Heat Rumors

Community Shootaround: Defensive Player Of The Year

February 24th, 2025 at 8:56am CST by Luke Adams

After finishing second in Defensive Player of the Year voting as a rookie in 2024, rising Spurs star Victor Wembanyama was viewed at this year’s All-Star break as the overwhelming frontrunner to win the award in his second NBA season.

However, the All-Star Game is the last game that Wembanyama will play in 2024/25, as he was ruled out for the remainder of the season after being diagnosed with a deep vein thrombosis in his right shoulder. While the Spurs do everything they can to make sure their franchise player is healthy and ready to go for the 2025/26 season, this year’s Defensive Player of the Year award is suddenly very much up for grabs.

Wembanyama will soon be officially out of the running, since he’ll fall well short of the 65-game requirement for end-of-season awards. As we wrote on Saturday, his absence has made Jaren Jackson Jr. of the Grizzlies and Evan Mobley as the Cavaliers the clear betting favorites to win Defensive Player of the Year.

The two young big men squared off on Sunday for the first time this season, with Mobley leading the Cavs to a tight victory by racking up 25 points, 13 rebounds, eight assists, and three blocked shots. For the season, Cleveland has a 106.9 defensive rating with Mobley on the court and a 112.6 mark when he’s not. Although Cleveland’s defense ranks seventh overall, that 106.9 defensive rating when Mobley plays would be second-best in the NBA.

Jackson, the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year in 2023, has had a very similar on/off-court impact in Memphis. The Grizzlies have a 106.8 defensive rating when Jackson is on the floor and a 113.1 mark when he sits.

Mobley and Jackson are anchors of their respective defenses but have the athleticism and versatility to switch onto smaller opponents and move away the basket if necessary. Another player with that skill set is Heat big man Bam Adebayo, who has finished in the top five of Defensive Player of the Year voting in each of the past five seasons.

Asked last week about the possibility of a DPOY award, Adebayo made it clear he’s more focused on getting the Heat back on track than earning individual hardware. He may need to do the former to have a shot at the latter, since team success is a major factor in award consideration. Miami currently ranks eighth in the Eastern Conference with a 26-29 record.

While voters typically favor centers who protect the basket, a wing or forward can emerge as a leading candidate when no one big man separates himself from the field. Thunder swingman Luguentz Dort, a lock-down defender on the wing, could become that player this season. Oklahoma City’s 104.8 defensive rating leads the league by a wide margin and Dort currently has the third-best DPOY betting odds at BetOnline.ag.

Asked by Chris Mannix of SI.com last week about his individual goals beyond winning a championship, Dort acknowledged that he’d love to be recognized for his defense.

“Honestly, the biggest goal is to go out there and perform every night for my teammates,” he said. “But it will always be nice to get rewarded for the hard work that I do on the court, which would probably be Defensive Player of the Year or (All-Defensive) first team. If you ask me if I deserve it, I would say yes, just because of what I bring every night, all the matchups that I got to face every night. But all that would be a goal of mine.”

Dort’s teammates Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams, rising defensive stars Dyson Daniels and Amen Thompson, and four-time DPOY Rudy Gobert are among the other betting options available at BetOnline.ag, but I’d view them as longer shots.

We want to know what you think. Which player would be your 2024/25 pick for Defensive Player of the Year? Which player do you expect to win the award? Would Wembanyama have been your choice if he had reached the minimum-game threshold?

Head to the comment section below to weigh in with your thoughts!

Heat’s Nikola Jovic Fractures Hand In Bucks Game

February 23rd, 2025 at 8:04pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Heat forward Nikola Jovic fractured the second metacarpal on his right hand in the first half of an eventual 120-113 loss to Milwaukee on Sunday, the team announced (Twitter link).

Jovic finished the game with seven points on 3-of-4 shooting from the field in 15 minutes of action off the bench.

A recovery timeline for Jovic has yet to be established. The third-year pro is in the midst of his best NBA season yet. Through 46 games, he’s averaging 10.7 points, 3.9 rebounds, 2.8 assists, and 0.8 steals a night. The 21-year-old is logging shooting splits of .456/.371/.828.

