Miami Heat Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Pre-FA Rumors: LeBron, Ayton, Knicks, Kennard, Rozier

June 30th, 2025 at 4:27pm CST by Luke Adams

Despite the fact that Rich Paul‘s statement accompanying LeBron James‘ opt-in on Sunday raised eyebrows around the NBA, that doesn’t mean that there are any active trade talks involving the Lakers star, NBA insider Chris Haynes said during an appearance on NBA TV (Twitter video link).

“(Paul) told me there have been no trade discussions, there have been no trade talks with the Lakers,” Haynes said. “People have been speculating on certain teams that he might be interested in. I’m told all that talk is false. There has been no trade talks.

“… He clearly opted in and he wants to win. He believes the Lakers have what it takes to maximize Luka (Doncic)‘s timeline, but also maximize and prioritize his timeline.”

While trade speculation has run rampant since Paul asserted that James will be closely monitoring the Lakers’ offseason moves, it hasn’t been uncommon over the years for LeBron to publicly or privately put pressure on his teams to upgrade their respective rosters — he never requested a trade in any of those instances. This may simply be a case of him making sure Los Angeles does all it can to build a roster capable of contending in what could be James’ final NBA season.

With free agency set to officially open at the top of the hour, here are a few rumors – about free agents and other topics – from around the NBA:

During his NBA TV spot (Twitter video link), Haynes also said that there’s a “strong possibility” of Deandre Ayton joining the Lakers in free agency. The former No. 1 overall pick gave up $10MM in his buyout agreement with the Trail Blazers, according to Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Twitter link).
After previous reports indicated that Russell Westbrook and Jordan Clarkson are expected to be among the guards on the Knicks‘ radar in free agency, Ian Begley of SNY.tv (Twitter link) says the team’s interest in Westbrook is mutual, while Steve Popper of Newsday (Twitter link) says the same of Clarkson.
In addition to confirming several previously reported teams who have interest in sharpshooter Luke Kennard – including Denver, Atlanta, Houston, and New York – Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link) adds the Clippers, Trail Blazers, and Pistons to the list of suitors for the 29-year-old. Scotto also reiterates, as he reported earlier, that Kennard isn’t expected to return to Memphis.
During a discussion on The Pat McAfee Show about the federal probe into Malik Beasley for gambling allegations, ESPN’s Shams Charania suggested that Heat guard Terry Rozier may be out of the woods in regard to a similar investigation into him. “Terry Rozier, as of right now, has been cleared,” Charania said. “… There’s really nothing active, as of right now, with him.” Since Charania mentioned this in passing rather than explicitly reporting it, we should probably take it with a grain of salt rather than treating it as a formal update, but it sounds like it could be a promising development for Rozier.

Warriors Rumors: Kuminga, Horford, Free Agency

June 30th, 2025 at 2:12pm CST by Luke Adams

Although there have been a few conversations between the two sides, the Warriors and restricted free agent forward Jonathan Kuminga ahead of the official start of free agency on Monday evening, there’s no real traction toward an agreement, according to Anthony Slater of The Athletic.

Jake Fischer and Marc Stein of The Stein Line (Substack link) have published a similar report, writing that Kuminga’s free agency may be a “slow-moving process,” with no immediate resolution expected in the coming hours.

Although the Warriors will have the right of first refusal on Kuminga, giving them the ability to match any offer sheet he signs with another team, the 22-year-old will explore his options in free agency, with the Heat and Bulls still looking like the most likely suitors, league sources tell Slater.

Fischer and Stein also mention Miami and Chicago while also identifying the Kings and Pelicans as two possible teams to watch for Kuminga in sign-and-trade scenarios. While the Warriors are willing to help facilitate a sign-and-trade deal that sends Kuminga elsewhere, that scenario would have to “outweigh the benefits” of simply re-signing Kuminga themselves in order for them to move forward with it, per Fischer and Stein.

