Thomas Bryant

Heat Notes: Mills, Herro, Love, Schedule, Martin

Patty Mills‘ debut with the Heat on Friday night looked familiar to coach Erik Spoelstra, writes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. Mills provided the jolt of instant offense that Miami was looking for, coming off the bench to score 13 points in 16 minutes while shooting 5-of-7 from the field and 3-of-4 from beyond the arc. It was similar to the performances he used to deliver for the Spurs when they faced Miami in the 2013 and 2014 NBA Finals.

“That was great to see him finally do it in a Heat uniform instead of against us,” Spoelstra said. “We’ve seen that for too many years. You can see why he’s been able to do what he does. He’s ignitable, he’s smart, he’s been in a lot of very good systems so he knows how to fit even though he hasn’t had a practice.”

Mills matched his highest-scoring game of the season, as he was seeing limited playing time with Atlanta before being waived last week. There’s no guarantee that Mills will get regular minutes with the Heat once the roster is healthier, but his new teammates are aware of how he can help them.

“We all know what he can do,” Jimmy Butler said. “We all know what he’s going to bring to this team. I think that he’s a winner. He knows how to play the game of basketball. He has a very, very, very high IQ and he just wants to help in any way that he can.”

There’s more from Miami:

  • Tyler Herro and Kevin Love have already been ruled out for Sunday’s game against Washington, Chiang adds. Herro will sit out his eighth straight game with medial tendinitis in his right foot, while Love will miss his sixth in a row due to a bruised right heel. Chiang notes that Spoelstra has typically alternated between Orlando Robinson and Thomas Bryant at backup center when Love is unavailable, but neither of them played Friday in Oklahoma City as those minutes went to Nikola Jovic.
  • Heat players are cautioning against a letdown as they enter a soft spot in the schedule, Chiang states in a separate story. Locked in a tight race to avoid the play-in tournament, Miami will face 10-win teams in three of its next four games, hosting the Wizards tomorrow and traveling to Detroit for games on March 15 and 17. “Like every other game, with a sense of urgency,” Bam Adebayo responded when asked about the team’s approach. “So for us, it’s just having that same sense of urgency as if we were playing anybody else.”
  • Caleb Martin will likely need surgery this summer for a sprained thumb on his non-shooting hand, but he tells Chiang that he’ll continue to play through the pain for the rest of the season.

Southeast Notes: Hawks, Collins, A. Ainge, Bryant, Rozier

Despite being involved in countless rumors in the months leading up to the trade deadline, the Hawks‘ front office decided to stand pat. As John Hollinger of The Athletic writes, Atlanta hasn’t made any type of significant move since trading John Collins to Utah last June in a salary dump.

It’s strange for a middling team to be so inactive, especially since the Hawks had high hopes after trading for Dejounte Murray a couple years ago. But pairing him with Trae Young hasn’t worked out over the past two seasons, particularly on the defensive end, Hollinger notes.

However, Young underwent successful hand surgery on Tuesday and will be sidelined for at least four weeks, giving Murray an opportunity to play his natural position — point guard — while Young is out. As Hollinger observes, despite his relatively diminutive stature, Young has been quite durable over the course of his career, so it will be the Hawks’ first real opportunity in several years to see what they can do without the three-time All-Star.

If the Hawks play well without Young, Hollinger wonders if they’ll be more inclined to trade the 25-year-old this summer instead of Murray, who is on a less expensive long-term contract. Either way, Hollinger argues the Hawks shouldn’t continue their transactional inactivity, as the current roster is too good to bottom out but not good enough to contend for anything meaningful.