In the third frame, head coach Erik Spoelstra inserted veteran forward Kyle Anderson into his rotation in place of Jovic.

Ahead of the season, Miami picked up Jovic’s $4.45MM team option for the fourth and final year of his rookie-scale deal, which will keep him under team control through 2025/26. The 6’10” forward’s growth thus far is one of the few things that’s gone right for the Heat this year.

Sunday’s defeat to Milwaukee marked the Heat’s seventh loss across its last 10 games. Since Miami traded six-time All-Star Jimmy Butler to the Warriors as part of a five-team blockbuster deal, the Heat have gone just 1-5. Overall, the club has fallen to an underwhelming 26-29 record on the season, but remains in the thick of the conference’s play-in tournament picture.

Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel writes that a potential extended absence for Jovic could have significant ripple effects for Miami this year. Spoelstra has been bringing in Jovic and wing Duncan Robinson in tandem as his first options off the bench. Winderman observes that forward Jaime Jaquez Jr., who did not play against Milwaukee, would be a candidate to see more run with Jovic out.

Heat Notes: Smith, Wiggins, Anderson, Mitchell, Adebayo

February 23rd, 2025 at 10:03am CST by Arthur Hill

Heat shooting guard Dru Smith is two months into the recovery process after having his season cut short by an injury for the second straight year, writes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. Smith was part of Miami’s rotation when he suffered a torn Achilles tendon in a December 23 game. It was difficult for him to accept after working his way back from a season-ending knee injury that took place in November 2023.

“It was very, very unfortunate,” Smith said. “It was tough for those first couple days, first week or so, just trying to process it all. I felt like I was in a really good spot, things were going well. So in a sense, it felt like something was taken from me. But it really wasn’t. It was just something that I had to process and move on after that.”

Smith was seeing 19.1 minutes per night through his first 14 games, averaging 6.2 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.6 assists. He had played double-digit minutes in eight straight games before getting hurt, Chiang notes, and had become a useful bench weapon as an offensive contributor and a standout defender.

The Heat never stopped believing in Smith even though they’ve waived him four times since first signing him in 2021, Chiang adds. He has remained on the roster for the past two months despite the injury, although that could change with a March 4 deadline looming to add two-way players. He’s currently focused on rehab work with a goal of being fully healthy by training camp.

“I think in general, they say around six months that you should be back to basketball activities,” he said. “Around eight months, you should be doing pretty well, moving really well. I think that’s a normal timetable. I don’t think that I’m necessarily ahead or behind or anything like that. So just kind of playing it by ear.”

There’s more from Miami:

In Friday’s win at Toronto, Andrew Wiggins showed he can take over Jimmy Butler‘s scoring load and serve as a closer in late-game situations, Chiang states in a separate story. Wiggins finished with 25 points, his highest total since being traded, with 13 of those coming in the fourth quarter and overtime. “We’re all rooting for Wiggs, man,” Tyler Herro said. “Great guy, we love having him here. We’re super happy to have him. He’s just going to continue to get more comfortable with everything we’re doing. We’re trying to feed as much life and as much confidence into him as possible. We’re really happy for him.”
Wiggins, along with fellow newcomers Kyle Anderson and Davion Mitchell, have adjusted quickly to their new surroundings since coming to Miami at the trade deadline, Chiang notes in another piece. “I feel like they’re embracing it, they’re embracing the culture, they’re embracing the standard,” Bam Adebayo said. “They understand the majority of what we like to do and how we like to compete. I feel like they’ve embraced it. I feel like they’re up for the challenge. So it’s good to have three guys walking in trying to embrace the culture.”
Adebayo is among the favorites now for Defensive Player of the Year honors in light of Victor Wembanyama‘s season-ending blood clot condition, Chiang adds. The Heat center finished third in the balloting last season. “That’s the media’s job, that’s not my job,” Adebayo said. “My job is to go out there and play basketball. It’s always been that thing, and you all always ask me like I can control the media’s mind. But for me, man, it’s just going out there, getting stops, playing defense and having fun. And hopefully it starts to equate to winning.”

