Since more eyes will be on the W as the postseason begins, now is the time for players to start calling for Commissioner Cathy to be replaced. It's time to put the pressure on Adam Silver.
Heat playing on Christmas.
Heat playing on national TV the second night of the season.
I'm sure when the full schedule is released, the Heat will have many games on national TV. Last season, the Heat were so disrespected, they were on ESPN just one time all season.
As for Christmas, the Heat have been so disrespected, that in 2022, even after they took Boston to a game 7 in the Eastern Conference Finals, they weren't deemed worthy enough to be one of the 10 teams to play on Christmas.
Thank you Giannis.
In a motion to dismiss two charges against Rozier, attorney David Markus wrote that a text sent by co-conspirator Deniro Laster shows that Rozier did not know about the alleged bets. Laster, a childhood friend of Rozier, is accused of selling inside information about Rozier's plan to leave a March 2023 game early as part of the alleged betting scheme.
"Dont tell chum bout the bet," Laster wrote, according to the filing. "Chum" is Rozier's nickname, the filing noted.
The recipient answered, "Hell no," according to the filing.
Markus argued that these texts, which he said were included in the government's discovery, "should end the case."
"One does not hide a bet from the person who supposedly sold it," he wrote.
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/49496738/terry-rozier-attorney-dismiss-text-deniro-laster
So much for what LeBron said last week regarding his decision: "I won't hold you guys up too much longer." Rich Paul now trying to add cover saying "we're" not going to be rushed. Doesn't sound like a decision is imminent.
From SunSentinel (Ira Winderman)
"the Heat’s introduction of Portis at 12:30 p.m. and Antetokounmpo at 3 p.m.
The Heat will stream Portis’ introduction on their YouTube channel, with Antetokoumpo’s introduction to be streamed on the Heat’s YouTube channel and also televised on NBA TV and in South Florida on WPLG Local 10."
They are ranked #11 in the league and 6th in the East. Is that an accurate ranking?
When the Heat are getting stops and running in transition, they'll be a major problem. But as constructed, I can't put them among the elite teams because of the half-court offensive issues.
Erik Spoelstra will find ways to make it work, but with a non-shooting in Bam Adebayo and Giannis Antetokounmpo and a non-shooting point guard in Davion Mitchell, the spacing is going to be very cramped and there are no traditional creators in there.
Yes, I know Bam has stretched his shooting to 3 but defenses will still be happy to let him fire away. Same with Mitchell even though his percentages look fine at low volume. The loss of Norman Powell is huge.
Still, the Heat will be tough on defense and running alone. They'll shoot as many 3s around Bam and Giannis as they can. LeBron would add another major talent, obviously, and help the spacing some, but like Giannis he would find driving lanes pretty packed as well.
Excerpt from Sun Sentinel article (Ira Winderman):
With the Heat, there was the constant urgency to win every moment, amid a desperate battle during Ware’s two seasons for playoff seeding, winding up in the play-in bracket both years, without a single playoff-game victory during his tenure.
Now with the Bucks, the pressure figures to lessen and the development perhaps to be heightened, on a team largely taking the long view with a roster loaded with young prospects, including getting No. 13 pick Nate Ament in last month’s draft from the Heat.
“Obviously where I’m at now, you know, it’s a young team,” Ware, 22, said. “I have more of a chance to flourish. So I’m excited for that.”
To a degree this could mean a renewal, after Spoelstra never seemed fully committed to playing Ware in a leading role alongside starting center Bam Adebayo, despite Adebayo voicing that as a preference.
“I mean, yeah, you know, a fresh start,” said the 7-footer selected out of Indiana by the Heat with the No. 15 pick in the 2024 NBA draft, “getting more minutes with that, being able to go out there just work on my game more, the game-situation things.”
With such a young Bucks roster, Ware also recognizes that he will be arriving as somewhat of a veteran.
“Yeah, for sure. I feel like I developed in my second year, And even after my second year, I feel like I developed, developed going into my third year,” he said, with that third season upcoming. “I was able to, I guess, grow up more mentally in Miami.”
I've seen at least $3 million be deposited in the last couple of hours. Miami has jumped 20% today. It looks like this is really happening.