Here’s more from the Southeast:

  • John Collins had an emotional return to Atlanta on Tuesday, per Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune. The former Hawks big man spent his first six seasons with the team before being traded to the Jazz last offseason. “I was aware it was going to be very emotional for me. I was doing my best to not let it, but it did,” Collins said.
  • After previously reporting a few “prime” contenders to become the Hornets‘ new lead basketball executive, veteran NBA reporter Marc Stein adds another name to the list of possible candidates (via Twitter): Celtics assistant GM Austin Ainge, the son of Jazz CEO Danny Ainge. Austin has been with Boston in various roles for well over a decade.
  • The NBA will allow Heat backup center Thomas Bryant to receive his 2023 championship ring on Thursday in Denver, according to Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press (Twitter link), who notes that suspended players are not normally permitted inside arenas on game days. However, the league decided to make an exception for Bryant, who will have to leave after the pregame ceremony. Bryant was a role player last year for the Nuggets.
  • Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald takes a look at what the Heat are expecting from trade acquisition Terry Rozier, who returned to action on Tuesday after battling a knee sprain. Rozier says he’s still trying to find the right balance now that he’s not the top offensive option like he was for part of the season in Charlotte. “For sure,” Rozier said. “Not trying to do too much, but you got guys over there screaming at me, telling me I need to shoot the ball. Just trying to figure it out. Wins is all we really care about.

Heat Notes: Butler, Bryant, Rozier, Herro

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra was disappointed with the league’s decision to suspend Jimmy Butler one game for the altercation between his club and the Pelicans on Friday, according to Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald.

Nikola Jovic was also assessed a one-game suspension and Thomas Bryant received a three-game penalty. The Heat will be in action on Monday in Sacramento, so Bryant, Butler, and Jovic will miss that game. Bryant will also si out the team’s contests in Portland on Tuesday and Denver on Thursday.

“I had no idea what to expect,” Spoelstra said. “You know, at this point, it doesn’t really matter. They’ve made their decision on that. It felt like Jimmy shouldn’t have gotten a game on that. It’s really just kind of a tangling and a little bit of pushing. I don’t think that deserves another game because he ended up having to miss the fourth quarter. But it is what it is.”

Butler expected to receive some sort of suspension.

“It doesn’t surprise me, man. It doesn’t,” he said. “I’m basically still on All-Star break.”

We have more on the Heat:

  • Bryant had a confrontation with Jose Alvarado after leaving the bench but wasn’t planning on getting involved in any fisticuffs. “From my point of view, I was coming in to be a peacemaker,” Bryant said, per Chiang. “I didn’t want any of my teammates to get hurt, I certainly didn’t want to get hurt at all. It just didn’t work out in the favor that I wanted.”
  • In the same story, Chiang reports that Terry Rozier could return on Monday after missing three games with a right knee strain. Rozier is listed as questionable. “He’s on the road trip for a reason,” Spoelstra said. “He’s working toward getting back. When that day will be, I don’t know yet. But he’s definitely making progress. His body will let us know.”
  • Tyler Herro will get an MRI after suffering a hyperextended left knee against the Pelicans. He’s also listed as questionable to play Monday and is optimistic that he won’t miss time, Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel writes. “It’s feeling good,” Herro said. “I’m going to get an MRI just for peace of mind, to make sure everything is good.”

Five Players Suspended For Friday Altercation Between Heat, Pelicans

Heat big man Thomas Bryant and Pelicans guard Jose Alvarado have been suspended three games apiece for leaving the bench area and fighting during an on-court altercation on Friday in New Orleans, the NBA announced today in a press release (Twitter link).

Additionally, Heat forward Jimmy Butler and Pelicans forward Naji Marshall will face one-game suspensions for instigating the incident, while Heat forward Nikola Jovic will be suspended for one game for leaving Miami’s bench area and entering the fracas, per the league.

The incident began when Heat forward/center Kevin Love wrapped up Zion Williamson as the Pelicans star attempted a layup early in the fourth quarter (Twitter video link). Marshall objected to the play and rushed to confront Love, resulting in Marshall and Butler getting into a shoving match, with players and coaches from both teams looking to intercede.

The altercation escalated briefly, then seemed to be cooling down before Bryant and Alvarado exchanged heated words and threw punches in front of the scorer’s table (Twitter video link). Butler, Bryant, Marshall, and Alvarado were all ejected from the game, which Miami eventually won.