Heat Notes: Lineups, Potential Signings, Herro, Adebayo, Mitchell

February 22nd, 2025 at 10:38am CST by Tristan Tucker

In their first game after the All-Star break, the Heat defeated the Raptors in overtime on Friday with help from their new-look starting lineup. As Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald writes, Davion Mitchell, Tyler Herro, Andrew Wiggins, Bam Adebayo and Kel’el Ware have started two of the four games since the deadline and seem to be the preferred group for head coach Erik Spoelstra moving forward.

The Heat, behind big overtime plays from Wiggins, Herro and Adebayo, were able to snap a pre-break losing streak with the victory. They won in spite of squandering a double-digit lead, which occurred multiple times during their original losing streak.

With the team back to mostly full health, the Heat utilized Nikola Jovic, Terry Rozier, Duncan Robinson, Kyle Anderson and Alec Burks off the bench. Jovic closed the fourth quarter and overtime over Ware. That meant Jaime Jaquez and Haywood Highsmith were left out of the rotation.

As Chiang notes, Jaquez has received the first DNP-CDs of his career over his last three games.

“It could differ game to game,” head coach Erik Spoelstra said. “But we want to create a little bit of clarity, as much as we can right now. And everybody just has to stay ready. We have to make some things happen and it will be all hands on deck. We feel very comfortable with our depth and we saw that depth.”

We have more on the Heat:

The buyout deadline is approaching, but Ira Winderman of South Florida’s Sun Sentinel is skeptical the Heat will make an addition on that front after doing so in each of the past two seasons. Signing a buyout player would mean Miami would likely have to waive either Burks or Keshad Johnson, Winderman writes, and there doesn’t look to be anyone available who would match Burks’ positional value or Johnson’s potential.
The more notable date for the Heat, in Winderman’s view, is March 4’s deadline for two-way signings. Miami has all three two-way slots filled, but Dru Smith is out for the season due to his Achilles injury. If the Heat wished to add another player on a two-way deal, they could take the approach they did with Smith last year under similar circumstances, Winderman notes, and cut him while still paying his full salary and allowing him to rehab at their facilities before exploring another reunion.
The Heat are trusting Herro and Adebayo to lead the next era of Miami basketball, which includes a potential postseason run this year, James Jackson of The Athletic writes. “We have a group that’s going to roll up their sleeves and work on the things that hopefully lead to winning,” Spoelstra said. “There’s nothing guaranteed in this league. You can check all these boxes, and it’s still decided between those four lines. The other team has something to say about it. I love the competitive spirit about this team. There’s been a connection even though there’s been a lot things that happened to this team.“
Former Raptors guard Mitchell expressed appreciation for Toronto for giving him a chance to shine, according to Winderman. The former lottery pick said he knew he was going to be traded from Toronto as they wanted to give more run to Jamal Shead. “I didn’t know where exactly,” Mitchell said. “And for sure I didn’t think it was Miami. Especially with the Jimmy Butler thing, no one kind of knew what was going to go on, especially my agents. But when it happened, I mean I was excited, because I told ’em Miami was the number one. If we can try to get there, then that’s where I really want to be.” Mitchell has started his first four games with the Heat, shooting 40.0% from three and averaging 9.8 points per night.

Heat Notes: Ware, 2026 Outlook, Rotation, Playoff Push

February 20th, 2025 at 7:30pm CST by Tristan Tucker

In a tumultuous season that saw star forward Jimmy Butler dealt to the Warriors at the deadline, the Heat‘s defining positive moment from the season continues to be the development of rookie center Kel’el Ware, Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald writes. Not only has Ware taken significant individual strides in recent weeks, his fit with Bam Adebayo in the frontcourt offers a reason for optimism moving forward.

Ware’s play has him in the top three in Rookie of the Year odds so far despite the fact that he played double-digit minutes in just two of the Heat’s first 25 games. He’s averaging 11.9 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game while shooting 53.6% from the floor and 37.3% from deep since the New Year.

“Nightly he’s getting challenged, and these are all opportunities to grow and learn,” coach Erik Spoelstra said. “He has to do it on the fly. But he’s been a great student. He’s been coachable, not only by the staff but by his teammates. He wants to get it right, he wants to make an impact, he wants to help and he’s facing different challenges.”

