Heat Expected To Go Star Hunting This Offseason
The Heat exceeded all expectations this spring by making the NBA Finals as a No. 8 seed, but that doesn’t mean they’ll be satisfied to run it back with the same roster for 2023/24.
According to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter video link) and Brian Windhorst of ESPN (YouTube link), Miami is expected to explore the trade market in search of a star player this summer.
As Windhorst points out, it makes sense for the Heat to be aggressive as they seek roster upgrades this offseason for a few reasons. For one, Jimmy Butler will turn 34 years old in September and presumably has a limited number of prime years left, while Bam Adebayo – 26 in July – is entering his own prime.
Additionally, the Heat’s roster is getting more expensive, meaning they’ll likely be subject to more restrictive trade rules beginning in 2024/25, when the changes in the new Collective Bargaining Agreement for tax-paying teams will be fully implemented. Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald explores those new rules in more detail, noting that – while some changes will begin to take effect in 2023/24 – the Heat would have more flexibility to make a blockbuster deal in the coming months than in future league years.
While Kyle Lowry ($29.7MM in 2023/24) and Duncan Robinson ($18.2MM) are Miami’s most obvious salary-matching pieces, Windhorst notes that Tyler Herro ($27MM) will be starting his rookie scale extension in ’23/24 and could make a more intriguing trade chip than Lowry or Robinson. Caleb Martin has also evolved into a player that “a lot of teams have interest in,” Windhorst adds.
Of course, if they want to acquire a star, the Heat will almost certainly need to include multiple draft assets in any offer. They owe a lottery-protected 2025 first-round pick to Oklahoma City, which complicates, to some extent, their ability to move additional first-rounders. Still, they could include up to three first-round selections – including this year’s No. 18 pick – in a trade offer this summer.
While there’s no consensus yet on which players the Heat might target, Charania hears that the club made a trade offer to Brooklyn for Kyrie Irving in February and wonders if Miami might circle back on Irving as he reaches free agency.
That seems like a long shot though, since the Heat aren’t in position to acquire a player via sign-and-trade due to the hard cap it would create. It’s also worth noting that a previous report stated that Heat management wasn’t unanimous in its belief that Irving would be a good addition.
Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard recently named the Heat as one of the teams he would want to be traded to if he ever asks out of Portland. There’s no indication that has happened or will happen anytime soon, but there has been more smoke than ever around Lillard’s situation leading up to this offseason.
As Windhorst observes, it’s also entirely possible that there will be a star who has been impressed by the Heat’s unlikely run to the Finals and decides he wants to be part of what’s going on in Miami.
“What we don’t know is what star players just watched the Heat on this two-month advertisement for Heat culture and might go to their teams in the next few weeks and say, ‘I want to be a Miami Heat,'” Windhorst said. “That has happened consistently throughout the Pat Riley era.”
Nuggets Notes: Championship, Porter, Gordon, Booth
The Nuggets‘ championship victory on Monday represented a major financial boon for a pair of the team’s forwards.
As Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets, the final year of Michael Porter Jr.‘s five-year contract with the Nuggets is now fully guaranteed. Previously, only $12MM of Porter’s $40.8MM cap hit for 2026/27 had been guaranteed, but since Porter appeared in at least 62 games (plus 75% of Denver’s playoff contests) and the club won a title, he’s assured of the full $40.8MM.
Meanwhile, Aaron Gordon earned a $1MM bonus as a result of the championship, Marks tweets. That will bump Gordon’s cap charge for 2023/24 from $21.2MM to $22.2MM, since that $1MM incentive will now be considered “likely” (rather than unlikely) for next season. However, the Nuggets wouldn’t be on the hook for that bonus money next season unless they win another title.
Here’s more on the NBA’s new champions:
- Porter averaged just 9.6 points per game on .328/.143/.750 shooting in five NBA Finals games, but his performance showed that he’s capable of contributing in other ways, which bodes well for his future development, writes Nick Kosmider of The Athletic. Porter grabbed 13 rebounds in Game 1 and again in Game 5, matching his season high.
- After playing a major part in helping the Nuggets secure the first title in franchise history, star guard Jamal Murray said on Monday that he believes the club is capable of winning more championships with this core. “I knew once we were healthy, we could do it,” Murray, who missed all of the 2021/22 season due to a torn ACL, told Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN. “So this was long overdue. … I think this is the first of many.”