The Pelicans will host the Bulls on Sunday, so Marshall will serve his one-game suspension tonight, while Alvardo will begin serving his three-game ban. Alvarado will miss games in New York on Tuesday and Indiana on Wednesday as well.

With Dyson Daniels (left knee) and CJ McCollum (left ankle) also unavailable for the Pelicans on Sunday and Williamson (left foot) and Brandon Ingram (non-COVID illness) considered questionable, the team recalled a handful of players – Jalen Crutcher, E.J. Liddell, Malcolm Hill, and Dereon Seabron – from the G League on Saturday for depth purposes.

The Heat will be in action on Monday in Sacramento, so Bryant, Butler, and Jovic will miss that game, with Bryant also sitting out the team’s contests in Portland on Tuesday and Denver on Thursday.

The three-game suspensions will cost Bryant $52,308 (of his $2,528,233 salary) and Alvarado $37,988 (of $1,836,096), per ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter links).

Because he’s on a maximum-salary contract, Butler will forfeit by far the biggest total ($259,968) of any of the five affected players, despite being suspended for just a single game. Jovic will lose $13,517, while Marshall will lose $11,096.

Heat Notes: Herro, Possible Suspensions, Wright, All-Star Game

Tyler Herro hyperextended his left knee late in Friday’s game, but the Heat guard doesn’t believe it’s a cause for concern, writes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. Herro suffered the injury when he slipped and lost control of the ball. He grabbed at the knee in pain and had to be helped to the locker room, but he was moving fine after the game.

“It was just unfortunate having my knee bumped a little bit,” Herro said. “But I think structurally, everything is good — no major, even minor damage. They thought that everything was good. It just kind of scared me more than anything. It’s a little soreness. But I’ll see how I respond in the morning and go from there.”

Herro was already experiencing discomfort in his right foot, a condition that developed during the All-Star break, Chiang adds. He opted to play Friday because guards Josh Richardson and Terry Rozier are sidelined by injuries.

“It’s the same little area that I dealt with in the past with my right foot in my rookie year,” Herro said. “It’s the same thing as that. So we’re really trying to manage it right now.”

There’s more on the Heat:

  • Miami was able to hold on for a win Friday at New Orleans even though Jimmy Butler and Thomas Bryant were ejected following a fight early in the fourth quarter, Chiang states in a separate story. The scuffle began when Kevin Love tried to wrap up Zion Williamson on a layup attempt. Naji Marshall objected to the play, and he and Butler got into a shoving match. “I put my hand around his neck,” Butler said. “He put his hand around my neck, and it took off the way it did.” Several Heat players left the bench during the exchange, which will result in automatic one-game suspensions. Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link) speculates that the suspensions may have to be staggered so Miami has enough active players for Monday’s game.
  • Delon Wright wasn’t used in his first game since signing with the Heat last week, Chiang adds. The 31-year-old guard has only been through one practice with his new team, and Chiang expects him to eventually get opportunities, especially with the banged-up backcourt. “He’s a guy that figures it out and we thought it would be a good fit for him and us, for the reasons of how he plays and how he competes and how he prioritizes defense and how disruptive he is on that side of the floor,” coach Erik Spoelstra said. “Then offensively, he’s always been a guy that just fits in, sets up a team. And those kinds of guys have a way of making it work quickly.”
  • In another piece, Chiang examines why Miami, a warm-weather city, hasn’t hosted an NBA All-Star Game since 1990.

Heat Notes: Losing Streak, Rozier, Rotation, Jaquez

The Heat are fully healthy for the first time all season, but their long losing streak continues, writes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. Apart from guard Dru Smith, who underwent season-ending knee surgery in December, Miami had a complete roster available for this afternoon’s game in New York. So it was discouraging that the Heat weren’t able to remain competitive against a potential playoff rival, falling 125-109 for their first six-game losing skid in nearly three years.

“Look, right now we’re going to rally around each other, rally around our identity,” coach Erik Spoelstra told reporters. “It’s a tough time right now.”

