Grizzlies’ Pippen, Heat’s Gardner Ejected After Scuffle
Grizzlies guard Scotty Pippen Jr. and Heat forward Myron Gardner were ejected from Saturday’s game in Miami after a brief scuffle between the two players late in the fourth quarter of the Heat’s victory, writes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald.
The incident appeared to start when the two were jockeying for rebounding position on a Simone Fontecchio three-point attempt (Twitter video link). Gardner gave Pippen a shoulder check and gained inside position near the rim, and after Gardner jumped up for the offensive rebound, Pippen pulled him down to the court.
Memphis had a transition opportunity with Gardner trailing the play, and Pippen made an open three. He briefly backpedaled after the shot and Gardner bumped him from behind, knocking Pippen down.
Pippen got up and jogged to opposite corner of the court where Gardner was standing. He pointed at Gardner and pushed him, and the two fell to the court near the baseline. Several players and coaches quickly ran over, and Pippen and Gardner were eventually separated. Both players were ejected for fighting.
“I thought it was kind of a cheap shot,” Pippen said. “He kind of hit me from when I didn’t see him. So I thought it was a soft move.”
Pippen said he didn’t think he deserved a suspension for his role in the altercation, according to Chiang.
“I don’t think any punches or anything were thrown,” he said. “I think it was, like I said, a hug. I don’t think it was too crazy. I got ejected. I think it should be left at that, but we’ll see.”
Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra showed support for Gardner, a rookie who was recently promoted to a three-year standard contract.
“His greatest strength is this unbridled intensity and effort and energy, and his heart is in a great place, and he’s wired like us competitively,” Spoelstra said, per Chiang. “So you add that type of intensity to this competitive will that will boil over at times. I don’t want to take away from that competitiveness.
“We love Myron. I don’t know what happened on the three-point shot. I just saw Pippen fall. I haven’t seen the replay on that one. I just saw the play after that, and that looked like it was 95 percent Pippen. But let’s just see what it is. I love Myron regardless.”
Heat Notes: Herro, Larsson, Mitchell, Jovic, Smith, Jakucionis
Heat guard Tyler Herro made a triumphant return in Friday’s victory at Atlanta, per Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. The 2025 All-Star scored a game-high 24 points (on 9-of-14 shooting) in 23 minutes off the bench. He also contributed four rebounds, three assists and a steal.
Head coach Erik Spoelstra indicated that Herro’s reserve role isn’t necessarily permanent, though he was noncommittal about when the 26-year-old might return to the starting lineup.
“Right now we’re just trying to get him out there,” Spoelstra said. “We are going to manage the minutes. I’m not overthinking it, I’m not putting anything in cement, I don’t have a timeline for anything. We’re how many ever games into the season right now and we finally have our full roster. We’re just going to try to maximize these next 25 games as much as possible and we just want everybody just to pour into the team, pour into the role, don’t overthink things at this point.”
Herro had missed Miami’s last 15 games due after fracturing three ribs last month. He wore a flak jacket on Friday and said he’s focused on finishing out the year strong after making just 12 appearances thus far in 2025/26, Chiang writes.
“I just want to get out here and play with the whole team, get comfortable, and just stack some healthy games together,” said Herro, who will be extension-eligible this offseason. “Just try to play a stretch of games where I’m healthy. That’s all that’s on my mind.”
Here’s more from Miami:
- Pelle Larsson has been starting in place of Herro and the second-year Heat wing continued to play well on Friday, Chiang writes in another story. Over his last 14 appearances (28.4 MPG), all starts, Larsson has averaged 12.8 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 3.5 APG and 0.9 SPG on .567/.300/.791 shooting. “He’s the glue that really can help maximize lineups,” Spoelstra said of Larsson. “Whenever he’s been with that starting unit, it’s been incredibly dynamic. He does all the little things that aren’t seen or not really noticed on the outside, but we notice it. The cuts, the movement, taking charges, running the floor, just moving the basketball, being a ball mover, allowing the scorers to just focus on their strengths.”
