Heat Rumors

NBA Announces 2024/25 All-Rookie Teams

The NBA has officially revealed its All-Rookie teams for the 2024/25 season (Twitter links). The First Team is made up the top two picks in the 2024 draft, a pair of Grizzlies, and this season’s Rookie of the Year, while the Second Team is heavy on centers.

A panel of 100 media members selected the All-Rookie teams, with players earning two points for a First Team vote and one point for a Second Team nod. The 10 players who made the cut, along with their corresponding point totals (Twitter link), are as follows:

First Team

Second Team

There are no real surprises on the First Team. Castle was the recipient of this season’s Rookie of the Year and was also the only player to be unanimously selected to the First Team, but fellow Rookie of the Year finalists Risacher and Wells weren’t far behind him. Edey and Sarr played significant roles for their respective teams and also finished in the top five in Rookie of the Year voting.

Among the members of the Second Team, Ware and Buzelis finished sixth and seventh in Rookie of the Year voting, while Missi, Clingan, and Carrington became starters for their respective teams in their first NBA seasons.

Carrington just narrowly edged out Jazz guard Isaiah Collier, who received one First Team vote and 50 Second Team votes for a total of 52 points. Carrington technically showed up on fewer overall ballots, but gained the slight edge because he was selected to the First Team by three voters (he was named to the Second Team by 47).

A total of 23 players showed up on at least one voter’s ballot, with Jazz forward/center Kyle Filipowski, Pistons forward Ron Holland, Lakers forward Dalton Knecht, and Suns wing Ryan Dunn rounding out the top 15 vote-getters — they, along with Collier, would’ve made up a hypothetical All-Rookie Third Team if the league recognized 15 players like it does for All-NBA.

All-Rookie is one of the few awards that doesn’t require players to meet the 65-game minimum and certain minutes-played thresholds. Risacher, Edey, Ware, Buzelis, and Clingan each would have been ineligible for consideration if that rule applied to All-Rookie voting.

Southeast Notes: Larsson, Wiggins, Da Silva, Harris

Pelle Larsson knows he has to become a better shooter to stick around long-term in the NBA. The Heat guard made 33.7 percent of his 3-pointers and shot 43.8 percent overall in 55 regular-season appearances, Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel notes. Larsson’s salary for next season is an economical $1.96MM with a $978K guarantee. The contract becomes fully guaranteed if he makes the opening night roster, which seems like a safe bet.

“I think shooting is always something that you get better at all the time,” he said. “It never hurts to be a better shooter in this league. So definitely keep working on that, and then being more comfortable with the ball in my hands, making decisions and making plays for others is something that I think could have been needed more of this year. So just making plays for others and keep defending at a higher level. I kind of got introduced to how it was. And I think I’ve learned a lot from this year.”

We have more from the Southeast Division:

  • Will Andrew Wiggins turn out to be a midseason rental for the Heat? Winderman believes it’s a 50-50 proposition that the veteran forward will be moved, noting Wiggins’ contract would likely be needed for salary-matching in any significant trade. He’s owed $28.2MM next season and holds a $30.2MM player option for the 2026/27 campaign.
  • Magic wing Tristan Da Silva saw quite a bit of action in his rookie season, Jason Beede of the Orlando Sentinel writes. Da Silva appeared in 74 games, including 38 starts, averaging 7.2 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.5 assists. He remained in the rotation after Franz Wagner recovered from an oblique injury. Da Silva admits the NBA schedule was a shock to his system. “It’s definitely a whole new deal,” he said. “You’ve never played that many games before in your life, traveled that much and been exposed to so many things all at once. So at some point in the season — you can call it a rookie wall or whatever you want — there’s definitely a moment during the season where you feel tired physically and mentally, and the real challenge is digging through that and making sure that you’re coming out on the other end. And that’s what I did with the focus on work and trusting the process.”
  • The Magic hold a $7.5MM club option on Gary Harris‘ contract and there’s a strong chance they’ll decline it, given that Harris’ role shrunk this season and he once again battled injuries. Harris would like to stay in Orlando, he told Beede. “I love Orlando,” Harris said. “My kids love it here. It’s been great to be a part of what we’ve been building here in this city, but you know how the league is. There’s a lot uncertain. You never know what’s going to happen. So all I can do is control what I can, continue to put the work in [and] stay ready for whatever the future may hold. But I definitely love my time here in Orlando, so we’ll see if it continues.”