- Sam Amick and Tony Jones of The Athletic take a look at all the moves and decisions that led to Denver’s first championship, including the promotion of assistant GM Calvin Booth after the departure of veteran executive Tim Connelly in 2022. “When Tim left, I remember talking to (Nuggets governor) Josh (Kroenke), and saying, ‘Listen, this is your call, Josh, but what I’m telling you as a head coach who has been here for seven years, we’re heading in the right direction, I really hope that Calvin Booth is given the opportunity to take over,'” Michael Malone told The Athletic. “I said, ‘I know him, he knows me. He knows our players. He knows you.’ (Booth) did a great job of taking all that and saying, ‘OK, we’re in a good spot. But how do we go from good to great? How do we make this even better?’ And Calvin had the balls to do that, man.”
- Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype and Bobby Marks of ESPN (Insider link) preview the roster and contract issues facing the Nuggets this offseason, including Bruce Brown‘s potential free agency and Jamal Murray’s extension eligibility. In case you missed it, Brown expressed a desire to remain in Denver following Monday’s victory.
Bruce Brown: “I Want To Stay” With Nuggets
In the wake of the Nuggets‘ championship-clinching victory on Monday, Bruce Brown‘s teammates were effusive in their praise of the versatile guard, predicting a significant payday for the 26-year-old this summer in free agency. However, Brown told Mike Singer of The Denver Post (subscription required) that he won’t necessarily accept the biggest offer he gets on the open market.
“I want to stay,” Brown said. “… It’s a perfect fit. And money is not everything. The money will come. So I’m not worried about that right now.”
Brown, who signed a two-year contract with the Nuggets last offseason, holds a $6.8MM player option for 2023/24. If he turns down that option, Denver would only hold his Non-Bird rights and would be limited to offering him a starting salary of $7.8MM — that figure represents a 20% raise off his current $6.5MM salary.
The Nuggets could theoretically use the mid-level exception to offer up to $12.2MM, but they’re extremely unlikely to have the full MLE available since their team salary projects to be over the luxury tax line. ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link) expects rival suitors to be willing to offer at least the MLE amount of $12.2MM, and possibly more than that. Brown’s teammates are also forecasting a substantial raise based on his play in the regular season and postseason.
“Bruce has been huge for us all playoffs,” Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr. said after Monday’s win. “We’re excited for him because he’s going to get paid. He’s going to get paid. … We just kept telling him be aggressive, even though his first half didn’t go amazing making shots-wise. He hit that big bucket down the stretch, made those two free throws. He was amazing for us all playoffs. It wasn’t just tonight.”
In 80 regular season appearances for the Nuggets, Brown averaged a career-best 11.5 points per night on .483/.358/.758 shooting. He also contributed 4.1 RPG and 3.4 APG while handling a variety of defensive assignments. In the playoffs, he bumped his scoring average to 12.0 PPG while shooting 51.1% from the floor. On Monday, the five-year veteran made a key basket late in the game’s closing minutes to give Denver the lead, then knocked down two free throws with 14 seconds left to clinch the victory.
One option for Brown would be to decline his player option, sign another one-plus-one deal with a first-year salary of $7.8MM, then opt out again in 2024 in order to sign a more lucrative, longer-term deal with the Nuggets. Bobby Portis took this route in Milwaukee after winning a title with the Bucks, accepting a below-market deal in 2021 and then inking a four-year, $48.6MM contract in 2022 once the team had his Early Bird rights.
We’ll see if Brown wants to take a similar path once he’s not still basking in the fresh glow of a title. But on Monday, at least, he sounded genuinely enthusiastic about remaining in Denver.
“That’s insane,” he said of the Nuggets’ 16-4 playoff record, per Singer. “That doesn’t happen. … Why not run it back?”
Charles Lee Still In Mix For Raptors’ Head Coaching Job?
Longtime Bucks assistant Charles Lee may be among the finalists for the Raptors‘ head coaching job, according to Marc Stein, who writes at Substack that Lee is believed to have had a second interview with the team.
Steve Bulpett of Heavy.com reported on Friday evening (via Twitter) that the completion of some NBA coaching staffs has been delayed because teams are waiting to see whether Lee will end up in Toronto.
Lee is reportedly receiving consideration for multiple teams as an assistant, so if he’s hired by the Raptors or another team, it could have a domino effect on his other suitors, who would have to look elsewhere.
