Miami Heat Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Odds & Ends: Telep, Jefferson, Griffin

September 1st, 2013 at 10:12pm CST by Zachary Links

The Spurs have always been about innovation in the front office and they made an out-of-the-box hiring today by hiring well-respected prep recruiting analyst Dave Telep, league sources told Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports. Telep, who recently left a job at a cable TV outlet, will work in a scouting coordinator role for the NBA draft under GM R.C. Buford.

It's difficult to be excited about the offseason in the Southeast Division with the most exciting move being the Bobcats signing Al Jefferson to a hefty contract, writes CBSSports.com's Royce Young. However, there is a power shift with the Heat at the top and the Wizards and Bobcats are trending up a bit while the Hawks will probably take a step back.
Whether or not the Clippers can truly contend in 2013/14 depends on star forward Blake Griffin, opines Bill Ingram of HoopsWorld.
In his weekend mailbag, Doug Smith of the Toronto Star writes that Landry Fields, who signed a three-year, $18.75MM, deal with the Raptors last offseason, is slowly working to get his shot back while rehabbing his arm/elbow injury.

Florida Notes: Heat, Magic, Riley, Oladipo, Melo

August 31st, 2013 at 10:56am CST by Zachary Links

People close to the Heat told Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld earlier this week that 2014 isn't the year they need to worry about, it's 2015. While the big three of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh can all opt out next summer, they essentially hold player options for the summer of 2015 as well. Here's more on the Heat and the Sunshine State's other team..

Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel looks at Pat Riley's assertion that he wanted to cannibalize the NBA free agent market in August and September. At this stage, however, the Heat roster seems pretty complete and adding something from the open market no longer seems like a worthwhile or necessary pursuit.
Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel looks at the position battle at point guard between incumbent Jameer Nelson and rookie Victor Oladipo. The Indiana University product, who some believe is the frontrunner for Rookie of the Year, could give Nelson the first serious run for his starting job in nearly seven years.
In today's mailbag, a reader asks Winderman if the Heat have any interest in adding the recently released Fab Melo. Winderman says that with the league's shift to smallball, there's no longer an urgency to add size just for the sake of it, so Melo doesn't seem like a fit for Miami.

Eastern Links: Heat, Henry Bibby, Pistons, Nets

August 30th, 2013 at 1:13pm CST by Luke Adams

As we look forward to the Labor Day weekend, let's round up a few end-of-week items out of the Eastern Conference….

Caron Butler and Lamar Odom are no longer options for the Heat, but neither player was ever a real possibility, says Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel. Winderman adds that "there will be other Butler and Odom types that could shake free" over the course of the year for the Heat.
Former Grizzlies assistant Henry Bibby will join Maurice Cheeks' coaching staff with the Pistons, tweets Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal.
Making small adjustments to teams that already have a core in place is Joe Dumars' strength, so the Pistons GM should be well-positioned to handle the next stage of the team's development, writes Dan Feldman of PistonPowered (link via Detroit Free Press).
Former Queens prep star Kyle Hunt will work out for the Nets in September, reports Joshua Newman of SNY.tv.
Over at HoopsWorld, Lang Greene's list of potential training-camp logjams includes positional battles for the Celtics, Cavs, Bucks, and Knicks, among other teams.

Kyler’s Latest: Pelicans, Knicks, Heat

August 29th, 2013 at 1:46pm CST by Luke Adams

Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld continues to examine potential trade situations for various NBA teams, today focusing on the Pelicans, Knicks, and Heat. Let's check out Kyler's NBA AM piece and round up a few of the highlights….

The Pelicans' lack of a "bruising inside player" could be cause for concern, according to Kyler, who says that the team may look into acquiring a true center if Anthony Davis struggles in his minutes at the five.
J.R. Smith's health will be one of the big questions for the Knicks this season, as the reigning Sixth Man of the Year recovers from knee surgery. If he's unable to return to 100% health, or has any setbacks, New York could target a replacement via trade, though the club likely wouldn't get aggressive until close to the deadline.
Those close to the situation in Miami say the Heat should be more wary of the summer of 2015 than 2014, according to Kyler. LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh each essentially have player options in each of the next two offseasons, so any or all of the Big Three could opt out in either '14 or '15.
Kyler views Bosh and Wade as good bets to play out their current contracts, since neither player is likely to receive a raise in free agency. LeBron could obviously land a bigger long-term deal if he opts out, but he's unlikely to leave Miami while Wade and Bosh are still healthy and productive, says Kyler.
The Heat have several expiring contracts that could be used to faciliate deals at the 2014 trade deadline, if necessary, and Kyler notes that the team essentially has zero guaranteed money committed for 2014/15, meaning Miami could be in position to add even more talent. I'm not sure how realistic that is though — if we assume Bosh, Wade, Udonis Haslem, and Joel Anthony all opt in, and the Heat pick up Norris Cole's option, that takes team salary for '14/15 up over $51MM, and that's not even counting LeBron.