- Starting point guard Davion Mitchell is listed as doubtful for Saturday’s game vs. Memphis due to an illness, according to Chiang (Twitter link). Forward Nikola Jovic (low back tightness) and reserve guard Dru Smith (left calf soreness) are questionable to suit up. Mitchell played 27 minutes last night, but Jovic and Smith were out of the rotation, only receiving three garbage-time minutes apiece. Herro (ribs) and Norman Powell (illness) are probable to play on the second of a back-to-back.
- In a Q&A with Cyro Asseo of HoopsHype, first-round pick Kasparas Jakucionis discusses adjusting to the NBA, finding his rhythm in the G League at the beginning of the season, learning from veterans like Mitchell, and more. “Yeah, it’s amazing,” the rookie guard said of the team’s culture. “It’s very similar to how I think things should be in basketball or in life: working hard and trying to win every time. Being together, being hungry every time you step on the court, diving for loose balls, and paying attention to little details. I think that’s what makes the difference.”
Heat Notes: Herro, Jovic, Gardner, Keels
After taking part in practice on Thursday, Heat guard Tyler Herro spoke to the media for the first time in several weeks and confirmed a report that he fractured three ribs last month, as Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald writes.
“There’s not too much discomfort anymore compared to where I was three or four weeks ago,” Herro said. “I couldn’t even get out of bed. It was crazy. There was nothing I could magically do to fix my ribs. I had three fractured ribs. My ribs were in a lot of pain. Doing normal lifestyle things, I couldn’t do. There was no way I could play basketball. I can fully move how I’m supposed to now. Just focused on staying healthy the rest of the season.”
After missing Miami’s past 15 games, Herro will make his return on Friday in Atlanta, having been upgraded to available for the divisional matchup with the Hawks. In fact, the Heat’s roster will be as healthy as it’s been all season, with only Terry Rozier and a pair of two-way players listed as out on the injury report because they’re not with their team.
Of course, describing Herro as fully “healthy” might be a stretch. Although he’s ready to play, he’ll be wearing an NFL-style flak jacket under his jersey in his first game back to protect his ribs, per Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel (subscription required).
“They had like a sewing person come in and sew a whole new pad in for me,” Herro said. “So I got quite the flak jacket. I look like a football player almost out there. So I’m going to see how it goes, try to feel it out a little bit. Ultimately, just want to feel safe. Hopefully I just don’t get hit there and we’ll be good. But yeah, I’ll be protected.”
Here’s more on the Heat as they prepare to embark on their post-All-Star schedule:
- While Miami will be focused on securing a top-six postseason seed in the Eastern Conference over the season’s final two months, there will be plenty of other Heat-related stories to watch in the coming weeks, Jackson writes for The Miami Herald. Those subplots include Herro and Norman Powell making their case for offseason extensions and the Heat evaluating whether Nikola Jovic, whose four-year, $62MM rookie scale extension goes into effect in July, can be relied on as a rotation player heading into next season.
- Rookie wing Myron Gardner, who signed a new three-year contract with the Heat this week after spending most of the season on a two-way deal, referred to the promotion as a “dream come true.” Head coach Erik Spoelstra says he’s earned it, per Adam Lichtenstein of The Sun Sentinel (subscription required). “He had to do it the hard way,” Spoelstra said. “We wanted to take a look at him this summer. And then in the summer there were some intriguing things, and preseason was a little bit up and down. And then he just continued to work, and every opportunity he had, either in practice and then eventually in the games, he just made us watch him. And you couldn’t not notice his energy. I mean, it’s relentless, whether he’s just crashing the glass or crashing into people. And it just intrigued us to be able to say, all right, can we develop the fundamentals and the details to be able to harness some of that energy and direct it in a positive way? And he’s been able to do that.”