We have more on the Heat:

The Heat were able to position themselves decently for 2026 free agency in the Butler deal, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald writes. By avoiding taking on individual salary exceeding $50MM, the Heat will still have some cap space if they hold on to/extend their young core and add cap hits for any potential first-round draft picks. While star free agents don’t usually sign into cap space, Jackson takes a look at how the Heat could create a pathway to do so in a loaded 2026 free agent class. Miami also put themselves in a strong position to make a big move this offseason, equipped with young players, large expiring salaries, and draft capital acquired from Golden State.
Miami’s rotation will be worth monitoring going forward. Kyle Anderson, Andrew Wiggins and Davion Mitchell will all likely be factors, but it’s unclear what role each will have on a younger roster. In a piece analyzing post-All-Star questions, Chiang ponders which young players will continue to emerge and considers whether Keshad Johnson or Pelle Larsson will play more moving forward. Chiang also explores whether the Heat can avoid the play-in for the third straight year and if Tyler Herro can continue his All-Star production.
The Heat’s newcomers know they need to play with a level of desperation in order to secure a playoff spot and make some noise in the postseason, Adam Lichtenstein of South Florida’s Sun Sentinel writes. “I feel I needed the All-Star break just to go back and see my family, refresh and get ready for this last stretch of the season,” Wiggins said. The Heat are three games behind the Pistons for sixth in the East, which would keep them out of play-in territory. Miami sits at ninth in the conference standings entering Thursday.

And-Ones: 2025 FAs, College Jobs, MCW, WNBA, More

February 20th, 2025 at 7:31am CST by Luke Adams

A series of contract extensions have depleted the star-level talent in the NBA’s 2025 free agent class, but there will still be some notable names to watch this summer, as Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report and ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Insider link) detail.

Both Pincus and Marks have longtime NBA stars LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, and James Harden atop their lists of 2025 free agents, with Marks positing that no player will have more leverage this offseason than Irving, given how badly the Mavericks need to retain the veteran point guard following the trade of Luka Doncic.

After James, Irving, and Harden, who have combined for 41 career All-Star appearances, the next tier of free agents consists of players like Myles Turner, Fred VanVleet, Jonathan Kuminga, Josh Giddey, and Timberwolves power forwards Julius Randle and Naz Reid. Interestingly, Pincus has Reid ranked ahead of the three-time All-Star he backs up, placing Reid at No. 5 and Randle at No. 7 in his early FA rankings.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

As is typical at this time of year, a number of NBA coaches and executives are receiving interest for jobs at the college basketball level, notes Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Substack link). Fischer mentions Hornets executive Buzz Peterson and veteran player agent Jim Tanner as possible candidates for UNC’s general manager job and says Heat assistant Chris Quinn, Suns assistant David Fizdale, and Bucks assistant Dave Joerger are among the names to watch for the University of Miami’s head coaching position. Fischer adds that Kings assistant Luke Loucks has been linked to Florida State’s head coaching opening.
Former NBA Rookie of the Year Michael Carter-Williams is involved in a bid to bring an WNBA expansion franchise to Boston, according to Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe. With expansion teams lined up for San Francisco, Portland, Toronto, and Cleveland, the WNBA will have 16 clubs by 2028, so it’s unclear whether or not the league will be looking to expand beyond that number right away.
Passing along the results of a player poll from All-Star weekend, Joe Vardon of The Athletic notes that the 14 respondents were unanimously against the idea of 10-minute quarters floated last month by commissioner Adam Silver. However, 12 of those 14 players liked the new All-Star tournament format.
The Lakers‘ and Pistons‘ G League affiliates completed a trade on Wednesday, with the South Bay Lakers acquiring forward Cole Swider from the Motor City Cruise in exchange for Chris Silva‘s returning rights and a 2025 first-round pick, per a press release. Silva is currently playing overseas, but Swider has been active in the G League and will begin suiting up for South Bay.