Miami is 0-3 since acquiring Terry Rozier from Charlotte on Tuesday in a move to add another weapon to the offense. Rozier is struggling badly with his shot since the trade, connecting at just 30.3% from the field and 18.2% from long distance.

“He’ll figure it out,” Spoelstra said. “He’s trying to fit in and I get that. We’re all saying the same thing. We want Terry to be Terry. He’s going to unlock other things for us.”

There’s more on the Heat:

  • Rozier started for the second straight game, alongside Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro and Haywood Highsmith. Spoelstra used Kevin Love, Duncan Robinson, Jaime Jaquez and Caleb Martin off the bench in the first look at what his rotation might be with everyone available. Chiang notes that Josh Richardson picked up his first DNP-CD of the season, while center Thomas Bryant also didn’t play.
  • Jaquez returned after missing the previous six games with a strained groin, Chiang adds. He provided six points and four assists in about 24 minutes and played 7:33 in the fourth quarter until the game got out of hand. “There are definitely some things defensively that he needs to fast track on and he knows that,” Spoelstra said. “But offensively, you can definitely see some of the intangibles that he brings. He just has a knack for the play, a knack for getting us some rim pressure and we need a lot more of that.”
  • Today’s loss shows the Heat need to add size before the trade deadline to have a shot at another long playoff run, states Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel. He observes that Miami was outrebounded 29-19 in the first half and frequently had to throw double teams at Julius Randle, leading to open three-point shots.

Heat Notes: Rozier, Butler, Jaquez, Love

On Tuesday, the Heat traded Kyle Lowry and their 2027 first-round pick to Charlotte for veteran guard Terry Rozier, who was having a career season in an expanded role for a team losing lots of games.

On Wednesday, Rozier had a physical and made his Heat debut, a home loss to the undermanned Grizzlies, writes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. On Thursday, Miami was eviscerated at home by the Celtics, Chiang adds in another story. Rozier struggled in both games after a whirlwind few days.

Thursday marked Miami’s fifth straight loss — its worst stretch of basketball since March 2021, when the team lost six straight. Trading for Rozier was an acknowledgement that the Heat needed more offensive firepower, and while he and everyone around the team realize he won’t be averaging 18.3 shots per game like he did with the Hornets, head coach Erik Spoelstra still wants him to get in the paint and be assertive, according to Chiang.

It’s clear to see the positives with Terry,” Spoelstra said Thursday. “He brings us a burst, a speed, a quickness, his ability to get into the paint. I think that’s going to continue to get better once he understands how important it is to our offense and how we want him to be him and be aggressive.”

Here’s more from Miami:

  • Sam Vecenie of The Athletic likes what Rozier will bring Miami on offense, with his ability to drive and take (and make) pull-up threes both valuable traits for a team that doesn’t generate many points in either of those areas. However, he has questions about Rozier’s defense compared to Lowry’s, and thinks the possibility of giving up an unprotected pick in 2028 (it’s lottery protected in 2027 and will become unprotected in ’28 if it doesn’t convey) for Rozier probably wasn’t worth it.
  • Star forward Jimmy Butler spoke to the media after Thursday’s loss for the first time since the trade of close friend Lowry. He said the players’ performance has been abysmal lately and the onus is on them to compete much harder than they have been on both ends of the court, per Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel (subscriber link). Butler does think Rozier’s addition can help the team, however. “I mean, I think it can be a positive thing, a new face, yes,” Butler said. “The scoring that he brings, the leadership that he brings, he’s played in the playoffs a bunch with that Boston team. And I mean he’s just a hell of a player. He’s smiling. He’s happy. And I think that’s going to become very contagious. He’s going to be the ring leader for that.”
  • Rookie forward Jaime Jaquez will be available on Saturday against the Knicks after missing the past six games with a groin injury, the team announced (via Twitter). Jaquez won Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month in December for his second straight monthly award.
  • Veteran big man Kevin Love was out for the back-to-back this week due to an illness (Twitter link via Winderman) but he isn’t on the injury report for Saturday’s matchup with New York, which means he should be back in action. As Winderman observes, Thomas Bryant took Love’s minutes when he was out, over second-year forward/center Nikola Jovic.