Lee is a former Bucknell shooting guard who played professionally in international basketball leagues for several seasons. He has been a longtime assistant under Mike Budenholzer, first with the Hawks (2014-18) and then with the Bucks (since 2018). With Budenholzer seemingly set to take a year off, it appears Lee will seek a new opportunity outside of Milwaukee.
The Raptors’ head coaching search is the only one yet to be completed, and there hasn’t been much solid reporting on which candidates are among the finalists. As Stein writes, Virtus Bologna coach Sergio Scariolo, Warriors assistant Kenny Atkinson, and Grizzlies assistant Darko Rajakovic are thought to still be in the running. Kings assistant Jordi Fernandez had also been mentioned as a possible finalist, but recent reporting suggests he’s not a frontrunner.
Hoops Rumors’ 2023 NBA Offseason Previews By Team
In advance of the NBA’s 2023 draft and free agent period, Hoops Rumors is previewing the coming offseason for all 30 teams, looking at their salary cap situations and the roster decisions they’ll have to make this summer
Our Offseason Preview articles are linked below, sorted by conference and division. This list, which can be found under the “Hoops Rumors Features” menu on the right sidebar on our desktop site, or on the “Features” page in our mobile menu, will continue to be updated as we complete our previews for all 30 teams.
Eastern Conference
Atlantic
Central
Southeast
Western Conference
Northwest
Pacific
Southwest
Celtics Notes: G. Williams, Offseason, Lillard, Paul
Celtics forward Grant Williams, who underwent hand surgery on Friday, originally injured his hand in March but exacerbated the issue during Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals when he was battling Bam Adebayo for a rebound, sources tell Jared Weiss of The Athletic.
While it’s not unusual for NBA players to undergo minor surgeries after the season to address nagging injuries, the timing is unfortunate for Williams, who will still be recovering from the procedure when he reaches restricted free agency on July 1.
There’s no indication that the surgery will impact Williams’ availability for 2023/24, but the Celtics and any rival suitors will want to get a sense of how the 24-year-old’s recovery is going before committing big money to him. According to Weiss, Williams was also affected this past season by a ligament strain in his right elbow, but he’s expected to let that injury heal without undergoing a separate procedure.
Here’s more on the Celtics:
- In a mailbag for The Athletic, Weiss discusses several Celtics-related topics, including whether or not Jaylen Brown is a legitimate trade candidate this offseason and what Williams’ restricted free agency could look like. Weiss explains that Boston’s ideal outcome would be to re-sign Williams and continue developing his offensive game so that he’s a more reliable presence on that end of the court.
- If Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard were to request a trade out of Portland, the Celtics wouldn’t be on his list of preferred destinations, according to Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report and TNT (hat tip to RealGM). Asked during an appearance on The Dan Patrick Show about a hypothetical trade of Lillard to Boston, Haynes stopped Patrick before he could finish his question. “He’s not doing Boston,” Haynes said. “… I think that’s pretty safe to say.”
- Chris Paul is the sort of seasoned backcourt veteran the Celtics could use, so they should show interest in him if he’s waived by Phoenix, opines Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe. Despite Paul’s age, he remains one of the NBA’s best “offensive orchestrators” when he’s healthy, Washburn writes, adding that the point guard could help Boston capitalize on its championship window.
Southwest Notes: Morant, Mavs, Rockets, Thompson Twins, Zion
Appearing on The Dan Patrick Show on Thursday, NBA commissioner Adam Silver once again addressed the Ja Morant situation in Memphis, indicating that the league doesn’t simply want to hit the Grizzlies guard with a long suspension and hope that he gets the message about his off-court behavior.
“I think it’s important to point out that this is not just about disciplining him and crossing your fingers hoping it’s not a third time,” Silver said, per Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal. “I recognize that he needs some assistance from the league office, his union, his team. … My hope is that wherever we come out in terms of discipline, there is a an acceptance that we need to find ways to engage with each other going forward so that he can change the trajectory that he’s now on, which is not a positive one.
“I want to find a way where, frankly, he’s not being kicked to the curb, but basketball will take a back seat and first and foremost, we’re going to focus on him as a young man developing as a better person as someone who is more responsible.”
There have been rumors that the weapon Morant appeared to brandish in his recent Instagram Live viral video was actually a toy gun and not a real one. The commissioner didn’t confirm or deny the validity of that speculation, suggesting that the perception created by the video would be problematic either way.
