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Hassan Whiteside To Miss Time With Knee Injury

December 1st, 2017 at 11:14am CST by Luke Adams

Having missed the Heat’s game on Wednesday in New York, veteran center Hassan Whiteside appears set to be sidelined for at least another week or two of action. The Heat have issued a press release announcing that Whiteside, diagnosed with a left knee bone bruise, will undergo rehab on that knee over the next “one to two weeks.”

Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra initially downplayed the seriousness of Whiteside’s injury, but the center contradicted his coach’s assessment earlier this week, as Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel detailed. While Whiteside didn’t speculate on whether it has affected his play this season, he said that the bone bruise – which he suffered in the Heat’s regular season opener – had been “really” bothering him since opening night.

“You know, I sat out, I missed them games, I came back, and it’s still bothering me,” Whiteside said. Asked if the pain in his knee is worse when he runs, jumps, or absorbs contact, Whiteside replied, “Everything, man, everything.”

The injury is a concern for the Heat, who are already missing Rodney McGruder and Okaro White, and are off to a 10-11 start this season — they’re 2-4 without Whiteside in their lineup. It’s possible Whiteside will be ready to get back on the court within the next couple weeks, but the 28-year-old says he won’t return until he’s fully healed, as Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald tweets. It’s not clear how long that will take.

In the meantime, Kelly Olynyk and rookie Bam Adebayo should see increased roles, while little-used bigs Jordan Mickey and Udonis Haslem could earn a few minutes too.

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Knee Soreness Continues To Bother Whiteside

November 29th, 2017 at 7:15pm CST by Arthur Hill

The knee soreness that forced Heat center Hassan Whiteside to sit out tonight’s game could become a long-term issue, according to Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel. In a video posted on the newspaper’s web site, Whiteside says the knee has been giving him problems since the season began. “It’s really bothering me, man,” Whiteside said. “We’re going to figure it out. We’re going to figure it out when we get back to Miami and figure out what’s wrong.”

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Latest On Fizdale Firing: Notes, Reactions, More

November 28th, 2017 at 12:35pm CST by Luke Adams

Speaking to reporters today at a press conference, Grizzlies general manager Chris Wallace acknowledged that there was tension between star center Marc Gasol and head coach David Fizdale, and confirmed that was a factor in the team’s decision to fire Fizdale. However, according to Wallace, it wasn’t the overriding factor, as Ronald Tillery of The Memphis Commercial Appeal relays.

“We needed to have a change to try to save the season,” Wallace said. “Looking at where we were headed, there just weren’t a great deal of positive trends. We hope to get a positive reboot.”

Despite ongoing trade speculation, Gasol will be a major part of that “positive reboot,” according to the Grizzlies. New interim head coach J.B. Bickerstaff indicated today that he plans to lean heavily on the club’s three-time All-Star center going forward.

“Marc is one of the leaders of this team,” Bickerstaff said. “We need Marc to play his best basketball. In order for us to be the team we want to be a ton of the that responsibility falls on Marc’s shoulders. We need him to be Marc Gasol.”

Here’s more on Fizdale and the Grizzlies, as the NBA world continues to react to Monday’s news:

  • In the wake of his dismissal, Fizdale issued a magnanimous statement to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN thanking the Grizzlies and the city of Memphis for the opportunity to represent them.
  • The Grizzlies need to come to grips with the fact that the Gasol Era in Memphis is over, argues Chris Mannix of The Vertical. Mannix also passes along a couple more tidbits about the Gasol/Fizdale relationship, along with quotes from Stan Van Gundy, who was “shocked” by the Grizzlies’ decision.
  • Firing Fizdale won’t solve the Grizzlies’ problems, says Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post. Meanwhile, Sam Amick of USA Today writes that Fizdale’s firing reinforces the idea that the NBA is a star-driven league.
  • Fizdale’s ouster doesn’t come as a major surprise to Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders, who tweets that Grizzlies owner Robert Pera tried to fire Dave Joerger three games into his head coaching career. Memphis opened the 2013/14 season – Joerger’s first year – with a 1-2 record.
  • Is a return to Miami the next move for Fizdale? Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra said today that he’d embrace bringing back Fizdale as a consultant. However, having the former Heat assistant return in his previous role isn’t being discussed at the moment, since Fizdale plans to take the rest of the year off from coaching, per Spoelstra (Twitter links via Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel and Andre Fernandez of The Miami Herald).
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Too Much Money Spent On Role Players?