- With Gardner promoted to the 15-man roster, the Heat’s next developmental project is Trevor Keels, who was signed to a two-way contract to take Gardner’s old spot. Spoelstra raved about the guard’s offensive ability, referring to him as a “sniper,” and suggested he’s committed to improving defensively too. “He has made improvement, and we want to invest more resources and time into that development,” the Heat coach said, according to Jackson. “(He) still has a way to go in terms of getting in Miami Heat shape, but he’s come a long way.”
- Davion Mitchell, Dru Smith, and Kasparas Jakucionis aren’t stars, but the Heat’s point guards all “bring something different” and are “really important to our team,” Spoelstra said on Friday. Writing for the Sun Sentinel (subscription required), Winderman explores the strengths of each player and considers whether there will be room for all of them in the rotation with Herro back.
Contract Details: Gardner, Highsmith, Houstan, Jones, Two-Ways
Heat swingman Myron Gardner will receive a minimum salary ($395,029) for the rest of the 2025/26 season after being promoted from his two-way contract. However, Miami had to use a portion of its non-taxpayer mid-level exception in order to complete his deal, since it includes two additional years beyond this season.
Gardner’s second year features a partial guarantee of $500K, and he’ll receive his full minimum salary of $2,150,917 for 2026/27 if he remains under contract through January 7 next year, Hoops Rumors has learned. The third year of the deal is fully non-guaranteed, but the Miami wing would receive his full $2,525,901 salary if he isn’t waived on or before July 15, 2027.
Here are a few more details on the contracts recently completed around the NBA:
- Haywood Highsmith‘s two-year, minimum-salary contract with the Suns includes a $1MM partial guarantee for 2026/27, per Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link). It also features language protecting the team in the event that the veteran wing re-injures his surgically repaired right knee, Hoops Rumors has learned.
- As expected, both Caleb Houstan of the Hawks and Spencer Jones of the Nuggets were unilaterally converted from their two-way contracts to rest-of-season, minimum-salary contracts rather than negotiating new deals. Houstan will be an unrestricted free agent at season’s end, while Jones will be eligible for restricted free agency.
- The two-way contracts recently signed by Tyrese Martin (Sixers), Trevor Keels (Heat), and Jeenathan Williams (Warriors) are each for one year, while Riley Minix‘s new two-way deal with the Cavaliers will cover two seasons, Hoops Rumors has learned.
Southeast Notes: Herro, Kuminga, Wagner, Ball
Heat guard Tyler Herro has been sidelined since January 15 due to what the team referred to as a rib injury. According to Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald, Herro suffered a buckle rib fracture affecting three ribs during a January 10 game in Indiana. He was able to play for three more games after that, receiving Toradol shots to treat his pain, but an MRI revealed the extent of the injury, prompting the club to shut him down for several weeks.
Herro’s time on the inactive list appears to be nearing an end, however. He’s expected to practice on Thursday and return to game action at some point in the coming days, assuming he doesn’t experience any setbacks, Chiang writes.
Injuries have been an issue all season long for Herro, who has been limited to just 11 outings. He has looked like his usual self when he’s been available, averaging 21.9 points in 31.7 minutes per game, with a .497/.358/.902 shooting line.
As Chiang observes, the former All-Star should provide a boost for an offense that has struggled following a strong start to the season. Miami ranks just 22nd in the NBA in offensive rating since December 5, with Herro appearing in just six games during that stretch.
We have more from around the Southeast:
- Recently acquired Hawks forward Jonathan Kuminga isn’t yet ready to suit up for his new team — Atlanta announced on Wednesday (via Twitter) that Kuminga will be reevaluated in one week as he continues to rehabilitate a left knee bone bruise. Still, Ken Sugiura of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (subscription required) is intrigued by what the former seventh overall pick could bring to the team once he’s healthy, suggesting that the transition-oriented style favored by Jalen Johnson, Dyson Daniels, and Nickeil Alexander-Walker could be a good match for Kuminga’s skill set.