“The very issue for Ja certainly in the first incident was treating a gun as a toy,” Silver said. “That’s what we’re talking about, and I think that’s what the danger is to society; Taking a gun, live-streaming it. … I think everyone agrees that gun safety is important. Guns aren’t toys.”
Here’s more from around the Southwest:
- The question of whether or not Kyrie Irving will re-sign is the big one looming over the Mavericks‘ offseason, but there are several other issues the team will need to figure out in the coming weeks, writes Tim Cato of The Athletic. Those other questions include how the Mavs will use the No. 10 overall pick and whether or not the team will have the flexibility – and the desire – to use its full mid-level exception on a free agent.
- Within a discussion with John Hollinger about the Rockets‘ upcoming offseason, Kelly Iko of The Athletic says draft prospects Amen Thompson and Ausar Thompson are scheduled to visit the team next week. Both Thompson twins figure to receive serious consideration at No. 4, whether Houston keeps or trades the pick.
- It’s time for Zion Williamson to start making headlines on the court instead of off it, writes columnist Jeff Duncan of NOLA.com. Williamson’s personal life has become very public in recent days, and while he acknowledges that how Zion spends his free time is his own business, Duncan is concerned that the Pelicans forward is having his professional life negatively affected by his off-court decisions. As Duncan observes, Pelicans guard CJ McCollum spoke after the season about prioritizing what he and his teammates “need to do off the court in terms of preparation.”
Nuggets Notes: Gordon, Brown, Murray, Braun, Kamagate
Nuggets stars Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray looked relatively mortal in Game 4 of the NBA Finals on Friday, combining for a series-low 38 points on 13-of-36 (36.1%) shooting as they faced increased attention from Heat defenders.
However, Denver still pulled out a victory thanks in large part to contributions from complementary players like Aaron Gordon and Bruce Brown. Gordon scored a game-high 27 points on 11-of-15 shooting while also dishing six assists. Brown was 8-of-11 from the floor for 21 points. As Ramona Shelburne of ESPN details, Gordon has exceeded the expectations the Nuggets had when they acquired him from Orlando at the 2021 trade deadline.
“We didn’t realize how talented he was,” Nuggets GM Calvin Booth told Shelburne after Game 4. “We didn’t realize what a consummate teammate he was and how willing he was to sacrifice.”
As for Brown, he became the latest reserve guard to play a starring role for the Nuggets on the road in this series after Christian Braun had an outsized impact in Game 3, writes Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today. As with Gordon, the Nuggets knew they were getting a good player when they signed Brown in free agency last summer, but he has been even better than they hoped.
“Can I say that I envisioned him scoring 11 points (in the fourth quarter) on the road in Game 4 of the Finals?” head coach Michael Malone said on Friday. “I can’t say that. But I did envision him being a ball-handler, a play-maker.”
Here’s more on the Nuggets:
- A floor burn suffered in the Nuggets’ Game 3 win didn’t have a major impact on Murray, whose increase in production from the regular season to the playoffs puts him in rare company, according to John Hollinger of The Athletic. As Hollinger details, no player in NBA history has a bigger gap than Murray between his career regular PER (16.4) and his mark in the postseason (22.3).
- Nick Kosmider of The Athletic explores why Braun is such an ideal fit in the backcourt next to Murray. The rookie is poised to take on a larger role in the Nuggets’ rotation next season and beyond, especially if the team is unable to re-sign Brown.
- Having agreed to acquire a 2024 first-round pick from the Thunder, the Nuggets may use that selection – or their own 2024 first-rounder – in an effort to move up in this year’s draft, a source tells Mike Singer of The Denver Post. The Nuggets own the No. 40 pick in 2023 and are also acquiring No. 37 in the deal with Oklahoma City, so they should have more than enough ammo to move into the first round if they’re willing to move a 2024 first-round pick.
- French big man Ismael Kamagate, the 46th overall pick in the 2022 draft, will likely remain in Europe for at least one more year, sources tell Harrison Wind of DNVR Sports (Twitter link). Kamagate was drafted by the Nuggets last June but remained with Paris Basketball for the 2022/23 season. Denver “really likes” the 22-year-old, according to Wind, but wants to be patient with his development.
Pistons Rumors: Burks, Grant, Johnson, Bogdanovic, Frontcourt, More
The Pistons are expected to pick up their $10.5MM team option on veteran swingman Alec Burks for the 2023/24 season, Michael Scotto said during the latest episode of The HoopsHype podcast. However, Scotto’s guest James L. Edwards of The Athletic believes Detroit will be in the market for at least one more three-and-D wing in free agency, naming Jerami Grant and Cameron Johnson as potential targets.