Suns Narrow Down Coaching Search To Nine Candidates

2:06 pm: Heat assistant Chris Quinn has also moved onto the second stage of Phoenix’s coaching search, reports Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Twitter link).


1:17 pm: The Suns appear to be narrowing down their search for their fourth head coach in as many seasons.

According to veteran NBA insider Chris Haynes (YouTube video link), new Phoenix general manager Brian Gregory has selected eight candidates to advance to the second round of the process. Previous reporting indicated that the Suns had initial conversations with between 15 and 20 candidates.

As Haynes details, that eight-man group consists of Mavericks assistant Sean Sweeney, Suns assistant David Fizdale, Pelicans assistant James Borrego, Cavaliers assistants Johnnie Bryant and Jordan Ott, Nets assistant Steve Hetzel, Timberwolves assistant Micah Nori, and Thunder assistant Dave Bliss.

Among these eight finalists, only Fizdale and Borrego have prior head coaching experience on their resumes.

As Haynes notes, Fizdale previously turned down a head coaching offer from former Suns owner, Robert Sarver, instead accepting an ill-fated gig as the head coach of the Knicks, which lasted just over a year. All told, Fizdale has a cumulative 71-134 regular season record during his stints with the Grizzlies and Knicks. He led Memphis to one playoff berth during his debut season as the team’s head coach.

Borrego was the interim head coach in Orlando for the end of the 2014/15 season, and served as the head coach with Charlotte from 2018-22. He boasts a 148-183 overall regular season record and has yet to lead a team to the playoffs.

Reports earlier this spring indicated that Phoenix would likely be targeting a younger head coach following brief stints with Frank Vogel and Mike Budenholzer at the helm. As Haynes observes, this group of names is consistent with that aim — 51-year-old Nori and 50-year-old Fizdale are the oldest of the eight candidates, most of whom are in their 30s and early 40s.

The Suns brass is hoping their next coach can “build a program from scratch,” according to Haynes, who says the team is emphasizing discipline, accountability, and a philosophical alignment with majority owner Mat Ishbia and the front office. Phoenix is also prioritizing coaching candidates with defensive backgrounds.

A coach who can effectively work with star players is another important consideration, even if the Suns ultimately move on from Kevin Durant, Bradley Beal, and/or even Devin Booker in the near future. According to Haynes, the head coaching decision may have an impact on how the team moves forward with its stars, since it’s possible Budenholzer’s replacement will have a preexisting relationship with one or more of those players or will hit it off quickly with them.

The expectation is that the Suns will eventually reduce their coaching candidate pool from eight candidates to three finalists, reports Marc Stein of The Stein Line (Substack link).

Southeast Notes: Wizards, Heat, Jovic, Harris

The Wizards fell to No. 6 on lottery night after finishing the season with the second-worst record in the league, taking them out of the Cooper Flagg conversation and forcing them to confront a draft picture that’s far less certain to deliver a star.

One option, according to Varun Shankar of the Washington Post is center Derik Queen, who, like last year’s 14th overall pick Bub Carrington, is a Baltimore native. The two even briefly played together in high school, Queen told Shankar (Instagram link). The 6’10” big man has some athletic limitations, but would make for an interesting fit with last year’s number two pick, Alex Sarr.

Egor Demin and Cedric Coward could also potentially be in play for the Wizards, Shankar writes. Demin, a 19-year-old 6’9″ point guard, met with the Wizards during a pre-draft process that has seemingly gone well for him. He struggled with his shot in his lone season at BYU but has impressed scouts with his shooting drills at the NBA combine.

Coward is one of the draft’s big potential risers after playing just six games for Washington State with a shoulder injury and could be under consideration at No. 18. The 6’6″ wing boasts a 7’2″ wingspan and shows promise as both a shooter and a defender, which would fit in with the team’s draft track record, according to Shankar.