From Ira Winderman/ Sun Sentinel today:
"Horst said it was made clear that there only would be a deal if the Heat sent out Tyler Herro, Kel’el Ware, Kasparas Jakucionis and Jaime Jaquez Jr."
"“Each player was primary for us. There was not a deal that we would have done that didn’t have each of these four players in it, including Kasparas. "
So since Kas was selected with the draft pick that Golden State gave Miami for disgruntled Jimmy, his behavior is ultimately the reason they landed Giannis.
Also from Ira today:
"The Heat are scheduled to go against Jakucionis and the Bucks in their Las Vegas NBA Summer League opener Friday, with Jakucionis added to Milwaukee’s summer roster after last week’s work with the Lithuanian national team."
The game appears to be on Prime at 4 PM EDT on Friday.
Miami went from 7.8% yesterday morning to 23% currently. Mmmm....
Jahmir Young: Was on a two-way. In April, got a standard contract when Rozier's contract was taken off the books. No qualifying offer from the Heat, but he joined the summer league and tied Conwell for leading scorer with 21 points in game 1. Possibly in danger of being poached by another team with continued quality play.
Trevor Keels: finished last season on a two-way. Also received no QO but got on the summer league roster. Game 1 had 18 points, good shooting percentages, 7 boards. Also could possibly be poached.
Vlad Goldin: Received a two-way QO but hasn't signed it yet. The QO prevents poaching.
Tre Donaldson actually signed a two-way. Not sure why he was offered one over Jahmir and Trevor. Had next to nothing on offense in game 1. 2 points in 18 minutes on 3 shots.
Of note, dunk champion Keshad Johnson was not given a QO. He was invited to Heat's summer league but declined. I don't see that he's on any summer league roster either. Probably should have showed up and balled out like Young & Keels.
What moves should the Heat make with their two-ways?
Multiple options available to watch each game:
7/3 8:00 PM EDT Heat/Spurs: ESPN/Prime Video/NBA TV
7/5 4:30 PM EDT Heat/Lakers: ESPN/Prime Video
7/6: 10:00 PM EDT Heat/Warriors (Gold) ESPN+/Prime Video/NBA TV
From Anthony Chiang's article today, here's what the Heat currently have on the books:
"Antetokounmpo ($58.5 million for 2026-27), Bam Adebayo ($49.5 million), Wiggins ($30.2 million), Nikola Jovic ($16.2 million), Bobby Portis ($14.5 million), Davion Mitchell ($12.4 million), Dru Smith ($2.6 million), Pelle Larsson ($2.3 million), Myron Gardner ($500,000 of $2.6 million salary guaranteed)"
So including Myron's full salary that's $188.8M. Ryan Conwell is not finalized but estimates for year 1, second rounder is $1.3M, = $190.1M
Heat are hard capped at the first apron, $209M. The difference is $18.9M.
10 players listed above and the Heat typically only fill 14 roster spots. So 4 players can split $18.9M. If they eat Myron's $500K, they could add $2.1M more and 5 players could split $21M.
From Anthony's article:
"the Heat will have room under the first apron to use most of its $15.1 million non-taxpayer mid-level exception. This exception can be split between multiple players.
Miami also has minimum contracts and the $5.5 million biannual exception — but no cap space — to offer outside free agents up until the first apron."
So how do you think they should spend it? Three vet minimums for a total of $7-8M and one MLE player at $11-12M? Two vet minis at $2.5M each and two players at $7M each? Should Myron be ditched for another vet mini with more experience?
It's always been great that the Heat think Summer League development is so important that they make sure to fly out to Northern California before the Vegas tournament starts to get their players extra work. This is the 8th year for the Cali Classic and the Heat were there at the beginning in 2018 when Orlando shut down their Summer League.
For all of the conspiracy theorists out there that believe the lottery is/was rigged and that Adam Silver screwed the Heat over, please read Brian Windhorst's description of how the lottery works. The machine contains 14 balls which are drawn four at a time to form a unique combination. Each of the possible 1,001 combinations are assigned to one of the 14 teams. So it's literally impossible to rig it so four specific teams get the first four picks.