- Magic forward Paolo Banchero said on Wednesday that it’s “unfortunate” teammate Franz Wagner is facing another extended absence due to a troublesome ankle issue, but he stressed that he doesn’t want Wagner coming back “before he’s ready.” As Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel writes (subscription required), head coach Jamahl Mosley echoed that message. “It’s so important — his ability to get it all the way right where he’s not trying to be in, then out, and then the soreness continues to get to him,” Mosley said. “Just making sure it’s right … It’s the long haul for him. It’s the long part of his career that we’re looking at more than anything.”
- Hornets star LaMelo Ball was involved in a car accident in uptown Charlotte on Wednesday afternoon, but he wasn’t injured, according to a report from Joe Marusak, Alex Zietlow, and Rod Boone of The Charlotte Observer. Witnesses described Ball’s camouflage Hummer crashing into a silver sedan in the middle of an intersection and said he eventually exited his car and was escorted into another car.
Heat Sign Trevor Keels To Two-Way Contract
The Heat have signed guard Trevor Keels to a two-way contract, the team announced today in a press release. Keels will slide into the two-way slot that opened up when Miami promoted Myron Gardner to its 15-man roster earlier in the day.
A former Duke guard who appeared in three games for New York during the 2022/23 season, Keels has been playing in the G League for the last few years, spending time with the Westchester Knicks, the Iowa Wolves, and – most recently – the Sioux Falls Skyforce, Miami’s affiliate.
In 35 games for Sioux Falls this season, Keels has scored 18.5 points per game on .453/.400/.731 shooting while also contributing 3.4 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 1.2 steals in 32.5 minutes per contest.
Although Keels has yet to establish himself as an NBA player, he’s still just 22 years old and has multiple years of two-way eligibility remaining, so he should have an opportunity to stick with the Heat as a developmental player if he has a strong finish to this season.
The Heat will be able to have Keels active for up to 16 regular season games going forward.
Heat Sign Myron Gardner To Three-Year Deal
The Heat have filled the open spot on their 15-man roster by promoting swingman Myron Gardner from his two-way contract, the team confirmed today in a press release. Gardner and the Heat reached an agreement on a three-year contract, agent Jake Cohen tells NBA insider Chris Haynes (Twitter link).
The deal won’t be guaranteed beyond this season, according to Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald (Twitter link). Chiang describes the second- and third-year guarantees as “conditional,” which suggests Gardner will have to remain under contract through certain dates to receive his full salary for those seasons.
Gardner, who went undrafted out of Arkansas-Little Rock in 2023, spent two seasons with the Osceola Magic in the G League before signing a two-way contract with Miami last July.
The 6’6″ wing barely played for the Heat through the first two months of the season, but has seen more action since the start of January and has recently been thrust into a starting role. In his last seven games before the All-Star break, Gardner made four starts and averaged 7.0 points and 6.0 rebounds in 17.7 minutes per night, with a .474/.444/.714 shooting line.
As Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel observes, while the Heat have a full 15-man roster, they still have enough room below the luxury tax line to bring in another free agent at some point in the coming weeks if they want to. In that scenario, Terry Rozier would be the obvious candidate to be cut.
Miami will have until March 4 to sign a two-way player to fill the opening created by Gardner’s promotion.
Southeast Notes: Hawks, Heat, J. Young, Magic
An NBA scout who had been bearish on the Hawks‘ ceiling with Trae Young as their centerpiece tells Ken Sugiura of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (subscription required) that he liked the fact the team “picked a path” ahead of the trade deadline. After dealing Young to Washington for CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert, Atlanta made four additional deals, adding Jonathan Kuminga, Buddy Hield, Gabe Vincent, and Jock Landale as well as three future second-round picks.
“I think they’re going all in on chemistry over absolute talent,” the scout told Sugiura. “Trae was a better player than what they had, but not necessarily a winning player. … You either have to go all in and build around Trae or you’ve got to go all in with the young guys and start to build it together, and it looks like they’ve done that. They’ve made sure that almost everyone they’ve brought in has been a shooting piece, except for Kuminga.”