Here’s more out of Golden State:

Veteran Celtics center Al Horford is expected to be a top target for the Warriors, league sources tell Fischer and Stein. Slater has heard similar rumblings, writing that “many in the league continue to link” Horford to Golden State. The team’s spending flexibility will hinge in large part on how the Kuminga situation resolves, but the Warriors should have some form of mid-level exception available.
Generally speaking, a stretch center is a top priority for the Warriors, team sources tell Slater. The club will be “on the recruiting trail” when free agency opens on Monday, Slater adds.

Free Agency Notes: Rockets, Ty. Jones, Heat, Raptors, More

June 30th, 2025 at 1:07pm CST by Rory Maher

The Rockets are diligently working secure meetings with Dorian Finney-Smith, Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Luke Kennard when free agency gets underway at 5:00 pm CT, according to Kelly Iko of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Houston is viewed as the frontrunner to land Finney-Smith after the veteran forward declined his $15.4MM player option and didn’t immediately work out a new deal with the Lakers. Marc Stein has reported multiple times that the Rockets are prepared to offer the 32-year-old a four-year deal worth most of the non-taxpayer mid-level exception.

Alexander-Walker, meanwhile, is expected to leave Minnesota after the Timberwolves agreed to lucrative new contracts with Naz Reid and Julius Randle. The Hawks have been rumored as the favorite to acquire the versatile guard, but several teams are said to be interested in his services.

Atlanta is also rumored to have interest in Kennard, who is the third-most accurate three-point shooter in NBA history at 43.8%. He has spent the past two-plus seasons in Memphis, but is expected to leave the Grizzlies in free agency.

Here are a few more free agency-related notes and rumors:

The Knicks could be a suitor for point guard Tyus Jones, per Ian Begley of SNY.tv (Twitter video link). “Tyus Jones is a name that I’m keeping an eye on,” Begley said. “Last summer, there was mutual interest…Jones was even willing to take a pay cut to come to New York. He ended up choosing Phoenix thinking it would be a very good situation for him — didn’t work out, so he’s back on the market.” New York can likely only offer the taxpayer mid-level exception or the veteran’s minimum, Begley notes.
The Magic also expressed prior interest in Tyus Jones and he could be a good fit with Orlando depending on how much money he’s seeking in free agency, according to Josh Robbins of The Athletic. If it’s not Jones, the Magic will likely look to add a different veteran point guard to improve their shooting and offense, Robbins writes.
Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald released a guide for some of the options the Heat could explore in free agency. According to Chiang, guard Dru Smith is expected to return to Miami on a two-way deal after he was issued a two-way qualifying offer, but he has yet to accept that QO. Smith was on the verge of being promoted to a standard contract last season before suffering a torn Achilles tendon in late December.
As of now, Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca expects the Raptors to be “fairly quiet” in free agency (Twitter link). Toronto will likely fill out the end of its roster with minimum-salary deals. A veteran extension for starting center Jakob Poeltl remains a possibility as well, Grange adds.
Zach Kram of ESPN.com lists seven “underrated players” who are about to hit the open market, including Chris Boucher, De’Anthony Melton and Gary Trent Jr.

Hawks Considered Favorites For Nickeil Alexander-Walker

June 30th, 2025 at 7:56am CST by Arthur Hill

Heading into the start of free agency, rival teams view the Hawks as the favorites to land Nickeil Alexander-Walker, likely in a sign-and-trade with the Timberwolves, according to Marc Stein and Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Substack link). This echoes a report on Sunday from Grant Afseth of RG.

Atlanta would be able to absorb Alexander-Walker’s new salary into the $25.3MM traded player exception it created in last summer’s Dejounte Murray deal.

Alexander-Walker is a strong two-way contributor who would bring a valuable element to an emerging Hawks team. The 26-year-old shooting guard is among the league’s top three-and-D players and connected at 38.1% from beyond the arc this season.

