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Southeast Notes: Heat, Dragic, Hawks, Mahinmi

November 30th, 2016 at 9:00am CST by Luke Adams

The Heat are currently tied for the NBA’s fourth-worst record, as our 2016/17 Reverse Standings show, and the team will continue to be a little shorthanded on its upcoming road trip. According to Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel, Justise Winslow and Dion Waiters didn’t travel with the team to start the three-game trip to Denver, Utah, and Portland. Winslow is still dealing with a left wrist issue, while Waiters is sidelined with a groin injury. It’s not clear if both players will miss the entire road trip, but if the Heat continue to dig a deeper hole and slip in the standings, it will have an impact on the team’s approach leading up to this season’s trade deadline.

Here’s more from around the Southeast:

While a trade isn’t necessarily the end goal for the Heat with Goran Dragic, it doesn’t hurt to be able to point to games like Monday’s if the team has to make a case for the point guard’s value, writes Winderman in another piece for The Sun Sentinel. Dragic posted 27 points, 17 assists, and just one turnover in Miami’s loss to Boston on Monday.
The Hawks, who have lost three games in a row and six of seven, recently held a players-only meeting, according to Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal Constitution. “It was just reassuring everybody that we’ve got each other’s back,” one player said of the meeting. “Nobody is pointing fingers at each other. It’s just a matter of us figuring it out together.”
The Hawks are one of eight NBA teams without a D-League affiliate this season, so they haven’t assigned any players to the D-League yet this season. However, the team will likely send rookie DeAndre’ Bembry down to get some playing time very soon, tweets Vivlamore. Bembry has only appeared in seven regular season contests for Atlanta so far, playing sparingly in those games.
Ian Mahinmi made his Wizards debut over the weekend, but his troublesome knees continue to act up, as Chase Hughes of CSNMidAtlantic.com details. The veteran center, who signed a four-year, $64MM deal with Washington in July, missed Monday’s game and looks questionable for Wednesday.

Heat Notes: McRoberts, McGruder, Wade, J. Johnson

November 20th, 2016 at 12:59pm CST by Arthur Hill

There are signs that the Heat have lost confidence in Josh McRoberts, writes Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel. Instead of turning to McRoberts when backup center Willie Reed suffered a hyper-extended knee recently, coach Erik Spoelstra rushed Hassan Whiteside back into the game. He used James Johnson and Luke Babbitt as reserves instead of McRoberts. Part of the problem is McRoberts’ lack of aggressiveness on offense, as he is averaging just 1.3 points in the three games he has played. He has a player option worth more than $6MM for next season.

There’s more news out of Miami:

The Heat look like they made a wise investment when they signed promising guard Rodney McGruder to a long-term contract, Winderman writes in the same piece. McGruder, who is averaging 4.8 points in 18.0 minutes through the first 11 games, signed a three-year deal in July with a small guarantee for next season and none for 2018-19. Miami will own his Bird Rights when that contract expires.
Former Heat player Antoine Walker thinks the team may suffer long-term damage from letting Dwyane Wade leave in free agency, Winderman writes in another story. “I think the situation with Dwyane Wade rubbed a lot of superstars the wrong way, to let Dwyane Wade walk out the door,” Walker said in a recent appearance on SiriusXM NBA Radio. “I think Dwyane Wade played excellent last year. I think he played good enough where he could have deserved a big-time contract. It was a no-brainer. He was healthy pretty much the whole season.”
The Heat are getting defensive value out of two of their offseason signings, notes Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. James Johnson leads all forwards in the league by holding the players he guards to 27.7% shooting. Dion Waiters is second among starting NBA shooting guards, limiting opponents to 36.4%.

Heat Notes: McRoberts, Williams, Joe Johnson

November 13th, 2016 at 12:59pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Heat are moving to Plan B after a 2-6 start, with greater roles for Josh McRoberts and Derrick Williams, writes Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel. McRoberts hadn’t played at all before Saturday, and Williams, one of the team’s many offseason additions, had seen just three minutes of action. Luke Babbitt, who has started every game, was benched early along with Dion Waiters. It’s likely that coach Erik Spoelstra will keep tinkering, as Miami fell to Utah even with the changes. “I really like these guys in the locker room we have, and we’re a hard-working group,” McRoberts said. “We’ll continue to figure it out. But it’s really hard to win an NBA game and we can’t forget that as we come together here early. I know it’s tough. I’m the last guy that wants to say that. I want to win every game. But I think we just have to continue to keep working and keep fighting together.”