Besides generating some extra cap flexibility, taking a shot on a former lottery pick in Kuminga, and adding a few minor draft assets, the Hawks have positioned themselves to continue adding talent. That effort will begin with the valuable 2026 first-round pick Atlanta controls, which will be the most favorable of the Bucks’ and Pelicans’ selections.
The scout who spoke to Sugiura said the Hawks are set up for “long-term growth” and suggested there are multiple spots on the roster that the front office could look to address this summer.
“You could argue that they could upgrade at center over (Onyeka) Okongwu or they could keep it as is and try to get an upgrade over (Zaccharie) Risacher, with, like, a big, long defensive three-and-D (wing) that kind of makes sense for their group,” the scout said. “But I think they could go either direction there. And they’ll have to rebuild a little bit of the bench in the offseason.”
We have more from around the Southeast:
- The Heat are typically active on the buyout market, but that may not be the case this year, according to Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald, who says the team wants to make sure it has enough meaningful minutes to go around for its young players in the final two months of the season. That was also one reason why Miami stood pat at the trade deadline after striking out on Giannis Antetokounmpo instead of seeking out a marginal upgrade that would have cut into the playing time for those youngsters, Chiang adds.
- Jahmir Young, who is on a two-way contract with the Heat, may not be one of those younger players who sees regular action in the second half of the season — he has logged just 44 total minutes in eight NBA games so far this season. Still, as Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel details (subscription required), Young has exceeded the team’s expectations with his excellent performance for the Sioux Falls Skyforce in the G League (26.2 PPG, 8.9 APG, 5.3 RPG in 22 games). “Jahmir has been one of the better surprises of the season,” head coach Erik Spoelstra said. “He’s been playing simply fantastic basketball in Sioux Falls. And then whenever we have an opportunity to see him, he’s just a handful because he’s going full speed. … Our guys are always telling him (in practice), ‘Hey, dial it back a little bit,’ and we’re always telling him, ‘No, be who you are. Be a total nightmare to guard.'”
- Within an analysis of the first half of the Magic‘s season and a look at what’s to come after the All-Star break, Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel (subscription required) observes that the team still has an open spot on its 15-man roster after signing Jevon Carter earlier this month. Orlando figures to wait until sometime in March (or April) to fill that opening in order to remain below the luxury tax line, per Beede, who identifies two-way player Jamal Cain as a candidate for a promotion.
Lakers Rumors: Doncic, LeBron, Offseason Targets, Giannis
It was a relatively quiet trade deadline for the Lakers, who were linked to a myriad of potential targets but ended up making just one relatively minor deal, sending Gabe Vincent and a second-round pick to Atlanta for Luke Kennard. As Dave McMenamin of ESPN writes, general manager Rob Pelinka described the Lakers as being “aggressive” at the deadline while using a nontraditional definition of the term.
“One form of being aggressive is saying no to moves that come your way that might not be best for the short- and long-term future,” Pelinka said. “That’s like being aggressive, even though you end up doing nothing, because it’s hard to say no sometimes to getting a good player that could be a quick short-term fix, but could have implications for the long term where it doesn’t fit into the overall vision you have for the team.”
A source close to Luka Doncic tells ESPN that the All-Star guard supported the team’s focus on the “long-term picture” at the trade deadline. That “adherence to discipline” at the deadline could lead to an eventful summer, according to McMenamin, who notes that the club preserved its most valuable trade assets and its future cap flexibility and is in position to create more than $50MM in cap room even if Deandre Ayton and Marcus Smart pick up their respective player options.
Here’s more from McMenamin on the Lakers’ plans going forward:
- That $50MM+ cap projection doesn’t account for LeBron James, but if he wants to continue his career in 2026/27, the Lakers would welcome him back, sources tell McMenamin. Pelinka has said before that he’d love for James to retire as a Laker, and that would apply in 2027, not just 2026, McMenamin writes. Still, one Eastern Conference executive who spoke to ESPN believes it would be in the team’s best long-term interests to move on from LeBron and focus on building around Doncic this offseason. “Let him walk and use the space to retool around Luka,” that exec said. “Keeping (Austin) Reaves is critical. (Doncic) plays best with another ball handler/creator like with Kyrie (Irving) and (Jalen) Brunson.”