His expected move to Atlanta will have ripple effects on at least two other teams, Stein and Fischer add. The Pistons, who have also been considered contenders for Alexander-Walker, will turn their attention to signing Hawks free agent forward Caris LeVert, who had a productive half season off the bench after being acquired from Cleveland in February. Afseth also mentioned Detroit as a potential favorite for in LeVert in the wake of gambling allegations against Malik Beasley.

As Stein and Fischer have reported before, the Kings are working on a deal with Dennis Schröder to take over as their starting point guard. They cite projections that his new contract could approach $30MM over two years, which likely means he would receive the team’s non-taxpayer midlevel exception, which totals up to about $28.9MM over two seasons. Sources tell Stein and Fischer that Sacramento is also in the market for a second point guard to back up Schröder, possibly Russell Westbrook or Malcolm Brogdon.

The Pistons’ pursuit of a shooter to replace Beasley could involve Duncan Robinson, who opted out of his contract with the Heat on Sunday. Sources tell Stein and Fischer that Robinson made his decision with the expectation that he’ll get a longer deal with Miami or that the team will work with him on a sign-and-trade.

Heat’s Duncan Robinson Opting Out Of Contract

June 29th, 2025 at 1:07pm CST by Luke Adams

Heat forward Duncan Robinson is opting out of his contract for 2025/26 in order to become an unrestricted free agent, according to Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link), who says the veteran sharpshooter will work with the team to either figure out a new deal or accommodate a move elsewhere.

Robinson held an early termination option ahead of the ’25/26 season rather than a traditional player option. They have similar functions, but in order to become a free agent, Robinson will technically exercise the option to terminate his contract early, rather than declining that option and playing out his contract. If it were a traditional player option, exercising it would mean opting in.

Had Robinson opted into the final year of his deal, his $19.9MM salary for ’25/26 would have become partially guaranteed for $9.9MM, which would have forced Miami to decide whether to guarantee his remaining $10MM or waive him in order to create $10MM in savings.

Now that Robinson has opted out, he’s not guaranteed any of that money. But he the Heat could potentially work out a multiyear deal that features a more team-friendly cap hit and ensures that the 31-year-old still earns that $9.9MM — and then some.

The possibility of a new three-year deal to keep Robinson in Miami is one idea that has been floated, tweets Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press.

One of the NBA’s best three-point shooters, Robinson has fired up 7.2 attempts per game from beyond the arc in 423 regular season appearances and has knocked down 39.7% of them. In 2024/25, he averaged 11.0 points, 2.4 assists, and 2.3 rebounds in 24.1 minutes per game, with a shooting line of .437/.393/.887, across 74 outings (37 starts).

As Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald tweets, Robinson’s decision takes the Heat from $8MM over the projected luxury tax line to $12MM below it. That gives the team enough breathing room below the tax to either bring back the forward on a new contract or perhaps add a replacement via trade/sign-and-trade or the mid-level exception.

Fischer’s Latest: Yabusele, Kornet, Lopez, Hornets, Wolves, D. Robinson

June 28th, 2025 at 9:54pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Spurs weren’t successful in their attempt to trade for Kristaps Porzingis, who was ultimately sent from Boston to Atlanta, but they remain active in their pursuit of another big man, sources tell Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Substack link).

Fischer echoes a recent report from Michael Scotto of HoopsHype that San Antonio is eyeing Guerschon Yabusele. “Multiple well-placed observers” tell Fischer that the Spurs are viewed as the biggest threat to sign Yabusele, but he hears that the Sixers haven’t given up hopes of keeping him. Fischer notes that San Antonio has a powerful recruiting tool in Victor Wembanyama, Yabusele’s teammate on the French Olympic team. Fischer mentions the Bucks as another team that could make a play for Yabusele.

Yabusele outperformed his contract after returning to the NBA on a one-year, minimum-salary deal following last year’s Summer Games. He became a reliable front court anchor during an injury-plagued season for Philadelphia.

