- Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel takes a look at how the NBA’s new CBA will impact the Heat, noting that the team won’t have an amnesty clause available to create another option for Chris Bosh.
- In a conversation with Lang Greene of Basketball Insiders, Derrick Williams explains why he chose the Heat in free agency over the summer.
- The Heat will likely test the trade market for Goran Dragic, but after giving up two first-round picks to acquire him, getting a single pick back in return would essentially be admitting they made a mistake, says Wojnarowski.
[SOURCE LINK]
Heat officials believe Justise Winslow is making progress with his wrist injury, although surgery after the season remains an option, writes Manny Navarro of The Miami Herald. The second-year forward was ruled out indefinitely last month with pain in his left wrist and will miss his 16th consecutive game tonight.
Team doctors have ruled against surgery for now and are hoping the wrist, which is part of his shooting hand, will heal naturally through a rehab program. However, it has been nearly a full month since Winslow has played, and Heat coach Erik Spoelstra was asked tonight about the possibility of an operation once the season ends.
“I think right now all of our hopes are that he won’t need it,” Spoelstra said. “That’s why we went through extensive treatment and rest. And right now it looks like we won’t need to go that route.”
“It’s actually gotten significantly better. It was a sprain. He continued to play with it, continued to reaggravate it and then we shut him down we started the process of healing it and then rehabbing it and then restrengthening it. He’s getting better. He’s doing more court work each day. I would say probably now is when you’re starting to say he’s probably getting pretty close to full contact work on the court.”
Winslow was able to participate in today’s team shootaround, but hasn’t taken part in a full practice since being hurt. He has been wearing a wrist brace when he’s not playing basketball, which Spoelstra said he will probably need to do all season.
“That’s just to stabilize it,” the coach said. “Anybody that’s had wrist issues, you have to wear a brace when you’re not active. And it helps. Any little bit helps. [For Winslow] that’s more precautionary. He doesn’t necessarily need it. It’s already starting to feel a lot better.”
Winslow, a second-team all-rookie selection last year, last played on November 14th and has appeared in just nine games all season. X-rays on the wrist were negative, but the injury clearly affecting his shooting percentage, which has fallen to .336 from the field.
The Heat are about to begin a six-game home stand that could be the last chance for the current group to remain together, writes Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel. The Heat are 7-17 after Saturday’s loss in Chicago, with Justise Winslow, Dion Waiters, James Johnson and Luke Babbitt all left behind in Miami because of injuries. Miami could be in for a shakeup as soon as Thursday, when free agents who signed during the offseason become eligible for trades. “I think once we get our whole team back, once we get healthy, I think that things might start turning around,” said Josh Richardson, who returned to the lineup Saturday after a sprained right ankle. “But we haven’t played in one game this year with our whole roster, so it’s tough.”
There’s more out of Miami:
- Richardson played 26 minutes last night, many of them at point guard as a backup to Goran Dragic, Winderman writes in the same story. The second-year player welcomes the chance to initiate the offense. “I like to think I’m one of the vocal leaders of the team. So when I’m coming down, I like to call plays early and get guys in their spots,” he said. “I’m perfectly comfortable playing it.”
- The Heat are concerned that Josh McRoberts‘ poor play of late makes it less likely that he will opt out of his deal worth more than $6MM for next season, according to Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. McRoberts has been used in just 15 games and is averaging 4.3 points and 3.8 rebounds per night. His shooting percentage of 32.5 is second worst in the league among power forwards. The Heat would have more than $45MM in cap room next summer if McRoberts opts out.
- Waiters may be used as a reserve when his groin injury heals, Jackson writes in the same piece. The Heat have been outscored by 33 points with Waiters and Dragic in the game together, which is the worst plus/minus number for any combination of two starters. They are plus 5 with Dragic and Richardson together.
Things in Miami have changed significantly since Goran Dragic was acquired at the 2015 trade deadline, with Dwyane Wade no longer in the picture and Chris Bosh seemingly on his way out as well. The Heat are in a retooling phase, and the injury woes plaguing the team this season have made it difficult for the new-look roster to gel. Still, Dragic tells Joel Brigham of Basketball Insiders that he remains optimistic about the club’s future.
“This is a young team,” Dragic said. “We have a lot of newer faces than last year, and we just need to find that good chemistry that we had in the preseason. But, it’s kind of hard because with all those injuries, players are out, [so] it’s always a different starting lineup or different players on the floor. Hopefully, that won’t happen in the future.”
Here’s more from Dragic, along with a couple more Heat notes:
- Dragic on Wade’s decision to leave the Heat for the Bulls this past summer: “I was in shock because he was there 13 years. I would never imagine he was going to go somewhere else because, the Miami Heat, everyone knows that was D-Wade’s team. But I understand, this is a part of the business. When that happened, I was talking with him and I wished him all the best in Chicago. He’s a good friend of mine, and it is what it is. We’re all professionals, so we need to do our jobs and I had to embrace a new, bigger role, but I’m fine with that.”
- The Heat had a busy offseason, having been active in free agency, which means next Thursday is a big day for the team, writes Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel. As of that day, December 15, nearly all the players the team signed in the summer will become trade-eligible. Of course, as Winderman notes, Pat Riley has never made a trade in December since taking over as Heat president, so we shouldn’t expect the team to make a move right away — particularly since some potential trade chips are injured at the moment.