- Heat forward Andrew Wiggins and Rockets wing Tari Eason are among the potential 2026 free agent targets the Lakers have discussed internally, per McMenamin, though it remains to be seen if either will actually be available — Wiggins holds a 2026/27 player option, while Eason will be a restricted free agent. Peyton Watson is another player the Lakers have on their radar, since the cap-strapped Nuggets would have to shed salary or go into second-apron territory to match an aggressive offer sheet for the RFA-to-be. “We felt like creating optionality or having optionality now is really a positive thing for us this coming offseason,” Pelinka said earlier this month. “Because there’s some teams that maybe have gotten too deep into the aprons. And I think players, we see around the league, become available when teams get in that position.”
- One rival front office member who spoke to ESPN suggested the Lakers need to “get as many defenders with length that can knock down a shot as possible.” Tobias Harris, Quentin Grimes, and Dean Wade are among the other players who fit that bill and who will be unrestricted free agents in 2026, McMenamin notes.
- Of course, while the Lakers would like to add quality role players to complement Doncic, they also believe they could be among the top suitors for Giannis Antetokounmpo if the Bucks explore moving the star forward again this summer, team sources tell McMenamin. Los Angeles will have the ability to trade up to three first-round picks (2026, 2031, and 2033) in the offseason and one Western Conference executive told ESPN that he thinks Giannis is the “big prize” the club has its eye on.
All-Star Notes: Richardson, Curry, Brown, Johnson
Jase Richardson says that he’s okay after suffering a bad fall while representing the Magic for the 2026 Dunk Contest.
“I’m good,” he said, per Jason Beede of the Orlando Sentinel. “I tried to go do a little 360 off the side of the glass, (but) my arm got caught on the side of the backboard.”
Richardson was eliminated in the first round after his backup dunk was given a 43.4 composite score.
“After taking a fall like that, I just had to move on from that dunk,” Richardson said. “It is what it is.”
Richardson took to social media after the contest to share a clip of how he intended the uncompleted dunk to look (Twitter video link).
Richardson had turned to his father, two-time Dunk Contest champion Jason Richardson, to help with his preparation for the event, Kurt Helin writes for NBC Sports, though Jase resisted wearing his father’s jersey during the event, wanting to forge his own path, according to Beede.
“I just wanted to do the contest and try to make it my own thing instead of everything having to do with my father,” the younger Richardson said.
We have more from around the All-Star festivities:
- Stephen Curry would like to return to the three-point contest next season, writes Taylor Wirth for NBC Sports, especially after Damian Lillard won for a third time this year — the Warriors star only has two three-point championships to his name. “I already scheduled it,” Curry said. “We’re going to bring some people: Me, Dame, I’m going to try and get Klay [Thompson].”
- Jaylen Brown is one player in favor of bringing a 1-on-1 competition to All-Star weekend, per ESPN’s Vincent Goodwill (via Twitter). “I’m actually a big fan,” the Celtics‘ All-Star said. “It’s the purity of the game. I would love to challenge some people here. Like Luka [Doncic], Shai [Gilgeous-Alexander], Donovan [Mitchell]. We could donate to charity. Set it up.” The idea of a 1-on-1 tournament has been a popular discussion topic this weekend following the success of the women’s league Unrivaled’s 1-on-1 tournament, which was won by Aces guard Chelsea Gray.
- Keshad Johnson‘s journey from undrafted player to slam dunk contest champion for the Heat has given him a sense of gratitude, writes Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. “I beat the odds. I made it. I made it into the NBA,” he said. “I dreamed of every year I was watching the NBA dunk contest, I dreamed of being out there, putting on a show for everybody… I learned from all the people that came before me, paying homage to them, and now I’m here.” Johnson said he was just excited to be able to introduce himself to the wider basketball world, both as a dunker and as a person. “Now they know who I am,” he said.