Southeast Notes: Heat, T. Jones, Wizards, Suggs

The Heat used their 16th different starting lineup in 28 games on Wednesday at Orlando, but they keep finding ways to win, writes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo returned this week, but Jimmy Butler was held out with a strained left calf and Kevin Love had a stomach illness, forcing coach Erik Spoelstra to continue the personnel juggling that has been necessary since the start of the season.

“We do feel like we have great depth,” Spoelstra said. “We have great continuity, so I’m not as concerned when we’ve had to deal with guys missing games. It’s more about developing the consistency to our identity, which we know. We have the continuity. It’s about whoever is out there, we know what we need to try to do. We just need to do it more consistently.”

Chiang notes that only the Grizzlies, Hornets and Pistons have more missed games this season than Miami, and all those teams are near the bottom of the standings. Miami is tied for sixth in the East at 16-12 while getting contributions from up and down its roster. Reserves played a huge role on Wednesday as Josh Richardson, Duncan Robinson, Thomas Bryant and Haywood Highsmith all contributed to the win.

“Thomas was a plus-20. Obviously, (Highsmith) was really good defensively and then knocked down threes,” Spoelstra said. “So that makes everybody else notice out there. But he did a lot of other intangible things to contribute to winning. And J-Rich and Duncan were both so rock solid in this game. We don’t win this game without that production from those guys.”

There’s more from the Southeast Division:

  • The Wizards traded for point guard Tyus Jones this summer to be the on-court leader for a young team and he has excelled in that role so far, per Chase Hughes of Monumental Sports. Jones is posting career highs with 11.8 points, 3.0 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game, and Washington ranks second in the league in pace and 10th in scoring.“You can have play-makers, but there are a lot of guards in the league who are score first,” coach Wes Unseld Jr. said. “They are capable of making plays and facilitating, but it’s very unique to have a guy who sees the game that way and is able to put other guys in the right spots.”
  • With the Wizards off to a 4-22 start, David Aldridge and Josh Robbins of The Athletic examine the roster and look at how management can get the team moving in the right direction. Sources tell the authors that Washington plans to emphasize “positional length,” basketball IQ and work ethic in next summer’s draft.
  • Michael Pina of The Ringer talks to Jalen Suggs about how he has helped the Magic improve by taking on a non-glamorous role.

Heat Notes: Adebayo, Herro, Jovic, Hampton, More

Time is no longer on Heat center Bam Adebayo‘s side when it comes to potentially earning a super-max contract extension after the season, writes The South Florida Sun Sentinel’s Ira Winderman.

In order to be eligible for a super-max deal worth 35% of the cap, Adebayo has to either earn a spot on the All-NBA team or be named the league’s MVP or Defensive Player of the Year. And in order to be eligible for any of those honors, he must play in at least 65 games as a result of changes made in the latest Collective Bargaining Agreement.

Adebayo has already missed nine games this season, including six in a row. That means he can only miss up to eight more before he’s deemed ineligible for those awards. Adebayo is nearing a return to the court and is expected back sometime in December, per the Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson, but another injury or two in the coming months could cost him a shot at super-max eligibility in 2024.

Adebayo is in the middle of a strong season, averaging 22.3 points and 9.9 rebounds for the 14-11 Heat. If he’s able to stay healthy, he should be a candidate for both an All-NBA nod and for the Defensive Player of the Year award. He’s finished in the top five in voting in the latter in each of the past four seasons.