If the Trail Blazers hang onto Damian Lillard and continue trying to contend immediately, Grant may simply re-sign in Portland. But if the Blazers pivot to a rebuild, the Pistons should be considered a prime suitor for the veteran forward, according to Edwards, who notes that Grant still has a great relationship with general manager Troy Weaver and loves the city of Detroit.
Should the Pistons strike out on top-tier targets like Grant and Johnson, they could pursue lower-level free agents such as Torrey Craig and Yuta Watanabe, per Edwards.
Here’s more on the Pistons:
- Scotto has heard that the Pistons still consider Bojan Bogdanovic a core piece, and Edwards agrees that the team seems to want to keep him rather than move him. Still, Edwards notes that if the team makes a big addition at forward (such as Grant or Johnson) and gets a good offer for Bogdanovic, a trade isn’t out of the question.
- Scotto has spoken to rival executives who think the addition of James Wiseman to a frontcourt that also includes Jalen Duren and Marvin Bagley III could land Isaiah Stewart on the trade block. Edwards is skeptical though, suggesting that the Pistons saw an opportunity to roll the dice on Wiseman and still like the big men they’ve drafted. “As someone who’s on the ground floor, I think the situation has been misinterpreted a little bit,” Edwards told Scotto. “I think it’s far more likely that Duren and Stewart are the frontcourt. I think Wiseman was a guy they had a chance to get that they liked coming into his draft and see if they could unlock some potential as a backup big or starting big. Right now, it’s Duren and Stewart’s frontcourt job.” Stewart is more likely to be extended than traded this summer, Edwards adds.
- Killian Hayes is open to signing a rookie scale extension with Detroit this offseason, according to Scotto. Edwards expects the Pistons to hold off on a new deal though, suggesting the team will wait another year and then evaluate Hayes’ situation in 2024, when he’s eligible for restricted free agency.
- Before the Pistons made a last-minute push to hire Monty Williams as their head coach, they were preparing to offer the job to Charles Lee. “His second interview really sealed that home for a lot of people, everyone in the front office, until they sat down as a group, I’m told, and explored and made sure this was what they wanted to do,” Edwards said. “The owner brought up bringing one more run at Monty. They make the run, break the bank, and Monty is the coach.”
And-Ones: Hard Cap, New CBA, All-Star Game, Top FAs
NBA teams become hard-capped at the tax apron when they either acquire a player via sign-and-trade, use more than the taxpayer portion of the mid-level exception, or use the bi-annual exception. According to Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report (Twitter link), there will be a fourth way that clubs can hard-cap themselves next season — they won’t be able to spend above the first tax apron if they take back more than 110% of the salary they send out in a trade during the 2023/24 league year.
In a full story for Bleacher Report, Pincus takes a more comprehensive look at which teams will be most impacted by the increased spending restrictions that will be implemented starting next season as a result of the new Collective Bargaining Agreement.
While it’s no surprise that the Warriors and Clippers will be among the clubs most adversely impacted, Pincus also names the Hawks, Pelicans, and Heat that will have to be careful about their team salaries going forward. A Pelicans team source tells Bleacher Report that there’s “a zero percent chance” New Orleans will be able to keep its entire core intact through 2025/26, with young players like Trey Murphy, Herbert Jones, and Jose Alvarado due for raises in the coming years.
Here are more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- Appearing on NBA Countdown on ESPN prior to Game 3 of the Finals (YouTube link), commissioner Adam Silver didn’t close the door on the possibility of the league pitting a U.S. team against an international team in the All-Star Game down the road. As Silver explained, the NBA has historically shied away from that idea due to the imbalance in the two player pools, but the recent success enjoyed by international stars has put it back on the league’s radar.
- John Hollinger of The Athletic ranks the top 25 free agents of 2023 using his BORD$ formula, with Kyrie Irving, James Harden, and Fred VanVleet leading the way.
- The NBA is considering using technology to automate out-of-bounds and goaltending calls late in games and will test that technology in this July’s summer leagues, NBA president of basketball operations Byron Spruell confirmed this week (link via Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com). Spruell added that the league hopes to eventually have its referees focusing more on subjective rulings than the objective ones that could become automated.