Heat hard-cap situation raises stakes for three players. And Herro again excels in win

The Heat, for the moment, is caught up in a numbers game, unable by league rules to sign any other players - besides Tyler Herro - without purging salary.

And that raises the stakes for three Heat summer leaguers without fully guaranteed contracts: Yante Maten, Duncan Robinson and Kendrick Nunn.

Releasing any of them before looming guarantee dates would free up the space to sign a veteran player.

And that’s why Maten’s solid 14-points, 13-rebound performance in Tuesday’s 96-92 Las Vegas Summer League win against Orlando was notable.

Once the Heat signs Herro, Miami will be less than $1 million below its hard cap of $138.9 million, a predicament that came into play when Miami acquired Jimmy Butler in a sign-and-trade.

That means the Heat, with its current roster structure, could not sign any player other than Herro, even to a minimum contract. And in order to sign a player, such as Udonis Haslem or anyone else, the Heat would need to either trim salary (perhaps through a Russell Westbrook trade) or dump one of its young players under non-guaranteed contracts: Nunn, Maten or Robinson.

For example, if one of those three were released, there would be room to sign Haslem, as a hypothetical, with his minimum deal counting $1.6 million against the cap and tax. Even a player substantially younger than Haslem would count $1.6 million against Miami’s cap and tax.

Derrick Jones Jr.’s contract is also non-guaranteed, but he’s not at risk unless he’s hypothetically included in a Westbrook trade.

The Heat has been very pleased with Nunn’s work during summer league, and Robinson also has impressed. That leaves Maten needing to make a case after an uneven start in the Las Vegas Summer League.

After playing well in two games in Sacramento (18.5 points per game and 8.5 rebounds per game), Maten entered Tuesday with seven points in two games in Las Vegas, on 5 for 16 shooting, and seven rebounds.

Maten matched his two-game Las Vegas point total in the first five minutes Tuesday, scoring the Heat’s first seven points.

Maten is guaranteed another $150,000 if he’s on the roster by Aug. 1, then another $150,00 if he’s on the team for the regular season opener and then $100,000 if he’s on the team Dec. 1.

“He really struggled last game so it was really nice to see him have a bounce back,” Heat summer league coach Eric Glass said. “He was talking on defense, helping anchor our defense.”

Nunn, incidentally, gets a $150,000 guarantee if he’s on the roster Aug. 1. Nunn scored 11 of his 19 in the fourth quarter Tuesday and added eight assists. He’s averaging 20.8 points this summer while shooting 46.8 percent from the field and 38.9 percent on threes.

As for Robinson, his 2019-20 guarantee will rise to $1 million if he’s on the roster after next Monday.

Robinson, who entered averaging 17.0 points in Vegas after scoring 13.5 in Sacramento summer league, scored 14 points on 5 for 12 shooting.

HERRO KEEPS IMPRESSING

Guard Tyler Herro was excellent Tuesday, scoring 19 first half points and finishing with 25 points (7 for 15 shooting) with seven rebounds and five assists. The Heat’s first-round pick was 9 for 10 on free throws and is 24 for 25 from the free-throw line in summer league.

“This is the only Tyler I know,” Glass said. “He’s been showing this since the first day he stepped on the court with us. He can give us whatever we need.... The thing that’s surprised me is his feel. He looks like he’s a second- or third-year guy out here. That’s the thing that jumps out.”

▪ The Heat improved to 6-0 this summer, including 3-0 in Las Vegas, and plays Minnesota at 7 p.m. EST Wednesday on NBA TV.

▪ The Heat held out Stanford rookie K.Z. Okpala as he continues to familiarize himself with the Heat’s offensive and defensive systems, and Glass said he’s unlikely to play Wednesday. Okpala joined the Heat on Saturday, missing the first 10 days of the Heat’s summer program because his draft-night acquisition (via Indiana) could not be finalized until that day because of NBA trade restrictions.

▪ Former Tennessee forward Kyle Alexander was the best of the Heat’s undrafted rookies Tuesday, with 10 points, 7 rebounds and a blocked shot in 13 minutes.

Here’s my Tuesday piece on what the Heat can do in 2020 and 2021 in roster augmentation - whether it gets Westbrook or it doesn’t.

This story was originally published July 9, 2019 at 6:29 PM.