We have more from the Heat:

  • Adebayo isn’t the only key player the Heat are expecting back soon. We recently wrote Tyler Herro is expected back soon and Jackson says he’s targeting a Dec. 18 return. Herro hasn’t played since Nov. 8. R.J. Hampton also recently returned for the Heat, logging roughly nine minutes against the Bulls on Thursday in his first action since Oct. 28.
  • In the second of a three-part series, Jackson explores potential trades the Heat could make with Western Conference teams. However, there aren’t many options that are either easy or make much sense. Jackson mentions Lauri Markkanen‘s supposed availability, but writes the Jazz would rightly want a huge return and any other trade with Utah could limit the team’s availability to re-sign Caleb Martin. Other teams exploring trades, like the Spurs and the Warriors, don’t have many packages that make sense for Miami either.
  • Center Thomas Bryant and two-way player Jamal Cain have both seen their roles fluctuate with the Heat this season, observes the Miami Herald’s Anthony Chiang. Bryant opened the year as Adebayo’s primary backup, but fell out of the rotation and remained that way even with Adebayo out. Meanwhile, Cain had a strong summer and sought a standard deal but ultimately ended back up on a two-way deal that limits him to 50 regular season games. However, both players are continuing to stay ready for any opportunity, which coach Erik Spoelstra commented was “never easy.” Bryant has responded by scoring 17 points and 11 rebounds in about 27 minutes over his last two appearances. Cain meanwhile, scored 14 points in just under 29 minutes against the Hornets on Wednesday.

Heat Notes: Adebayo, Bryant, Martin, Richardson

Heat center Bam Adebayo is taking his game to new heights this season as he becomes more aggressive on the court than ever before, writes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald.

Adebayo’s latest game, Tuesday’s loss to the Bucks, saw the seventh-year center set a career high with 27 field-goal attempts, along with season highs in points and minutes. The two-time All-Star did this against an interior defense spearheaded by 2022/23 Defensive Player of the Year runner-up Brook Lopez and five-time All-Defensive Team selection Giannis Antetokounmpo.

He was just super assertive,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of Adebayo. “That’s what we need from Bam. He was really aggressive getting into the paint, creating those paint opportunities that normally Jimmy is so great at for us. Now we have a lot of guys with that ability to do that. But Bam was relentless all game long and that just shows you his capacity to do it on both ends.

Adebayo is currently averaging career highs of 23.3 points and 10.3 rebounds in addition to his 4.0 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.1 blocks per game. His play has him under consideration for his third All-Star Game as well as for Defensive Player of the Year and/or an All-NBA selection.

As Chiang observes, being named Defensive Player of the Year or being selected to an All-NBA Team would make Adebayo eligible to sign a four-year super-max extension this upcoming offseason. His teammates have been vocal about Adebayo’s continued evolution.

I think he should be a lock for All-NBA this year,” Richardson said. “He’s really been carrying a lot of the load for us this year.

We have more from the Heat:

  • Center Thomas Bryant was signed over the offseason to help stabilize the Heat’s non-Adebayo minutes, but he has fallen out of the rotation as Kevin Love has produced positive minutes in that role. According to Chiang in a separate story, Bryant said it’s been an adjustment but that he’s staying ready for anything. “Everything being communicated is just staying ready, going over things that I’ve done before, just keep improving on everything and just stay with it,” Bryant said. “‘Your time is coming’ whenever it might be, so it’s always about a stay ready mind-set and just always staying ready no matter what the outcome is.
  • Forward Caleb Martin is continuing to work his way back into form after a lingering knee injury kept him out of most of the preseason and 10 straight games at one point this season, according to Chiang. After averaging 5.8 points on 30.6% shooting in his first five games back, Martin scored 22 points on Saturday against the Nets. “I want quick results, I want to just get back to my normal self, too,” Martin said. “I just know it’s going to take some time. So I accept that and figure out how to go with that.
  • With Dru Smith out for the season and Tyler Herro recovering from his own injury, Josh Richardson has adopted the Heat’s backup point guard position for the time being, Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel observes. “I play with kind of both units,” Richardson said. “So with the first unit, it’s more so spacing, giving Jimmy and Bam kind of like an outlet. With the second unit, I kind of got to be a paint-touch guy. We have Duncan [Robinson] out there running around. So it’s kind of fluid. It’s one thing that I’ve got to figure out.