What we learned: Herro excelled in his sixth-man role, while showing potential for something more. What we need to know: If there remains room on the roster to carry Haslem, as opposed to a contributor or developmental project.Ģ022-23 salary: $5.7 million, with extension window ahead of start of next season, otherwise restricted free agent in 2023 offseason. What we learned: Teammates and the coaching staff still swear by his presence. Grade: 83 (Haslem’s total minutes this season, including none in the playoffs.) What we need to know: Is such a role still essential in today’s NBA, with Dedmon shuffled out of the mix by the closing stages of the Celtics series? How the Heat choose to play going forward could go a long way toward determining Dedmon’s Miami future. In many ways, he still stands as the quintessential old-school back-up big man. What we learned: When a big body is needed, Dedmon still has the ability to bang, rebound and dunk. Heat hold Bird Rights, able to exceed salary-cap to re-sign. What we need to know: Can such efforts be sustained as the odometer continues to add wear and tear? The concern is whether all-of-the-time Jimmy Butler is a thing of the past, with it to be more of a case of picking his moments, as he showed in the playoffs.Ģ022-23 salary: Free agent, after earning NBA minimum this season. When healthy and engaged, there are few better two-way players, even at his age. What we learned: That when Jimmy Butler wants to be the best player on the court he still has that ability, as his breakthrough playoff moments proved. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)Ģ022-23 salary: $37.7 million, with three additional seasons on contract, the last a player option. Tucker (17) and forward Jimmy Butler (22) celebrate during the second half of Game 1 of an NBA basketball Eastern Conference finals playoff series against the Boston Celtics, Tuesday, May 17, 2022, in Miami. “I mean, I’m not mad at it,” he said of being an on-court defensive coordinator.Miami Heat forward P.J. He said he does not consider it an added burden. So just putting guys in the right spot and helping us be successful.” It’s kind of like me being the quarterback, in a sense. “So helping those four obviously helps us get rebounds, make sure they don’t get easy shots. “You look at it as we’re a team, we want to be in sync, we want to be a unit. “I mean, I’m responsible for four other guys,” he said ahead of the Heat’s game against the Charlotte Hornets at FTX Arena. It was the longest such streak by an NBA rookie since Karl-Anthony Towns did so in 15 consecutive games in 2016.Īdebayo spoke at Thursday’s shootaround about his role anchoring the team’s zone defense from the back line. 15 last season, the longest such streak by a Heat rookie, surpassing the previous record held by Michael Beasley and Rony Seikaly. Yurtseven went on to grab double-figure rebounds in 14 consecutive games from Dec. With that performance, he also became just the second undrafted player in NBA history (since starts were tracked in 1970) to post a 15-point, 15-rebound double-double in their first career start, joining only Bonzie Colson, who did it in 2019 for the Milwaukee Bucks. Yurtseven recorded a 16-point, 15-rebound double-double in his first career start last December, joining Kurt Thomas as just the second player in franchise history to close with at least 15 points and 15 rebounds in a Heat debut. Yurtseven is coming off a whirlwind rookie season in 2021-22, when he thrived during the midseason stretch when Adebayo was out due to thumb surgery. The Heat also have been carrying perimeter players Jamal Cain and Dru Smith on two-way contracts, with the option of instead utilizing one of those two ancillary spots on a young big man. The Heat have primarily been utilizing Adebayo and Dewayne Dedmon as either/or options at center, rarely utilizing another big man.Īmong other options with length on the roster are seldom-used team captain Udonis Haslem and rookie Nikola Jovic.Īmong centers who remained available as free agents are DeMarcus Cousins and Hassan Whiteside, with Dwight Howard this past week signing to play overseas.Īs it is, due to the Heat’s position against the onerous luxury tax, the team has been carrying only 14 players under standard contract, one below the league maximum. “I went to like five different doctors just to make sure everything was fine just to double, triple and quadruple check,” he said late last month. Initially, it did not appear to be a severe injury.
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