Heat Notes: Green, Whiteside, Wade

Gerald Green returned to practice with the Heat on Saturday and was remorseful for having missed time.  However, as Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press writes, Green declined to get into the specifics of what caused his absence.

This whole situation, to me, was an incident that I’m ashamed of,” said Green, who missed six games and has been suspended for the last two for conduct detrimental to the team. “I’m just trying to get over this situation. I can’t apologize enough to the residents that live in my building, my fans who support me and definitely my family and definitely this organization that’s had my back. It’s a situation I’m not proud of, but I’m ready to move forward.”

Here’s what we do know: On November 3rd, Green called in sick for a game against the Hawks.  The next morning, according to Miami police, Green went to the lobby of his apartment building with bloodied hands and asked a front desk worker for help.  He then fell down, punched a man upon getting up, and was so combative with rescue personnel that police had to handcuff him for the ambulance ride to the hospital. Still, no charges related to the incident have been filed and the Heat have welcomed Green back into the fold, so the bizarre event seems to be in the rear view mirror for all involved.

Here’s more out of Miami:

  • Hassan Whiteside‘s bargaining position is soaring and there will be some interesting contractual decisions for the Heat after the season, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald writes.  If Whiteside were to accept a deal around $15MM/year from Miami (which is far from a certainty) and if Dwyane Wade accepted just $10MM for 2016/17, Miami would be left with ~$15MM for five spots, which would not be enough to go after the likes of Kevin Durant or DeMar DeRozan.
  • The Heat are well positioned for Wade to move into a “Manu Ginobili role” whenever that time comes, but Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel isn’t ready to write him off yet, either.  When Wade is in more of a reserve role, or no longer with the team even, Winderman is enthusiastic about a young, athletic team that features a smart veteran leader in Chris Bosh coupled with an inside presence like Hassan Whiteside.
  • More from Winderman, who believes that owner Micky Arison will find a way for the Heat to avoid becoming the first team to pay the “repeater” luxury tax.  One possible remedy for Miami could be to move Luol Deng for a player who earns significantly less, but it’s too early in the season to consider that and the tax is not computed until the season’s end.
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