stevens and Zyon Pullin on Exhibit 10 deals.

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NBA Announces Initial Early Entrant List For 2023 Draft

April 26th, 2023 at 10:55am CST by Rory Maher

The NBA has officially released the initial list of early entrants for the 2023 NBA draft, announcing in a press release that 242 players have filed as early entry candidates. Of those prospects, 192 are from colleges, two played in the NBA G League, and 48 are international early entrants.

Those are big numbers, but they fall well short of the 353 early entrants who initially declared for the draft in 2021 and the 283 who entered last year. Beginning in 2021, the NCAA granted players an extra year of eligibility due to the coronavirus pandemic, resulting in seniors having to decide between staying at college for one more season or declaring for the draft as an “early” entrant.

This year’s total of 242 early entrants figures to shrink significantly by May 31 and again by June 12, the two deadlines for players to withdraw their names from the draft pool. But it still looks like the pool will remain extremely crowded, with the eventual number of early entrants certain to exceed 58, the number of picks in the draft.

Our tracker of early entrants for the 2023 draft is fully up to date and can be found right here.

Here are the changes we made to our tracker today:

Newly added players:

College players:

These players either didn’t publicly announce that they were entering the draft or we simply missed it when they did.

International players:

These players weren’t previously mentioned on our list of international early entrants. The country listed here indicates where they last played, not necessarily where they were born.

  • Miguel Allen, F, Spain (born 2003)
  • Idrissa Ba, C, France (born 2002)
  • Elian Benitez, G, France (born 2003)
  • William Beugre-Kassi, G/F, France (born 2004)
  • Sasa Ciani, F, Croatia (born 2003)
  • Ege Demir, F/C, Turkey (born 2004)
  • Thijs De Ridder, F, Belgium (born 2003)
  • Nikola Djurisic, G/F, Serbia (born 2004)
  • Ruben Dominguez, G, Spain (born 2003)
  • Quinn Ellis, G, Italy (born 2003)
  • Juan Fernandez, F/C, Spain (born 2002)
  • Clement Frisch, F, France (born 2002)
  • Sananda Fru, F, Germany (born 2003)
  • Gloire Goma, G, Spain (born 2003)
  • Hassane Gueye, F, France (born 2003)
  • Ondrej Hanzlik, F, Spain (born 2002)
  • Ilias Kamardine, G, France (born 2003)
  • Konstantin Kostadinov, F, Spain (born 2003)
  • Oleksandr Kovliar, G, Estonia (born 2002)
  • Liutauras Lelevicius, G, Lithuania (born 2003)
  • Gilad Levy, C, Israel (born 2002)
  • Ruben Lopez, F, Spain (born 2002)
  • Assemian Moulare, G, France (born 2003)
  • Daniel Onwenu, G, Brazil (born 2002)
  • Ivan Perasovic, F, Croatia (born 2002)
  • Mantas Rubstavicius, G, Lithuania (born 2002)
  • Musa Sagnia, F/C, Spain (born 2003)
  • Marcio Santos, F/C, Brazil (born 2002)
  • Enzo Shahrvin, F, France (born 2003)
  • Birahima Sylla, G, France (born 2003)
  • Dez Andras Tanoh, G, Hungary (born 2002)
  • Hugo Toom, F, Estonia (born 2002)
  • Armel Traore, F, France (born 2003)
  • Ricards Vanags, G/F, Latvia (born 2002)

Other notable draft-eligible early entrants:

The NBA typically sends its teams a list of “also-eligible” names. That list isn’t public. However, we’re assuming that at least one projected top-three pick is on it: Scoot Henderson of the G League Ignite. Overtime Elite standouts Amen Thompson and Ausar Thompson would also be on this list, as would Henderson’s Ignite teammate Leonard Miller.

Players removed:

Despite reports or announcements that the players below would declare for the draft, they didn’t show up on the NBA’s official list.

That could mean a number of things — they may have decided against entering the draft; they may have entered the draft, then withdrawn; they may have had no NCAA eligibility remaining, making them automatically draft-eligible; they may have incorrectly filed their paperwork; or the NBA may have accidentally omitted some names.

In any case, we’ve removed the following names from our early entrant list, at least for the time being.

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Kris Murray, Jaime Jaquez, Oscar Tshiebwe Entering Draft

April 7th, 2023 at 5:26pm CST by Rory Maher

Iowa forward Kris Murray, a projected first-round pick who is currently ranked No. 26 on ESPN’s big board, has declared for the 2023 NBA draft, he announced via Twitter. Murray’s statement doesn’t say anything about maintaining his college eligibility, so we’re assuming he plans to stay in the draft and turn pro.

As a junior for the Hawkeyes, Murray averaged 20.2 points, 7.9 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.0 steal and 1.2 blocks on .476/.335/.729 shooting in 29 games (34.9 minutes). He was named to the All-Big 10 First Team for his efforts. Murray is the twin brother of Kings rookie Keegan Murray, who was the No. 4 overall pick last year.

UCLA guard Jaime Jaquez is also entering the draft and will forgo his final year of eligibility, he tells Jonathan Givony of ESPN. Jaquez, considered a fringe first-round pick, currently ranks No. 34 on ESPN’s board.

As a senior for the Bruins, Jazquez averaged 17.8 points, 8.2 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.5 steals on .481/.317/.770 shooting in 37 games (33.2 minutes). He was named Pac-12 Player of the Year and earned a spot on the All-America Second Team.

“Wherever I get drafted, I don’t care,” Jaquez said. “I’m going to make some sort of impact. People are going to feel like I impacted their organization. (Former No. 30 overall picks) Jimmy Butler, Josh Hart … those are the guys I study. They have a different mentality; they play to win.”

Here are a few more early entrants for the 2023 draft:

  • Kentucky big man Oscar Tshiebwe, who was the 2021/22 AP Player of the Year, is entering the draft while maintaining his final year of college eligibility, he announced on Instagram. Tshiebwe averaged 16.5 points, 13.7 rebounds, 1.6 steals and 1.0 block while shooting 56% from the field and 72.9% from the line in 32 games (33.6 minutes) as a senior. He is ranked No. 74 on ESPN’s board and considered a fringe second-round pick.
  • Wake Forest’s Bobi Klintman (link via Sam Vecenie of The Athletic), Arizona State’s Warren Washington (Instagram link), and San Diego State’s Jaedon Ledee (Twitter link via Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports) are all entering the draft while maintaining their eligibility. Vecenie believes Klintman, a 6’10” freshman wing from Sweden, could be a first-round pick in 2024. Washington and Ledee are both seniors who have one year of eligibility left due to the pandemic.
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