Eastern Notes: Sanders, Bulls, Contract Years

August 28th, 2013 at 4:57pm CST by Luke Adams

Let's round up a few Wednesday items out of the Eastern Conference….

According to Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times (via Twitter), there were some Bucks officials who wanted to cut Larry Sanders a year ago, making his lucrative new four-year extension with the club even more remarkable.
The Heat will head into 2013/14 as the favorites to come out of the East for a fourth straight year, but Lang Greene of HoopsWorld warns that sleeping on the Bulls, despite their fairly quiet offseason, would be a mistake.
Ira Winderman's latest mailbag at the South Florida Sun Sentinel includes questions on the Heat's inactivity and on whether Mikhail Prokhorov's willingness to go deep into the luxury tax will have an effect on the league's other owners.
In an Insider-only piece for ESPN.com, David Thorpe poses "burning questions" facing the five Atlantic Division teams.
Danny Granger (Pacers), Kyle Lowry (Raptors), and Paul Pierce (Nets) are a few of the players in contract years who Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld believes are worth watching.

Odds & Ends: Turkoglu, Plumlee, Heat, Mavs

August 27th, 2013 at 11:50am CST by Luke Adams

For now, Hedo Turkoglu remains under contract with the Magic, with the team currently on the hook for $6MM of his $12MM salary. Turkoglu's full salary will become guaranteed if he's still on the roster beyond January 7th, but there's virtually no chance that happens, and it appears the veteran forward may not even be in the NBA by that point. According to reports out of Turkey, confirmed by Can Pelister of TrendBasket.net (via Twitter), Turkish team Fenerbahce Ulker is pursuing Turkolgu, and is prepared to make him a substantial offer (hat tip to Sportando).

The Magic would need to grant Turkoglu his release before he could finalize a deal overseas, but it may just be a matter of time until that happens. Here's more from around the NBA:

2012 first-round pick Miles Plumlee may end up being the Suns' "understated prize" of the trade that sent Luis Scola to the Pacers, writes Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic.
Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel breaks down the Heat's salary details for 2013/14, player by player.
While the Mavericks likely outbid the market for Jose Calderon, the team's need for a pure point guard still makes it a solid signing, opines Bryan Gutierrez of ESPNDallas.com, who gives the Mavs a B+ for the move.
In today's NBA AM piece, Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld examines potential trade options for the Mavericks, Nuggets, and Pistons.

Odds & Ends: Brewer, Bucks, McGrady, Heat

August 26th, 2013 at 10:48pm CST by Chuck Myron

Ronnie Brewer considered signing with the Bulls, Jazz and Lakers before ultimately choosing the Rockets, the 28-year-old swingman tells Mark Berman of Fox 26 Houston. He also reiterated his assertion from June that the Thunder were in play to re-sign him, too, but Houston's up-tempo style of play helped sway him. Despite having only a partially guaranteed deal on a team with a league-high 19 players under contract, he's not worried about getting cut. "If I come in and I do what I'm supposed to do, all of that goes out the window," he said to Berman. As Brewer gets set to officially sign his contract, here's more on the league's comings and goings with about a month to go before training camp:

The Bucks have hired David Morway as assistant GM and Jim Cleamons as the team's top assistant coach, notes Charles F. Gardner of the Journal Sentinel.
So much of Tracy McGrady's talent vanished long before he announced his retirement today, and he went underappreciated in Orlando during his peak years, as John Denton of Magic.com argues. The Magic, Raptors and Rockets are all left wondering what might have been, the Toronto Sun's Ryan Wolstat writes.
Toure Murry still hasn't committed to the Knicks nearly a month after the club extended him a training camp invitation, but the 6'5" guard is expected to pick a team later this week, according to Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com (Twitter link).
In his latest mailbag for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, Ira Winderman discusses the Heat's luxury-tax situation, their mid-level exception, and the possibility of the team signing Richard Hamilton.
Now that 14 NBA teams have one-on-one relationships with their respective D-League affiliates, the remaining 16 teams are sharing three D-League clubs. Nonetheless, those squads with five or six NBA affiliations can still help young NBA players develop, as Gino Pilato of Ridiculous Upside outlines.