Heat Notes: Cap Sheet, Herro, Optimism, Jovic

February 17th, 2025 at 9:52pm CST by Dana Gauruder

By trading Jimmy Butler, the Heat have created more cap flexibility for this offseason, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald writes.

Miami now has $176.2MM committed to 12 players for next season, approximately $11MM below the projected $187.9MM luxury tax threshold. However, that figure doesn’t include restricted free agent guard Davion Mitchell and rookie forward Keshad Johnson’s $1.9MM team option, nor does it account for the salary for either of the first-round picks they might have.

The Heat could free up an additional $10MM by shedding Duncan Robinson‘s partially-guaranteed contract but it could also be used to help facilitate a trade. In any case, the team doesn’t have to worry about Butler exercising his $52.4MM option, which he declined in order to sign a two-year extension with Golden State.

We have more on the Heat:

Tyler Herro won the 3-point contest at All-Star weekend and also participated in the revamped All-Star Game format. He expressed gratitude for the opportunity. “I broke like not even a half sweat. But it was a great experience all weekend, just to be here from Friday to Sunday night. Just super grateful to be here,” Herro told Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald.
Though the Heat entered the All-Star break with a four-game losing streak and three games under .500, there’s hope for a strong finish, Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel writes. The Butler drama is over and there’s more depth with the additions of Andrew Wiggins, Kyle Anderson and Mitchell. The bigger lineup featuring Ke’lel Ware and Bam Adebayo also gives the club a new dimension.
In his latest mailbag, Winderman notes that Nikola Jovic has not blossomed as hoped. He’s sometimes guilty of trying to do too much, Winderman writes. An even bigger issue is that he does not play to his size, as he tries to get by too often by finesse instead of power.

Heat Notes: Herro, Highsmith, Durant

February 16th, 2025 at 12:11pm CST by Rory Maher

Heat guard Tyler Herro earned his first All-Star nod in 2024/25. He also won his first three-point contest on Saturday night, defeating Buddy Hield and Darius Garland in the final round.

As Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel writes, Herro has displayed a different level of maturity this season after dealing with trade rumors for much of his career. He credits an improved mental approach for his excellent season.

“I think it comes with being OK with everything, trying to be at peace,” Herro said. “I try to work on myself off the court just as much as I was working on the court. So just being at peace, having my kids, my girl, I’ve got everything I need. So just being able to stay present.”

The 25-year-old sharpshooter said becoming an All-Star has long been a goal of his, so he was thrilled to be selected for the first time, Winderman adds.

“I’ve always wanted to be an All-Star,” he said. “I think I said that from the very beginning, not selfishly, but just trying to be ambitious in my own way. I’m a hard worker, so I feel when I’m able to put my mind on something, I usually go get what I want. So that’s usually how I try to do it. And All-Star was one of my goals coming into the league.”

Here’s more on the Heat:

Herro brought his family and friends with him to All-Star weekend, according to Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald, who takes a look at the former lottery pick’s journey to achieve his goal. “Just spending it with my family, getting a break,” Herro said when asked what he’s looking forward to the most this weekend. “Just seeing all my people there and being able to experience it with them.”
Haywood Highsmith‘s playing time has dwindled of late. Is there still room for him in the rotation after the trade additions of Andrew Wiggins and Kyle Anderson? Winderman examines that question in a subscriber-only mailbag.
Is it inevitable that Kevin Durant will once again be linked to the Heat when the summer rolls around? Winderman weighs in on that topic for The Sun Sentinel, noting that while there still seems to be mutual interest between the two sides, Miami also wasn’t willing to part with the young players and draft capital the Suns were seeking before the trade deadline.

Heat Notes: Losing Streak, Wiggins, Rozier, Adebayo, Herro, Mitchell

February 15th, 2025 at 8:55am CST by Dana Gauruder

The All-Star break came at a good time for the Heat. They have lost four straight contests and 11 of their last 16, dropping them three games below .500.

The Heat took a 10-point lead into the fourth quarter of Wednesday’s game in Oklahoma City, then was outscored 32-8 in the final frame. On Thursday, they fell 118-113 to a depleted Dallas squad that was missing its entire starting five due to injuries.