There’s more news out of Miami:

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, whose team faces the Heat Monday night, offered some advice on how to rebuild after the losses of Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, Winderman relays in a separate story. San Antonio was in the same situation with an aging roster, but was able to stay competitive by trading for Kawhi Leonard and signing LaMarcus Aldridge. “We’ve had to do that over the years with Manu [Ginobili] and Tony [Parker], and then making the trade for Kawhi before LaMarcus, because we knew we had to have more size at that three position,” Popovich said. “So we were able to get that done. And then obviously LaMarcus and now Pau [Gasol]. It’s as much about the pieces that go around those guys as anything.”
Jazz swingman Joe Johnson, who finished last season in Miami, told Manny Navarro of The Miami Herald that he would have been interested in staying if the organization hadn’t opted for a youth movement. “There was [interest on my part to come back], but nobody who was 30 and up was coming back,” Johnson said. “I saw that early in free agency. So, for me, there was nothing to talk about [with the Heat in free agency]. My stint here was very brief. I appreciated it, but I knew where they were trying to go once free agency started.”
Free agent addition Wayne Ellington is getting closer to making his Heat debut, Navarro writes in the same piece. The shooting guard has been out of action since suffering a severe right bruise on his left quad in the team’s last preseason game. There’s still no timetable for him to come back, but he has started running in a pool and may be cleared to run on the court this week. “Everybody I talked to said it was the worst contusion they’ve ever seen,” Ellington said. “That came from a few doctors. I knew it was bad, and I knew it was going to take some time to get right. But they’re also telling me they’re surprised how fast I’m healing from it.”

Dion Waiters On: Free Agency, Durant, OKC

November 7th, 2016 at 5:13pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Shooting guard Dion Waiters left Oklahoma City this offseason in order to sign a team-friendly two-year pact with the Heat. The player sat down with Erik Horne of The Oklahoman to discuss a number of topics, including his departure from the Thunder and his expectations with Miami. The entire interview is worth a look, but here are a few of the highlights:

On what he believes his mission to be this season:

“Just go out there and playing every night. Playing hard. Do what I do. Just enjoy the experience as far as just learning how to be a dominant player every night, not just on the offensive end but the defensive end. Knowing I’m giving my team a chance to win every night. Being able to enjoy the good and the bad, trying to be consistent every night. Being able to have that opportunity to do those things. Every night is not going to be your night, I understand that. But I learned how to impact the game other ways and I think my defense, my playmaking ability is surprising a lot of people. I never really had many opportunities to show my playmaking ability.”

On his relationship with Kevin Durant during the 2015/16 season:

“It was special just for me and him because we opened up to one another as far as real life stuff, what happened growing up, things like that. We got kinda close. We was more alike off the court just growing up. We grew up similar. We built that relationship. That’s why I hung out with him pretty much all the time – him, A-Mo, Cam, Russ. We built that camaraderie, that loyalty. We could talk to each other on the court when everybody thinks we’re cussing each other out. In reality, we’re playing.”

On his reaction when he found out Durant signed with the Warriors:

“I don’t know to be honest with you. He made his decision as a man. He probably wanted change in his life, to do different things. He knew all that was gonna come and he left for that challenge to see how you grow, you grow as a person. I wasn’t shocked or anything, I just was like … ‘OK.’ Everyone was stealing my phone like ‘you knew you knew.’ I was like ‘no.’”

On if he was disappointed that he didn’t re-sign with the Thunder:

“At first I was but then it was like … life goes on. At the end of the day, everything happens for a reason. Once the team was pretty much broken up, I kinda figured where it was going, so I just wanted to make the best decision for me. Not for money or things like that. I wanted to go somewhere I could have fun and try to prove myself. Even though the team we had could have won it all, it is what is.”

On the extent of his negotiations with OKC this past offseason:

“We had talks but we wanted to wait it out. We talked about certain things, what was gonna happen, but it never happened. I don’t want to talk about it. It is what it is. It’s business. I ain’t gonna get into all that happened. That ain’t who I am. You’ve gotta roll with the punches.