November 27th, 2017 at 9:42pm CST by Dana Gauruder
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Kelly Olynyk Not On Pace To Trigger Minutes Bonus

November 24th, 2017 at 4:43pm CST by Austin Kent
  • At this point in the season, Kelly Olynyk is not projected to hit the 1,700-minute plateau that would trigger an extra $1MM in salary, Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel writes. The big man is averaging 18.5 minutes per game for the Heat so far in 2017/18.
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Offseason Decisions Aren't Working Out

November 22nd, 2017 at 7:24pm CST by Arthur Hill
  • Pat Riley’s decisions to bring back most of last season’s roster and use future cap room on a small number of players aren’t working out so far, writes Manny Navarro of The Miami Herald. Miami is off to a 7-9 start and there are concerns that the current roster doesn’t fit well together. The problems have been particularly acute in the second half of games, where the Heat rank last in the league in scoring, field goal percentage and 3-point shooting. The worst move of the offseason appears to be the four-year, $50 million deal for Kelly Olynyk, who at 18.4 minutes per game is playing less than in any of his four seasons in Boston.
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NBA G League Assignments/Recalls: 11/19/17

November 19th, 2017 at 8:30pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Here are Sunday’s G League assignment and recalls from around the NBA:

8:30pm:

5:02pm:

  • The Lakers have recalled Ivica Zubac and Josh Hart from South Bay Lakers, Mike Bresnahan of Spectrum Sportsnet tweets. In his latest two-game stint with Los Angeles’ G-League affiliate, Zubac averaged 21 points and 10 rebounds per contest.
  • The Knicks have assigned Damyean Dotson to their G-League affiliate, the Westchester Knicks, per the team’s Twitter feed.
  • The Heat have recalled Derrick Walton Jr. from their G-League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce, the team announces via press release. Walton will continue to shuffle back and forth between the two clubs, as he’s on a newly established two-way deal.
  • The Hawks have recalled Nicolas Brussino, Tyler Dorsey, and Miles Plumlee, from the team’s G League affiliate, the Erie BayHawks, according to a team press release.
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Was Kelly Olynyk The Wrong Free Agent For Miami?

November 19th, 2017 at 10:27am CST by Arthur Hill

Rudy Gay might have been a better free agent target for the Heat than Kelly Olynyk, writes Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel. In response to a reader’s question, Winderman notes that Gay was rehabbing from his Achilles injury in Florida and expressed interest in coming to Miami before winding up in San Antonio. Gay got a little more than $17MM over two years, with about $8.8MM of that as a player option for next season. Olynyk received $46MM over four years from the Heat.

Gay would have given Miami a proven alternative at small forward when Rodney McGruder was lost to a left tibia stress fracture. The Heat couldn’t have known in July that McGruder would be unavailable, but Winderman says depth at that position would have been desirable if the plan all along was to move Justise Winslow to power forward. Gay is averaging 11.8 points and 5.3 rebounds through 16 games with the Spurs, while Olynyk is putting up 9.2 points and 5.5 boards in 15 games.

  • In the same piece, Winderman questions whether the Heat will be willing to make another max offer to Hassan Whiteside if he opts out of his current deal after next season. As small-ball continues to spread throughout the league, some teams are re-evaluating the worth of traditional centers. Whiteside will have an early-termination option on his salary of slightly more than $27MM for 2019/20.
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Okaro White Suffers Broken Bone In Foot

November 15th, 2017 at 5:34pm CST by Arthur Hill

Heat forward Okaro White is out indefinitely after breaking a bone in his left foot during Tuesday’s practice, the team announced in a tweet. Surgery is set for Thursday for White, who fractured his fifth metatarsal.

The second-year player has appeared in just six games this season, but started four times in late October and early November. He is averaging 3.3 points and 1.8 rebounds in 13.3 minutes per night.

“It just kills you when you see something like this happen,” said Miami coach Erik Spoelstra. “He’ll be back, he has a lot of resiliency.” (Twitter link)

The Heat still have their $4.3MM room exception available, notes ESPN’s Bobby Marks, but they would have to clear a roster spot to use it (Twitter link). Miami is already missing swingman Rodney McGruder, who had surgery last month on a left tibia stress fracture.

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