Here’s more from around the Southwest division:

  • Wizards owner Ted Leonsis rebukes the idea that his team was tanking this year. “We weren’t tanking. We were developing players. It’s a little different than maybe what some of the other teams’ strategy was,” he told Front Office Sports editor in chief Dan Roberts, as reported by Colin Salao. However, Salao notes that Jordan Poole‘s late-season minutes drop-off, as well as the moves to trade established players such as Deni Avdija last summer, point to a team intentionally limiting the minutes of its impactful veteran players.
  • The Heat don’t have a specific type when it comes to drafting, writes Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel. Nikola Jovic, Jaime Jaquez, and Kel’el Ware all represent very different age and experience ranges. With the 20th pick in the 2025 draft, the Heat will have to figure out what they’re prioritizing. “We talk about looking for upside, but we’ve seen players that are four-year seniors that get drafted lower that turn out to be Hall of Famers, and you see guys that are drafted younger that have upside that don’t pan out,” Heat VP of basketball operations Adam Simon told Winderman. He went on to add that the goal would be to find a player who can contribute immediately, similar to Ware and Jaquez.
  • Speaking of Jovic, the 21-year-old forward had an up-and-down third season in the NBA for the Heat, going from starter to out of the rotation to key reserve. A year out from restricted free agency, he’s looking forward to an offseason of work, according to Miami Herald’s Anthony Chiang. “I have a solid three months to work on something,” Jovic said. “What that something will be, I don’t know yet. I still have to connect with the coaches and think about it a little bit. But I feel like this might be the first summer that I actually have some time to improve my game.”
  • Gary Harris is no stranger to adapting to changing roles for the Magic, writes Jason Beede of the Orlando Sentinel. Dealing with injuries throughout the year, Harris found himself as the veteran mentor of a young, up-and-coming Magic team. His contract has a 2025/26 team option for next season that Orlando must decide on by June 29. “… All I can do is control what I can, continue to put the work in [and] stay ready for whatever the future may hold,” Harris said. “But I definitely love my time here in Orlando, so we’ll see if it continues.”

2025 NBA Draft Picks By Team

The Nets and Jazz were among the teams who left Monday’s draft lottery disappointed, as Brooklyn slipped two spots to No. 8 while Utah, the NBA’s worst team during the 2024/25 season, ended up at No. 6.

Still, while they won’t be picking as high in the lottery as they might like, the Nets and Jazz will enter this year’s draft armed with plenty of ammunition. Brooklyn controls a league-high five 2025 draft picks, including four first-rounders and an early second-rounder. Utah, meanwhile, is one of just two teams (along with the Magic) controlling four picks in this year’s draft, including a pair of first-rounders.

Four other clubs – the Spurs, Hornets, Wizards, and Thunder – own three picks apiece, so those seven teams combine to control 25 of the 59 selections in the 2025 draft.

In addition to those teams with three or more picks, 12 more clubs own a pair of 2025 draft selections, while another 10 control one apiece. That latter group includes the Mavericks, whose No. 1 overall pick is their only selection in this year’s draft.

That leaves just a single NBA team without a draft pick this year: the Nuggets. Denver traded its 2025 first-rounder to Orlando back in 2021 as part of a package for Aaron Gordon in a deal that has worked out exceedingly well for the 2023 champions and sent out its 2025 second-rounder last offseason in a Reggie Jackson salary-dump. The Nuggets could still trade into this draft, but for now they’re the only team on track to sit it out.

To present a clearer picture of which teams are most – and least – stocked with picks for the 2025 NBA draft, we’ve rounded up all 59 selections by team in the space below. Let’s dive in…


Teams with more than two picks:

  • Brooklyn Nets (5): 8, 19, 26, 27, 36
  • Utah Jazz (4): 5, 21, 43, 53
  • Orlando Magic (4): 16, 25, 46, 57
  • San Antonio Spurs (3): 2, 14, 38
  • Charlotte Hornets (3): 4, 33, 34
  • Washington Wizards (3): 6, 18, 40
  • Oklahoma City Thunder (3): 15, 24, 44

Teams with two picks:

  • Philadelphia 76ers: 3, 35
  • Toronto Raptors: 9, 39
  • Houston Rockets: 10, 59
  • Chicago Bulls: 12, 45
  • Atlanta Hawks: 13, 22
  • Minnesota Timberwolves: 17, 31
  • Indiana Pacers: 23, 54
  • Boston Celtics: 28, 32
  • Phoenix Suns: 29, 52
  • Los Angeles Clippers: 30, 51
  • Memphis Grizzlies: 48, 56
  • Cleveland Cavaliers: 49, 58

Teams with one pick:

  • Dallas Mavericks: 1
  • New Orleans Pelicans: 7
  • Portland Trail Blazers: 11
  • Miami Heat: 20
  • Detroit Pistons: 37
  • Golden State Warriors: 41
  • Sacramento Kings: 42
  • Milwaukee Bucks: 47
  • New York Knicks: 50
  • Los Angeles Lakers: 55

Teams with no picks:

  • Denver Nuggets

Florida Notes: Anthony, Bitadze, Ware, Heat

Guard Cole Anthony had an up-and-down fifth season with the Magic, writes Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel. While the 25-year-old had some big performances, including a team-high 26 points in Orlando’s play-in victory over Atlanta, he wound up averaging career lows in multiple counting stats, including points (9.4), rebounds (3.0), assists (2.9) and minutes (18.4) per game during the regular season.