At the end of the day, I wish they would have done whatever they were gonna do earlier. That’s my biggest thing right there. You pretty much knew. If they would have just done it earlier, I would have respected it because we had offers. A lot. I didn’t know what was going on. I was kinda in the dark. I was actually working out when that happened [when the Thunder rescinded Waiters’ offer sheet]. … But I love the fans. I love the people. They’ll always be in my heart. Some of the best fans ever, especially all year long just supporting us when I was there.”

Heat Notes: Waiters, Whiteside, Johnson, Richardson

November 5th, 2016 at 3:59pm CST by Arthur Hill

It won’t get the attention that Kevin Durant‘s first game against Oklahoma City did, but Dion Waiters is preparing for his own battle with the Thunder, writes Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel. The Heat will travel Monday to OKC, where Waiters probably would have stayed if Durant had decided to. Instead, the Thunder opted to use Waiters’ cap space to sign Russell Westbrook to an extension, and the fifth-year guard headed to Miami. Waiters spent a season and a half in Oklahoma City and has fond memories of his time there. “The team there really turned me into a pro,” Waiters said. “I really matured there a lot. Just embracing the whole atmosphere and the city, just how much the team and everybody means to the community was huge. I mean, that’s probably the best time I had, in my experiences, and then my first time in the playoffs.”

There’s more from Miami:

This year’s extensions put into perspective the big-money deals the Heat signed during the summer, Winderman writes in a separate piece. Miami gave center Hassan Whiteside $98MM over four seasons, which is less than the four-year, $102MM extension Rudy Gobert just got from Utah or the four-year, $100MM extension that Steven Adams received from Oklahoma City. And the four-year, $50MM offer sheet the Heat matched for Tyler Johnson is less than the deals just given to Victor Oladipo, Gorgui Dieng, Cody Zeller or Dennis Schroder. “You’re going to look back at deals like this right now later on down the line and they aren’t going to look like a whole lot,” Johnson said. “Some of these superstars are going to be up there … and it’s going to be crazy.”
Guard Josh Richardson made his season debut Friday night, less than two months after suffering a knee injury in September, notes Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. Richardson missed all four of his shots and committed two turnovers, but was on the floor for his defense in the fourth quarter. “I felt fine,” he said. “I’ve got to trust my knee fully. I’ve got to find a rhythm. I told [coach Erik Spoelstra] going into halftime that I felt good. My teammates were encouraging me the whole game. I feel ready.”
James Johnson, one of Miami’s many offseason additions, enjoyed returning to Toronto for Friday’s game, writes Ryan Wolstat of The Toronto Sun. Johnson had two stints with the Raptors and was a crowd favorite. “We made something happen last year and it was good to see the guys that we made it happen with,” Johnson said.

Heat Notes: Riley, Bosh, Whiteside, Waiters

September 27th, 2016 at 6:41pm CST by Luke Adams

While some teams won’t admit they’re in rebuilding mode, Heat president Pat Riley didn’t mind using the R-word on Monday, as Ethan Skolnick of The Miami Herald tweets. Comparing the current roster to recent Heat teams, Riley noted that the franchise was “tweaking” the roster during the Big Three era, “retooling” it after LeBron James returned to Cleveland, and is “rebuilding” now. With Dwyane Wade gone and Chris Bosh unlikely to suit up for the Heat again, it will be interesting to see if the team goes into full-fledged rebuilding mode this year, perhaps shopping veteran point guard Goran Dragic.

Here’s more on the Heat:

Manny Navarro of The Miami Herald passes along a couple more comments from Riley, who said he has yet to “hit send” on an email he wrote to Wade, and added that he’s had thoughts about “moving on” from his role with the Heat but still gets excited by the prospect of a new season.
Asked about losing Bosh, Dragic admitted that it helps to have some certainty about what the roster and lineup will look like, but said he’d prefer to have the “small chance [Bosh] could be back,” per Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. “It’s not the prettiest situation right now.” Dragic said. “But we need to clear our heads and have one focus, one goal to get better as a team, get to know each other and try to build that chemistry we are going to need this season.”
Tom Ziller of SBNation.com makes a case for why the Heat should waive Bosh, rather than keeping him on the roster.
After being one of the league’s most underpaid players in recent years, Hassan Whiteside now has a maximum-salary contract, but he won’t let the new deal make him complacent, writes Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel.
Winderman and Jackson have each published pieces on Dion Waiters, with Winderman writing that the Heat’s new shooting guard won’t be thinking about filling Wade’s shoes, while Jackson notes that Waiters opted for happiness over money when he chose to sign with Miami.