Celtics backup center Luke Kornet could be another Spurs target, Fischer adds.

Fischer shares more inside information from around the league:

The Bucks could be losing their starting center, as Brook Lopez returns to free agency after getting strong interest from San Antonio and Houston two years ago. Sources tell Fischer that the Lakers are expected to pursue Lopez to fill their vacancy in the middle, and he adds that even if L.A. winds up with another option such as Clint Capela, there’s a belief that Lopez plans to leave Milwaukee.
Point guards are likely to draw interest on the market beyond teams such as the Kings, Mavericks and Clippers that have obvious needs. Fischer hears that the Hornets are searching for a veteran to back up LaMelo Ball, who has been plagued by injury issues for most of his career and appeared in just 47 games this season. Fischer adds that the Timberwolves are expected to explore trade and free agency options to improve their backcourt, as it appears Nickeil Alexander-Walker is likely to leave in free agency.
The Heat are awaiting Duncan Robinson‘s decision on his early termination option, which is due by Sunday. Robinson is set to make $19.888MM next season, but only $9.9MM of that is guaranteed. If he opts in, Miami will have 48 hours to waive him after the moratorium ends on July 6 to avoid paying the full amount. Fischer points out that Robinson’s name has been mentioned in several trade rumors over the years, including the Heat’s recent pursuit of Kevin Durant.

Free Agent Rumors: Kuminga, Heat, GPII, Portis, Jones, Bulls

June 28th, 2025 at 7:40pm CST by Luke Adams

The Heat‘s interest in Warriors restricted free agent Jonathan Kuminga has been overstated, according to Ethan J. Skolnick of Five Reasons Sports and Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald (Twitter links).

Miami has been mentioned multiple times in recent weeks as one of the teams that could make a play for the 22-year-old forward. However, Jackson says there’s no “active pursuit” from the Heat’s end.

Jackson acknowledges in a follow-up tweet that could change in the coming days or weeks, but it doesn’t sound like Kuminga will be a top priority for Miami when free agency opens on Monday evening.

Here are a few more notes and rumors on free agents from around the NBA:

Veteran guard Gary Payton II appears unlikely to return to the Warriors in free agency, a pair of sources tell Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area (Bluesky link). If Payton walks, Golden State will likely try to add a quality point-of-attack defender to replace him, Poole adds.
Bucks forward/center Bobby Portis and Lakers forward Dorian Finney-Smith are two potential free agents who are generating a “considerable amount of curiosity” around the NBA, according to Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Substack link). Portis ($13.4MM) and Finney-Smith ($15.4MM) both hold player options for the 2025/26 season, but if they decline them in search of multiyear deals, they would be at the top of the mid-level market for frontcourt players, Fischer writes. In a follow-up Substack story, Fischer suggests the Bucks are well positioned to retain Portis, perhaps on a longer-term deal after he declines that option.
Re-signing free agent point guard Tre Jones is a viable possibility for the Bulls, tweets K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Sports Network. As Johnson notes, Billy Donovan and his coaching staff loved what Jones brought to the team in the second half last season, and Chicago’s trade of Lonzo Ball will remove one name from the team’s backcourt depth chart.
Bobby Marks of ESPN takes an in-depth look at where things stand for all 30 teams entering free agency.

Davion Mitchell Re-Signs With Heat On Two-Year Deal

June 28th, 2025 at 12:53pm CST by Luke Adams

July 7: Mitchell has officially re-signed with the Heat, per the transaction log at NBA.com.

June 28: Free agent guard Davion Mitchell intends to re-sign with the Heat, according to Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link), who hears from sources that Mitchell has agreed to a two-year, $24MM contract. The deal will be fully guaranteed, Charania adds.

The ninth overall pick in the 2021 NBA draft, Mitchell spent his first three seasons in Sacramento, where he earned a reputation as a tenacious perimeter defender but struggled to provide value on offense, averaging 7.4 points and 2.8 assists in 20.4 minutes per game across 227 outings, with a .434/.327/.703 shooting line.