Luke Adams contributed to this post.

Heat Notes: Wade, Odom, Riley, LeBron

August 24th, 2013 at 10:30am CST by Zachary Links

Here's a look at the latest out of South Beach..

A rumored meeting with Dwyane Wade and Pat Riley wooing Lamar Odom this summer didn't happen, writes Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel. Furthermore, Wade said he removed himself from the team's free agent recruitment this offseason. "I left that all to them," Wade said. "I got away, understanding that we have little that we can do. And Pat Riley is the best at what he does, so he's fine. We all understand the nature of the beast, what we're dealing with."
Winderman also spoke with NBPA treasurer James Jones about LeBron James' decision not to run for union president and his own aspirations within the union. Jones doesn't sound poised to make a run for president after Chris Paul is done with the job and says that he's happy to put his finance degree to use wit his current role.
In today's mailbag, one reader asks Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel if the acquisition of Greg Oden is overshadowing Chris Andersen. Winderman explains that Oden is not in Miami to replace Birdman by any means, but rather to serve as a complement to him. Last year, Andersen struggled with certain matchups to the point where he had to be held out of two games against the Spurs and Tim Duncan.
ESPN's J.A. Adande and Bomani Jones debate the contenders for the 2014 title, with particular focus on the Heat (video link). The Pacers and Rockets are also among the teams covered.

Odds & Ends: James, Bowen, Kidd, Lin, Wright

August 21st, 2013 at 9:23pm CST by Alex Lee

After tonight's announcement from the NBA Player's Association, we can officially shut the door on any talk that LeBron James should assume the union's head position. What we don't know about James, however, are his intentions after the upcoming season, when he can opt out of his current deal with the Heat. James kept quiet about his plans on an interview that aired on the new Fox Sports 1 on Tuesday night, writes HoopsWorld's Alex Kennedy, who expects James to keep his options open.

Here are some other news and notes from around the league:

The Kings have named Ryan Bowen as an assistant coach and assistant director of player development, the team announced today in a press release. Bowen spent the past two seasons as an assistant with the Nuggets, where he spent two stints as a player. He also played in Houston, New Orleans and Oklahoma City in his NBA playing career.
Jason Kidd is ready to make the transition from player to coach with the Nets, writes Fran Blinebury of NBA.com, who lists Tom Heinsohn, Billy Cunningham and Larry Bird among those who have walked a similar path with success.
Speaking at a youth conference in Taiwan, Rockets point guard Jeremy Lin said he put too much pressure on himself in his first year in Houston and it resulted in his coaches losing faith in him, according to an ESPN news release. Lin will need to rediscover his confidence quickly considering the expectations in Houston this season.
Dorell Wright says his trust in Blazers general manager Neil Olshey was a big factor in his agreement to sign with Portland, writes Kerry Eggers of the Portland Tribune. Wright said he envisions himself as a bench player, and that he expects the Blazers to vie for a playoff spot.

Eastern Notes: Sanders, Casey, Celtics, Newton

August 21st, 2013 at 5:00pm CST by Luke Adams

In his latest piece for Grantland.com, Zach Lowe explores what Larry Sanders has to do to justify his new, long-term contract with the Bucks. In breaking down Sanders' footwork and positioning on specific plays, Lowe goes much more in-depth than I did when I examined the big man's four-year extension earlier today, but we ultimately reached similar conclusions. Even though Sanders has only had one productive NBA season, I liked the deal for Milwaukee, and Lowe agrees, writing that it "should turn out just fine for the Bucks."

Here's more from around the Eastern Conference:

Even though Dwane Casey is heading into the final year of his deal, the Raptors head coach doesn't intend to "spend a waking moment" worrying about his uncertain long-term contract situation, as he tells Sean Deveney of the Sporting News.
Eric Pincus of HoopsWorld explains how the Celtics/Grizzlies swap of Fab Melo and Donte Greene worked financially, adding that Boston sent $1.66MM in cash to Memphis to complete the deal.
The Celtics also officially finalized their coaching staff today, formally announcing the hirings of assistants Ron Adams, Micah Shrewsberry, and Walter McCarty in a press release.
After some conflicting reports on whether or not Timberwolves president Flip Saunders had interviewed Milt Newton for the team's GM job yet, Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune tweets that Saunders is in Washington today to meet with the Wizards executive.
In today's mailbag for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, Ira Winderman addresses the unlikely possibility of a Chris Bosh trade and agrees that the Heat could use another athletic perimeter player.