Southeast Notes: Wall, Whiteside, Heat

August 20th, 2016 at 8:33pm CST by Arthur Hill

Four months after having surgery on both knees, the Wizards‘ John Wall is being cautious with predictions about his availability for opening night, relays Candace Buckner of The Washington Post. The procedure on Wall’s right knee just removed some loose particles, Bucker notes, but the operation on the left knee was much more serious. Wall hasn’t been cleared for one-on-one games, but he can run, jump and handle two-a-day workouts. “I’m doing all that right now, working out and doing all that type of things but I’m not in no rush,” Wall said. “I’m very excited to be back on the court because I will tell you sitting on the table all day and doing those boring exercises is no fun. Six hours out of the day, it’s the frustrating part in this.” Wall will join his teammates in Los Angeles for a four-day mini-camp starting Sunday. The Wizards open their regular season October 27th.

There’s more from the Southeast Division:

The Heat have big expectations for $98MM center Hassan Whiteside, writes Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel. Now that the big man is under contract for the next four seasons, coach Erik Spoelstra posted a video on the team’s website discussing Whiteside’s responsibilities. “He will be working on all of it,” Spoelstra said. “Low-post scoring, that’s the number one thing he wants to work on, and I’m all for it. He will also work on his skill level at the top of the floor, handling the ball, getting us into second situations as a playmaker, rebounding off the glass.” Spoelstra is planning more minutes and more games for Whiteside, who sat out nine contests last season and only started 43 times.
The need to sign players before the deadline arrived on Tyler Johnson’s offer sheet with the Nets may have caused the Heat to add too many players, Winderman writes in a separate story. Faced with the possible loss of $4MM in cap space, Miami signed free agents Wayne Ellington, Derrick Williams, James Johnson and Willie Reed, then traded for Luke Babbitt before matching Johnson’s offer. Later, they signed Dion Waiters and Beno Udrih, along with Briante Weber and three other players who may be ticketed for the D-League.

Heat Notes: Udrih, Williams, Ellington, Bosh

August 14th, 2016 at 11:33am CST by Arthur Hill

The Heat could use a veteran like Beno Udrih to serve as a backup to Goran Dragic, writes Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel. Miami doesn’t have anyone else on its roster who has played point guard on a regular basis at the NBA level, and Winderman points out that Dragic, who missed 10 games last season, is susceptible to injury with his attacking style of play. The Heat reportedly have a “standing invitation” for Udrih to join them in training camp on a veterans’ minimum contract if he can’t get a better deal elsewhere. Udrih played 36 games with Miami last season before agreeing to a buyout in February to help the team avoid the luxury tax.

There’s more news out of Miami:

There could be a shortage of minutes on the front line for recent additions Derrick Williams, James Johnson and Luke Babbitt, Winderman notes in the same piece. They will essentially be competing at the same position, and shooting guards Josh Richardson, Dion Waiters, Wayne Ellington and Tyler Johnson could all see time at small forward because of an overcrowded backcourt.
Ellington is a prime candidate to be traded once this year’s offseason signees are eligible to be dealt starting December 15th, Winderman writes in a separate story. The Heat signed the 28-year-old shooting guard away from the Nets in July, but later added Waiters in free agency. Winderman believes Ellington will have to be exceptional from 3-point range to earn a regular spot in the Heat’s rotation. He shot 36% from long distance last season and is at 38% for his career.
The Heat are “cautiously optimistic” that Chris Bosh will be able to play this season, writes Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. However, he cautions that nothing is certain with the veteran big man, who has had his last two seasons cut short by blood clots.

