Southeast Notes: Reed, Hardaway, Muscala, Morris

Willie Reed hasn’t announced his intentions, but the Heat center sounds like he plans to opt out this summer. Reed, who is scheduled to make $1.6MM next season, is coming off a promising second NBA season in which he played 71 games and averaged 5.3 points and 4.7 rebounds per night. It was his first year in Miami after starting his career in Brooklyn. “I don’t know what it’s going to be like for me, to be honest,” Reed told Anthony Chiang of the Palm Beach Post about free agency. “Obviously I’ve never been in a position like this before. So I’m just trying to trust the process with things that I’ve done before, continue to work on my body, continue to work on my game and then deal with that when the time comes.” The Heat expect to have about $38MM to spend once Chris Bosh‘s contract is cleared from their books, but they have other priorities in free agency, such as keeping Dion Waiters and James Johnson.

There’s more from the Southeast Division:

• Matching an offer sheet for Tim Hardaway Jr. could be the Hawks‘ toughest decision of the offseason, writes Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal Constitution. Hardaway is a restricted free agent after the team elected not to give him a qualifying offer last fall. He responded with his best season as a pro, averaging 14.5 points per game and starting 30 of the 79 games that he played. “That’s why I have an agent to do all the talk with the organization here and see what best fits for me,” Hardaway said. “I love it here. Atlanta brought me here and it really felt like I was starting all over as a rookie when I got here. They made me go through some tough times. They made me mature as a person on and off the court. And made me appreciate the game a whole lot more when I first came in the league. That’s what I’m thankful for.”
• Fourth-year big man Mike Muscala is also a first-time free agent and the Hawks haven’t indicated if they’ll try to keep him, Vivlamore writes in a separate piece. “Atlanta is a special place for me,” said Muscala, who has spent his entire career with the team. “I feel like the organization is headed in the right direction with the ownership and the coaching staff, practice facility. I’ve loved my time here.”
• Wizards forward Markieff Morris sat out practice today with a badly sprained left ankle that he suffered in Sunday’s Game 1 against the Celtics, according to Candace Buckner of The Washington Post. The team hasn’t commented on his availability for Tuesday’s Game 2, but Morris has already made up his mind. “I’m playing tomorrow. It’s final,” he said. “There’s nothing the doctors can say to me for me not to be able to play.” Injured center Ian Mahinmi also was held out of practice today, tweets J. Michael of CSNWashington.