- Speaking of injured players, Winderman provides an update on Josh Richardson‘s status in a separate piece for The Sun Sentinel.
Ongoing chemistry issues in Washington could make John Wall a trade candidate, speculates Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel. In a question-and-answer column, the Heat beat writer addresses a reader’s proposal of Wall and Otto Porter for Goran Dragic and Justise Winslow. Winderman cautions that the Wizards might put a greater value on Porter than Winslow, and notes that Miami doesn’t have many draft picks to offer because it still owes two to Phoenix in the deal to acquire Dragic. Even if that trade doesn’t happen, Winderman states that Wall seems unhappy in Washington even after a coaching change that replaced Randy Wittman with Scott Brooks. Wall blasted his teammates for a lack of effort Tuesday after he scored 52 points but the team still lost to Orlando.
- Derrick Williams said he never heard from Jackson during free agency this past summer and Hornacek didn’t reach out to him either, Marc Berman of The New York Post writes. Williams said he expected to at least get an offer from the Knicks, but he’s happy with his decision to sign with the Heat. “I love my time in New York,” Williams said. “Being one of the fan favorites, leaving a place where I felt I could keep getting better, keep growing. But ultimately I feel it was the right decision. It might not seem that way right now. But I’m getting better each day. Even though I may not be on the court right now, this is for the second half of the season.”
- Williams said that Heat coach Erik Spoelstra is “by far” the best coach he’s ever had, Berman adds in the same piece. “Really having a coach to teach me the right ways to play defense,” Williams exclaimed. “He really gets you in a defensive mode, with offense second. That’s what I needed in my career.”
Chris Bosh is more likely to attempt a comeback next season than he is this year, a source tells Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. Bosh has not played at all this season because of blood clot issues and the Heat are apparently not expecting him to play for the team again.
“We are not working toward his return. We feel that, based on the last exam, that his Heat career is probably over, ” team president Pat Riley said back in September.
The Heat are expected to petition for a medical exclusion once they are eligible to do so on February 9, the one-year anniversary of Bosh’s last game. If granted, the team would waive Bosh and the exclusion would wipe the final two seasons of his contract off the team’s salary cap. However, if Bosh makes a comeback and plays more than 24 games over the course of his career, his salary would go back onto Miami’s books.
If Bosh intends to make a comeback next season rather than this year, Miami could ostensibly waive him, receive the exclusion and use the cap space to absorb salary in a trade before the February 23 deadline. Trading for a high priced star would be feasible in this scenario, though Jackson doubts that Miami could make a substantial move, as there is no available perimeter player whom would be considered an ideal fit.
James Johnson is thriving in a reserve role with the Heat, the veteran’s fifth team in eight years, after he chose Miami in free agency following an interesting sales pitch, Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel relays. Erik Spoelstra, Winderman writes, told Johnson, 29, to improve his shape and diet and in return the Heat would be afford him an opportunity to make the most out of his talents. Johnson, known as a solid perimeter defender, is averaging 9.9 points per game, which would be a career-high over the course of a single season.
Here is more out of Miami:
- Hassan Whiteside likes the idea that Pat Riley envisions the offense going through him in a year or two, but he needs to stop turning the ball over as much as has for that to work,” Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald writes.
- Spoelstra will have a decision or two on his hands regarding the starting lineup and minutes when Justise Winslow makes his imminent return, Jackson writes in a seperate story. The coach could opt to have Winslow return to small forward with Josh McRoberts or he can shift Winslow to power forward, Jackson notes. Jackson also floats the idea that Winslow could come off the bench.
The Trail Blazers were Hassan Whiteside‘s second choice in free agency, writes Erik Garcia Gunderson in The Miami Herald. Portland reportedly pursued Whiteside, but didn’t get to meet with him before he re-signed with Miami. The center’s first meeting was with Heat president Pat Riley at midnight July 1st, and the only other team he talked with before making a decision was the Mavericks. “Portland was my second option,” Whiteside said before Saturday’s game with the Blazers. “I would have came here.” The Blazers, who used their cap space to add Evan Turner and Festus Ezeli and to re-sign their own free agents, currently have the worst defensive rating in the league.
There’s more news from Miami:
- Josh McRoberts may have claimed the Heat’s starting power forward role with his play of late, contends Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel. McRoberts has scored in double figures in his last two games and is making a strong push to stay in the starting lineup. That will leave coach Erik Spoelstra with a difficult decision when Justise Winslow is healthy enough to return, Winderman notes, with Winslow possibly being used as a versatile sixth man who can fill in at several positions.
- The Heat may trade some of their free agent additions for draft picks if they slip out of contention, Winderman writes in the same column. James Johnson, Dion Waiters and Wayne Ellington will all be eligible for deals starting December 15th. Because of injures and the fact that the playoffs are still a possibility after a slow start, Winderman doesn’t expect any of the three to be moved right away.
- Johnson’s scoring has been a pleasant surprise for Miami, notes Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. The eighth-year forward has the highest scoring average of his career at 9.9 points per game and is shooting a career-best .344 from 3-point range. Johnson, who was sought mainly for his defense, leads all NBA forwards by holding the players he defends to 33.2 percent from the field. Johnson signed a one-year, $4MM deal and will be a free agent again next summer.