After taking some time off to recuperate both physically and mentally after a long season, Anthony says he plans to work on all aspects of his game this summer, with one particular area of emphasis.

I just want to continue to become a better defender,” Anthony said. “That’s a big one for me. And just keep polishing my game, keep working on my jump shot, tighten up the handle, get stronger. … I don’t think there’s any part of the game I don’t want to improve. I’m just going to have a good summer and just lock in.”

Here a few more notes from the two Florida-based teams:

  • Although Magic center Goga Bitadze posted career-best numbers in several categories in 2024/25, he was out of the rotation by the end of the regular season and in the playoffs, Beede writes in another story for The Orlando Sentinel. Bitadze says he’s “super proud of himself” for the way he helped the team amid role changes and injuries, and he wants to continue to take strides in the offseason. “My shooting is going to be the first I’m going to work on,” Bitadze said. “Because it’s already there, it’s got to be a different mindset. All I’ve got to do is just trust in it and it’s going to help this team moving forward offensively. I’ve just got to keep working.”
  • Heat center Kel’el Ware will likely be named to one of the All-Rookie teams after a solid debut season, per Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel. The 21-year-old big man says he gained confidence over the course of the season and learned from Miami’s first-round thrashing by Cleveland, but he knows he needs to add more muscle to his frame this summer. “I would say definitely the strength part of it,” Ware said. “That was really the main thing for me. That’s probably going to be the main thing I continue to work on during the offseason, to get better and get stronger. I would say that, definitely that.”
  • Yossi Gozlan of The Third Apron (Substack link) previews the Heat‘s offseason, including whether the team can trade for a star, how Davion Mitchell‘s restricted free agency might play out, and potential extensions for Tyler Herro and Nikola Jovic (the latter Gozlan views as unlikely). Gozlan also discussed the team’s offseason on a YouTube stream with Ethan Skolnick of 5 Reasons Sports.

Southeast Notes: Hornets, Wizards, Giannis, Heat, Isaac

The Hornets were one of the finalists in the draft lottery but wound up with the fourth pick, dropping one spot from their pre-lottery position. However, Charlotte’s front office and coach put a positive spin on the outcome.

“Up until this moment, everyone just (had) a ton of anxiety, just waiting to see where we would be picking,” president of basketball operations Jeff Peterson told the Charlotte Observer’s Roderick Boone (subscription required). “But now that we know we are picking four, it helps clear some things up in conversations with other teams and continue the process as we are here with the draft prospects at the draft combine. So we are really excited.”

Hornets head coach Charles Lee expressed similar feelings.

“Excitement, clarity,” he said. “I think that this whole time, you are sitting and (wondering) what pick do you get? But I know talking to Jeff, talking to (assistant GM) Dotun (Akinwale) and the entire front office. They’ve talked about how deep of a draft class this is.I think they have a lot of the intangibles, in terms of great work ethic and great competitiveness, and they understand the team game and what it’s going to take to really impact winning at a high level. So, I look forward to kind of getting into the weeds with Dotun, and Jeff and the front office, and figuring out who is that next pick to continue to help us to build. ”

We have more from the Southeast Division:

  • The Wizards had miserable lottery luck, falling from No. 2 to No. 6. “We started the day with zero, and we walked away with six. So that’s the mindset we have coming in,” general manager Will Dawkins told Varun Shankar of the Washington Post. “We gained the sixth pick this year, and we also have 18,” he said. “So time to get back to work with our scouts.” The latter pick was the first-rounder acquired from the Grizzlies ahead of the trade deadline. Dawkins is apparently open for business if some team wants to move up in the draft or if the Wizards chose to seek a higher pick by packaging both of theirs. “We’ll look to move … but we’re very comfortable staying where we’re at,” Dawkins said.
  • Could the Hawks be a dark-horse candidate to pull off a Giannis Antetokounmpo deal? Michael Cunningham of the Atlanta Journal Constitution believes the franchise should pull out all the stops to make that happen. Cunningham anticipates that the Hawks could offer the Bucks two of their three top players — Trae Young, Jalen Johnson and Dyson Daniels — plus their two first-round picks this season (Nos. 13 and 22) and up to three more first-round picks through the 2032 draft.
  • The Heat aren’t going anywhere — at least in terms of their local broadcasts. They have reached a multiyear agreement with FanDuel Sports Network to remain on FanDuel Sports Network Sun, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald tweets.
  • Magic forward Jonathan Isaac appeared in 71 games, the second-most of his career, but he was far from satisfied with his season. His playing time was spotty, partly due to his offensive struggles. He shot 41.4 percent overall and 25.8 percent on threes. Isaac believes he needs improve his stamina, he told Jason Beede of the Orlando Sentinel. “Definitely inconsistent,” he said. “I started to feel a little better towards the end of the season, started to feel a little lighter, a little more agile. So, I’m taking that into the summer to just focus on my game, focus on really getting in shape, shedding some weight and kind of getting back to where I was before.” Isaac has three years left on his contract.

Spurs, Rockets In Best Position To Pursue Giannis?

Giannis Antetokounmpo has yet to make any decisions about his future with the Bucks, as Shams Charania of ESPN reported today and Marc Stein of The Stein Line (Substack link) confirms. But with Charania suggesting that Antetokounmpo is becoming more “open-minded” about considering opportunities outside of Milwaukee and executives converging on Chicago this week for the NBA draft combine, speculation about the two-time MVP’s future with the Bucks is running rampant.

Stein, Grant Afseth of RG.org, and Brian Windhorst of ESPN (Twitter video link) are among the reporters who have pointed to the Spurs and Rockets as the two top teams to watch as potential Antetokounmpo suitors in the event he requests a trade.

[RELATED: Rockets Don’t Plan To Pursue Kevin Durant, Devin Booker]

As Windhorst explains, those teams are obvious fits because they have the ability to offer quality young players along with draft picks that aren’t their own in a package for Giannis.

Since the Bucks don’t control their own first-round picks for the coming years, they may not be inclined to launch a full-fledged rebuild if they trade Antetokounmpo. They also might not highly value draft picks coming directly from the team acquiring the star forward, since the picks from a Giannis-led team likely wouldn’t land high in the first round.

Windhorst, Stein, and Afseth also identify the Pelicans as a team to watch as a possible facilitator in any Antetokounmpo deal. If the Bucks do want to hit the reset button, reacquiring their own draft picks could be an important part of their plan, and New Orleans controls those picks in the short term. The Pelicans have the ability to swap picks with Milwaukee in both 2026 and 2027 (top-four protected).

Here’s more on a superstar who has suddenly become a popular subject of trade speculation:

  • The Nets have long been known to covet Antetokounmpo and are ready to pounce if he becomes available, writes Brian Lewis of The New York Post. While Brooklyn’s cap flexibility collection of future draft assets could make the club an intriguing suitor, Windhorst notes that the Nets don’t have as much young talent as some of the other teams that would likely be part of the bidding.
  • Do the Heat have the assets necessary to get involved in the potential Antetokounmpo sweepstakes? Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald explores that question, concluding that there are several other teams who could outbid Miami. The Heat would probably only have a legitimate chance at the Bucks star if he were to exert leverage by putting them atop his wish list, Chiang adds.
  • Afseth cites the Hawks as a possible dark-horse Antetokounmpo suitor, noting that Giannis’ agent – Alex Saratsis of Octagon – is among the player representatives Atlanta is believed to be evaluating as a possible candidate to lead the team’s front office. Head coach Quin Snyder, who has a role in personnel decisions, is also represented by Octagon, Afseth observes.
  • In his look at potential trade packages for Antetokounmpo, ESPN’s Bobby Marks identifies the Rockets and Spurs as the best overall fits, the Nets and Jazz as the teams best positioned to put together offers heavy on draft picks, and Pistons, Grizzlies, Thunder, Pelicans, Magic, and Sixers as possible wild cards.
  • Eric Nehm of The Athletic considers how the Bucks might be able to sell Antetokounmpo on the idea of remaining in Milwaukee by treating 2025/26 as a “gap year” and building a younger, more flexible roster around him in the long term.

Heat’s Pat Riley Discusses Butler, Roster, Tax, Herro, More

At his end-of-season press conference on Friday, longtime president Pat Riley admitted the falling out with Jimmy Butler affected the Heat‘s season in a major way, per Anthony Chiang and Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald.

