The Heat lost P.J. Tucker to the Sixers and reached agreements with Victor Oladipo and Dewayne Dedmon but they still have some unfinished offseason business, Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel writes.
Restricted free agent Caleb Martin remains unsigned but since the Heat do not have his Bird Rights, they are unable to match offers above the $10.49MM mid-level exception. They are not likely to go above the $6.5MM taxpayer mid-level exception, since that would trigger a hard salary cap. They also have to decide whether to bring back Markieff Morris.
They have both the mid-level and bi-annual exceptions at their disposal to pursue other free agents, but using the bi-annual would also result in a hard cap.
We have more from the Southeast Division:
- Martin’s restricted free agency buys the Heat a little more time to wait out the Kevin Durant saga while keeping Martin as an option, Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald notes. Even if Martin receives an offer sheet in the first day of free agency on Wednesday, the Heat have two days to decide whether to match it.
- R.J. Hampton has impressed the Magic brass by his willingness to play in the Summer League, according to Khobi Price of the Orlando Sentinel. Hampton wanted to play despite appearing in 64 games during his second NBA season. “I only got to play one summer league,” Hampton said. “It’s a great opportunity for me to get run and get extra reps.”
- Top pick Paolo Banchero has been displaying his strength in summer league practices, Price tweets. “He’s a very strong individual. I don’t think he even understands how strong he really is,” Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said of the former Duke forward. “That’s the great part of his willingness to learn and ask questions, that he’s going to find out how he can use his body in different ways to obviously punish defenses but then defensively, how to guard multiple positions.”
Banchero’s lats are as strong as he wants them to be.
Stone juked the heck out of Orlando. Rockets may have another solid draft again this year. I’m curious if Silas knows a thing or two about defense. These kids need it badly!
Smart move by RJ really.
Go out and impress in an easier setting against easier competition.
Get an early connection going with the most important player on the team in Paolo Banchero.
There is zero universe where Markieff Morris returns
Right now, besides Paul Millsap, Caleb Martin is the top priority, with or without a trade for Kevin Durant. In my opinion, without a large portion of the midlevel, it’s unlikely they can keep him, but many teams have used up their cap space/MLE, so perhaps it is possible. He wants to be here, so offer the most you can without hardcapping yourself, and if you have to hardcap yourself, it might be worth it to not lose him right now.
Nikola Jovic Drops 25 pts in Summer League
Another wise pick by Heat. Why aren’t we ever in on something like this. Heat find more players not drafted. Or at bottom of draft all the time. Gotta give it to them.
It’s not just the Heat – most teams consistently find gems… except the Knicks.
This was the one matchup so far I thought he had a chance, so it was good to see him not look totally lost out there, and take advantage of that matchup. That being said, its premature to call it a good pick. There is potential there, as I’ve said, but they have a lot to work on.
The Knicks have some young guys, but dont let them play, trade picks where there are multiple possible options and fits, and then pay guys they dont need $25 million. They do get useful young players though