Western Notes: Blazers, Tolliver, Westbrook

August 6th, 2016 at 5:15pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Trail Blazers have had a busy offseason as the franchise hopes to keep the momentum going from its surprising 2015/16 season. GM Neil Olshey, speaking at a press conference to formally announce C.J. McCollum‘s extension, noted that keeping the roster intact was his first priority heading into the summer, Sean Meagher of The Oregonian relays.

“Player retention was big this summer,” Olshey said. “We did what we could in terms of free agency, bringing in skill sets more than players – skill sets from the outside. But at the end of the day when you’re the youngest team in the playoffs last year, you made the second round, we had a much better second half of the year than we did the first half, we felt like we were tracking up … it was imperative we keep this group together because we think it has tremendous upside and potential and it’s going to continue to grow.”

Here’s more from out West:

Anthony Tolliver, who inked a two-year deal with the Kings this offseason, hopes he can help mentor DeMarcus Cousins as well as produce on the court this season, Dan Lovi of NBA.com relays. “He has all the talent in the world,” Tolliver said of Cousins. “He’s phenomenal, especially on the offensive end, but I really feel like he can improve. Hopefully I help him become better.”
The Clippers made the most out of their limited cap space this offseason, adding a number of players via below-market contracts who should bolster their bench in 2016/17, Bobby Marks of The Vertical writes in his review of Los Angeles’ summer. The scribe also opines that it is vital for the team to develop 2016 draftees Brice Johnson and Diamond Stone, given the team’s lack of cap flexibility.
While Russell Westbrook‘s renegotiation and extension with the Thunder appeared sudden to many, it was a move that had been in the works for a couple of weeks, writes Royce Young of ESPN.com. According to the scribe, OKC knew it had a commitment from Westbrook when it rescinded its qualifying offer to Dion Waiters. A move that was needed to free up the necessary cap space to complete the arrangement.

Southeast Notes: Jack, Magic, Cuban, Whiteside

July 30th, 2016 at 4:22pm CST by Arthur Hill

Veteran point guard Jarrett Jack is looking forward to a “new start” in Atlanta after a torn ACL cost him most of last season, writes Mike Mazzeo of ESPN.com. Jack, who played in just 32 games for the Nets before suffering the injury in January, signed with the Hawks two weeks ago. Jack lives in Atlanta and played at Georgia Tech, so he said the city was an obvious destination. “I was flattered that they called and wanted to take a chance on me, knowing that I’m coming off knee surgery,” he said, “but I’m willing to prove to everybody that I’m more than capable of withstanding the physical challenges of the season and just contributing to the team.” Jack continues to rehab the knee and said he plans to be fully ready by the start of the season. He is about a month away from being cleared for full five-on-five basketball.

There’s more news from the Southeast Division:

Developing chemistry is the next challenge in Orlando after this summer’s huge turnover, writes Josh Robbins of The Orlando Sentinel. The changes started with the hiring of coach Frank Vogel and continued through a revamped roster that has just six players back from the end of last season. The most notable additions for the Magic were Serge Ibaka, who was acquired in a draft night trade, and Bismack Biyombo and Jeff Green, who signed as free agents. “To me, chemistry and togetherness is something you earn, something you achieve and something you work towards by creating this culture where people like to come to work and people are playing for each other,” Vogel said. “You talk about selflessness and a team-first mentality. Whether we’ve been together for five years or are brand new to each other, every year you’ve got to work to achieve chemistry.”
Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, who lost DeAndre Jordan to a change of heart in free agency last summer, said he never tried to persuade Heat center Hassan Whiteside to reconsider before this year’s moratorium was lifted, relays Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel. Whiteside was Dallas’ top target in free agency, but he decided rather quickly to stay in Miami. “Never crossed our mind,” Cuban said in an interview with Dallas radio station 105.3-FM. “… We were happy with the direction we were going in and we had made our pitch to Hassan, but we didn’t really think he was going to leave and we didn’t go back to him and even bring it up.”
Offseason signings have left the Heat with 11 players who are ineligible to be traded before December 15th, Winderman notes in the same piece. In addition to Whiteside, they are Wayne Ellington, Udonis Haslem, Stefan Jankovic, James Johnson, Tyler Johnson, Rodney McGruder, Willie Reed, Dion Waiters, Okaro White and Derrick Williams.