However, Mitchell had a solid first half in 2024/25 after being traded from Sacramento to Toronto last summer, then took his game to another level down the stretch following another trade that sent him from the Raptors to the Heat.

The 26-year-old emerged as a full-time starter in Miami, averaging 10.3 points and 5.3 assists per game with a .504/.447/.702 shooting line in 30 regular season contests for the Heat. He was even better in the postseason, making 59.3% of his field goal attempts and 52.0% of his three-pointers with averages of 15.2 PPG and 6.5 APG in six play-in and playoff outings.

Mitchell also played his usual strong defense in 2024/25. As Charania notes (via Twitter), among players to contest at least 500 shots, Mitchell ranked in the top five in opposing field goal percentage as the contesting defender, per ESPN Research.

The Heat issued an $8.74MM qualifying offer to Mitchell earlier this week, making him a restricted free agent. The Heat would have had the right to match any offer sheet he signed with a rival team, but he directly negotiated with Miami instead, opting not to test the market.

Mitchell’s new contract means the Heat will likely have to waive Duncan Robinson or negotiate a new contract with him in order to avoid crossing the luxury tax line, tweets Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald.

Robinson has until Sunday to make a decision on an early termination option worth $19.9MM. If he opts in for 2025/26, his salary would be guaranteed for $9.9MM, so Miami could create $10MM in cap savings by waiving him (or more than that waiving him and using the stretch provision on his partial guarantee).

Mitchell was ranked 27th on our list of this year’s top 50 free agents.

And-Ones: 2025 Draft Grades, 2026 Class, France, Gabriel

June 28th, 2025 at 10:04am CST by Earnest Marshall

Five teams earned ‘A’ grades on Sam Vecenie’s post-draft report card for The Athletic, including four teams who had picks in the top six. The fifth team to earn an A was the Hawks, primarily for landing an unprotected 2026 first-round pick from the Pelicans to drop 10 spots in the middle of the first round.

Another 18 teams earned ‘B-‘ to ‘B+’ grades, meaning they mostly met or exceeded the value expected at their respective draft slots. Multiple clubs who only had second-round picks, like the Cavaliers and Warriors, found themselves in this tier. A few teams who ended up landing players who slid from pre-draft projections also ended up in this group, with the Jazz getting Ace Bailey at No. 5, the Heat landing Kasparas Jakucionis at No. 20 and the Thunder getting Thomas Sorber at No. 15.

That left five teams to earn a mark of ‘C’ or lower from Vecenie (Houston and Denver did not make any selections). The Pelicans were marked down for the haul they gave up to move up from No. 23 to No. 13 and select Derik Queen. The Nets were questioned for making three selections – Egor Demin, Nolan Traore and Ben Saraf – with positional overlap, while the Knicks earned a middling grade for selecting a stash player who may not make it to the league.

We have more from around the basketball world:

The 2026 draft looks to be loaded on paper, with a strong blend of returners who would have been drafted this year and high-level incoming talent. In ESPN’s first full 2026 mock draft, Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo have Darryn Peterson of Kansas as the No. 1 overall pick. A.J. Dybantsa (BYU), Cameron Boozer (Duke), Nate Ament (Tennessee) and Mikel Brown Jr. (Louisville) round out their top five. Among returning college players, Jayden Quaintance (No. 6, Kentucky) and Yaxel Lendeborg (No. 14, Michigan) are the highest-ranking.
Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report‘s top three looks identical to ESPN’s, but he has Arizona’s Koa Peat at No. 4 in his first 2026 mock draft. Another significant difference between the two boards is Baylor wing Tounde Yessoufou‘s spot — Wasserman has him at No. 6, but ESPN places him at No. 23.
France has named its 18-man preliminary roster for EuroBasket 2025, per the team (Twitter link). Bilal Coulibaly, Moussa Diabate, Ousmane Dieng, Zaccharie Risacher, Alex Sarr and Guerschon Yabusele are the current NBA players on the roster. Former NBAers on the team include Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, Frank Ntilikina and Theo Maledon, among others.
Former NBA player Wenyen Gabriel is leaving Panathinaikos to sign with Bayern Munich in Germany, according to Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews. Gabriel played his first EuroLeague season in 2024/25, averaging 6.0 points per game, and will remain in the league by signing with Bayern. The 6’9″ big man played 150 NBA games from 2019-24 across stints with the Lakers, Pelicans, Trail Blazers, Kings and others. He averaged 4.4 PPG and 3.4 RPG for his career.

