Eastern Notes: Riley, Bargnani, Lee

Heat team president Pat Riley said that Miami intends to have 15 players on its roster by season’s end, Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel relays (Twitter links). The executive indicated that the team plans to add one player by March 10th and another prior to the end of the campaign, Winderman notes. The Heat currently possess 13 players on their roster and are unable to sign anyone to more than a 10-day contract until March 6th, or else the team would be back over the luxury tax line and risk repeat-offender tax penalties. Miami’s roster situation is further complicated by the losses of Beno Udrih, who is out for three months, Tyler Johnson, who is on the shelf for at least two, and Chris Bosh, whom the team is thinking about shutting down for the remainder of the 2015/16 campaign as he deals with blood clot issues for the second straight season.

Here’s more from out of the Eastern Conference:

  • Andrea Bargnani gave up $323,599 in salary for 2015/16 and $1,228,060 for 2016/17 as part of his buyout arrangement with the Nets, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders relays (on Twitter). The oft-injured power forward will earn $1,039,298 this season and will give Brooklyn a cap hit worth $323,599 next season. The move gives the Nets about $1.7MM in breathing room beneath the luxury tax line.
  • David Lee sacrificed $458,575 in salary to facilitate his buyout from the Celtics, Pincus tweets. Boston is on the hook for the remainder of Lee’s $15,035,105 post-buyout salary. Lee ultimately profited from the arrangement, since he signed a deal with the Mavericks that’s worth more than $2MM.
  • The Bulls have officially announced today that their new D-League affiliate, which begins play next season, will be called the Windy City Bulls.
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