“Everybody understands the urgency right now,” coach Erik Spoelstra said, per Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald. “There’s not a man in that locker room that doesn’t understand it. We’re disappointed, we’re frustrated. This is humbling.”

We have more out of Miami:

The Heat were far from full strength in the loss to the Mavericks. Only 10 players were available with Andrew Wiggins missing the game due to a stomach illness after playing 34 minutes the previous night. Tyler Herro, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Duncan Robinson and Terry Rozier have also missed recent games due to the same stomach bug, Chiang notes. Rozier also sat out Thursday’s game, as did Bam Adebayo. The latter was sidelined by a left knee contusion after posting 27 points, 15 rebounds and four assists in 35 minutes the previous night.
Adebayo expressed exasperation after the late collapse against the Thunder. It was the 13th time this season Miami lost a game after leading by double digits. “It’s one of those things, man, it’s a lesson,” he told Chiang. “But how many times we got to keep learning this lesson? And it’s not just the players, it’s the coaches, as well. We got to understand that we got to all be on the same page.”
Herro told Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel a sense of urgency is required at all times in order for the club to turn things around. “This is important,” he said. “This needs to matter to everybody in this locker room every single day, every single night, every single film session, shootaround, walkthrough, everything. I think that’s something that we also have to continue to improve at. The games aren’t the only thing that matter. Everything matters. Walkthroughs, like I said. And then just taking care of each other, helping each other, spending time with each other. We just need to get on the same page going into these last 30 games.”
While the addition of Davion Mitchell gave the Heat a much-needed, point-of-attack backcourt defender, they still lack a definitive play-maker, Winderman writes in his latest mailbag. The subtraction of Jimmy Butler adds to the problem because Herro and Adebayo must focus more on scoring than play-making.

Projected NBA Taxpayers For 2024/25

February 14th, 2025 at 4:13pm CST by Luke Adams

Ten NBA teams are still operating in luxury tax territory in the wake of last Thursday’s trade deadline, but this season’s total projected luxury tax payments – and the clubs projected to be taxpayers – have declined significantly in recent weeks.

As of January 23, a total of 14 teams projected to be taxpayers, Bobby Marks of ESPN (Twitter links) observes, with the 16 non-taxpayers on track to receive about $17.8MM apiece, which would have been the largest payout in NBA history.

But the Cavaliers, Pelicans, Clippers, and Sixers all ducked the tax line with their pre-deadline moves, while a few other teams remained in the tax but took steps to significantly reduce their end-of-season bills. Milwaukee, for instance, had been projected to pay about $74.8MM in tax penalties, but has since reduced that figure by more than half, according to Eric Pincus of Sports Business Classroom.

Here are the current projected tax penalties, per Pincus’ data:

Phoenix Suns: $152.26MM
Minnesota Timberwolves: $84.85MM
Boston Celtics: $53.45MM
Los Angeles Lakers: $52.53MM
New York Knicks: $36.45MM
Milwaukee Bucks: $32.66MM
Denver Nuggets: $20.36MM
Golden State Warriors: $12.36MM
Dallas Mavericks: $6.39MM
Miami Heat: $4.18MM
Total: $455.49MM

These numbers will fluctuate a little before the end of the season. For instance, the Lakers recently increased their projected bill when they signed Alex Len to a rest-of-season contract, and the Warriors will need to make multiple roster additions in the near future, which will cause their bill to rise. Various contract incentives that go earned or unearned could also impact the end-of-season tax figures.

Based on the current figures from Pincus, each non-taxpayer is projected to receive a payout of about $11.4MM. That figure is determined by cutting the total league-wide tax penalties in half, then dividing them evenly among the non-taxpaying teams (in this case, 20 clubs).

As significant as the Suns’ tax penalty projects to be, especially for a team currently flirting with .500, it won’t be a single-season record — Golden State has actually exceeded $152.26MM in tax payments in each of the past three years (2022-24).

Assuming these are the 10 teams that finish the season in tax territory, the Celtics, Nuggets, Warriors, Clippers, Lakers, Bucks, and Suns would all be subject to repeater penalties in 2025/26 if they’re taxpayers again next season.

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