Southeast Notes: Jakucionis, Ware, Newell, White, Richardson, Penda

June 28th, 2025 at 8:24am CST by Earnest Marshall

New Heat guard Kasparas Jakucionis declined to conduct a pre-draft workout for the Heat because he thought he’d be off the board by the time they picked at No. 20, according to the Miami Herald’s Anthony Chiang. Miami also didn’t think Jakucionis, ranked in the top 10 on several big boards, would be available to them.

“We see tremendous potential with Kas,” Heat vice president of basketball operations and assistant general manager Adam Simon said. “You’re talking about a 6-5 [guard] with a plus-three [pointer], good athlete but with a high IQ. So if you combine all those things with a work ethic, there’s no reason why you can’t mold him into a very good NBA player. I think that’s why we were attracted to take him.”

The 6’5″ guard averaged 15.0 points, 5.7 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game in his first and only season at Illinois. He’ll serve as a lead play-maker and help assert Bam Adebayo and Kel’el Ware as lob threats and roll men. Jakucionis did average 3.7 turnovers per game last year, but the Heat downplayed concerns about that figure.

“Certainly the numbers are higher than you want, but he’s high usage and he’s processing things,” Simon said. “The turnovers were high, certainly. But I think they’re turnovers that you can work with. I think those are correctable, they’re teachable to see the game. But if you just watched all his film, he’s making good reads out there, he’s making plays.”

We have more from the Southeast Division:

The Heat are bullish on the future of Ware and this offseason is reflecting that, Chiang writes in another story. Ware was kept essentially off limits in Kevin Durant trade talks, and Jakucionis has the makings of a long-term running mate for the big man. “We’re excited about his growth, we really are,” franchise legend and current Heat executive Alonzo Mourning said of Ware. “This summer I’ve already seen him getting better in his workouts. He doesn’t have to be here, this is his time off. But that kind of speaks volumes that he has kind of blocked out all of the distractions as a kid.“
Former Georgia forward Asa Newell was ecstatic to land with his hometown Hawks in the draft, per Lauren L. Williams of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “I knew deep in my heart that I really wanted to go to the Hawks, and hearing about the trades, and me and DQ [Derik Queen] basically got traded for each other, it was pretty cool,” Newell said. “So that’s gonna be a fun matchup, for sure. But it was just like, ‘Wow.’ My heart was beating so fast when the camera came to my table, and I just, I was just so happy, especially getting dropped into a great organization.”
Australian forward Jack White, who previously played 21 games in the NBA with the Nuggets and Grizzlies from 2022-24, will work out for the Hawks and play with them in Summer League, according to ESPN’s Olgun Uluc (Twitter link). Uluc writes that an NBA return for White is a possibility.
The Magic drafted Jase Richardson and Noah Penda, targeting two players they valued for their character, Jason Beede of the Orlando Sentinel writes in a subscriber-only story. “The exciting part for us as always, as you guys know, we look for the person before the player, and we feel that these two young guys have our Magic DNA,” president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman said. “They’re about others and that reflects itself on the court.” According to Beede, Penda was disappointed to not hear his name called in the first round but is excited about landing with the Magic, who traded four seconds to move up to get him.