There’s no doubt what happened with Jimmy had a tremendous impact on our team,” Riley said. “The buck stops with me. I’ll take that hit if you want it. What happened in the regular season, I don’t want to discuss.”

That doesn’t mean Riley regrets his comments about Butler last offseason — he made a number of pointed remarks during that spring media session, including telling reporters that the star forward wouldn’t get the extension he was looking for due to concerns about his availability.

“I’m not going to apologize for saying no on the contract extension,” Riley said on Friday. “We didn’t have to I don’t think I should… It’s over. It’s done. I wish him well. Good luck to him. And I hope in his heart somewhere he wishes us well too.”

As for the underwhelming return package the Heat received in return for trading Butler to Golden State, Riley said the team was somewhat hamstrung by the situation.

We were pretty much locked in with one team (Phoenix), the team of his choice. It didn’t happen there. We took the deal we felt was best for us now and also in the future. We have young players. We have medium age players in their prime. Our draft picks are in better order than what they were. We have a lot of flexibility. That’s where the blueprint is going to come from this summer.”

Here’s more from Riley’s presser, with quotes courtesy of The Herald, Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press, and Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel:

  • While Riley isn’t sure that the Heat need to make major roster changes this offseason, he acknowledged there’s “no doubt” that changes of some sort will be necessary and said the team “probably won’t run it back.” Still, he doesn’t think the ugly losses to Cleveland in the postseason reflect Miami’s true talent level and suggested he’ll try to avoid tanking at all costs. “(That playoff series) might have put the final nail in thinking we got to tear everything apart and rebuild. We’ve never done that,” Riley said. “Thirteen times, we’ve always found a way to rebuild (into) a team that was respected, that was a contender.”
  • Riley admitted that the Heat, who have been in the luxury tax for each of the past two seasons, would like to stop surpassing that threshold every year, especially with harsher repeater penalties about to take effect. “We have to make an adjustment,” he said. “It gets punitive financially. It’s not a priority, but it is in order to manage the financial part of the team. We will try to get out and then back in and reset it.”
  • Riley isn’t permitted to talk about players on other rosters, and reporters didn’t ask him specifically about Kevin Durant, but the Heat president faced questions about whether the team needs to acquire an “alpha” and whether he’d be willing to trade for an “aging” star. Riley didn’t rule out either scenario. “For us, if that player is the right name and the contract is the right length, I still think an aging player can play,” Riley said. Regarding the idea of adding an alpha, he stated: “If that talent can help and he’s humble, that’s fine. If it translates to winning, that’s all that counts.”
  • According to Riley, the Heat are “moving forward” with Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro. Regarding a possible extension for Herro, Riley said the front office wants the veteran guard to remain in Miami for the rest of his career and indicated that a new deal this summer is a possibility, but not a given. “We’ve already talked about it. I’ve talked about it with Tyler. You’ll see what happens as we plan,” Riley said “… Definitely Tyler is deserving of the thought of an extension. But are we going to do it? We haven’t committed to it. But we’re going to discuss it. I’ve already talked to him about it. He’s cool (with whatever happens).”
  • Asked about critics of “Heat culture” and whether that reputation has taken a hit in the last year or two, Riley pushed back, referring to that criticism as a “narrative” created by people who aren’t familiar with the organization. “I’m proud of the culture and what we’ve created,” Riley said. “For people who don’t really know, but it’s fashionable to comment on it and criticize it, the hell with them. We have a great culture that hasn’t been crushed. Just because there were some issues this year that were not culture-oriented, they were player-oriented — talking about the Butler situation — our culture is the same.”

Luke Adams contributed to this story.

Joshua Kushner Purchases Minority Stake In Heat

Billionaire tech investor Joshua Kushner, the founder and managing partner of Thrive Capital, has purchased a minority stake in the Heat, the team confirmed today (Twitter links via Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald).

Puck News, which first reported the transaction, said Kushner will control less 5% of the Heat. Those shares will not come from majority owner Micky Arison, per the team.

According to Thomas Barrabi of The New York Post, Kushner actually purchased his stake in the Heat last year. He was previously a minority shareholder in the Grizzlies, but he sold that stake to become part-owner of Miami.

As both Jackson and Barrabi observe, Kushner owns a home in Miami with his wife Karlie Kloss. He’s the brother of President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, who served as an adviser to Trump during his first term.