Heat mulls potential buyout options. And more trade deadline insight, who called Herro
A six-pack of Heat notes on a Saturday:
▪ The Heat plans to explore the buyout market, but it would require the absolute right player to make a move.
The Heat’s successful attempts, before the trade deadline, to push its total salary under the first apron means Miami is no longer limited to signing players whose salaries this season exceeded the $12.8 million mid-level exception. Now, Miami can sign any player who’s bought out, regardless of their original salary.
But the Heat will be very selective, because adding a player would require releasing a player. In that scenario, Alec Burks or Keshad Johnson could be at risk, though the Heat likes Burks’ shooting and professionalism and the upside and developmental possibilities with Johnson, who has a $1.9 million team option for next season.
Seven teams cannot sign any player who began the season making more than $12.8 million: Boston, Denver, Milwaukee, the Lakers, Phoenix, New York and Minnesota.
According to a source, one incentive for the Heat to get below the first apron this past week was to preserve the ability to sign any player who’s bought out.
Already, there have been reports that New Orleans won’t buy out Bruce Brown (a player the Heat likes) and Washington won’t buy out Malcolm Brogdon.
According to The Athletic, players who could become available in the buyout market include D’Angelo Russell, Chris Boucher, Tre Jones, Delon Wright, Patty Mills, Jaden Springer, Bones Hyland, P.J. Tucker, Larry Nance, Ben Simmons, Mo Bamba, Javonte Green, Daniel Theis, Monty Morris, Seth Curry, Bojan Bogdanovic, Reggie Jackson, Cam Reddish, MarJon Beauchamp, Johnny Davis, Josh Richardson, Alex Len, Chris Duarte and Cody Zeller
▪ Here’s my behind-the-scenes insight (15 nuggets) on the Jimmy Butler saga and trade talks.
Four other things:
1). Before Luka Doncic was traded to the Lakers last weekend, the Mavericks never called the Heat to inform them that the All-NBA guard was available or give Miami a chance to make an offer for him, according to a source. According to reports, the Mavericks called only the Lakers and one other unidentified team.
2). One reason the Heat had no interest re-routing Andrew Wiggins, beyond their admiration for him as a player, is the fact they don’t believe in sacrificing seasons to get a high pick. They always want to win as many games as possible. And if Miami misses the playoffs this season, the picks due OKC and Charlotte would become unprotected, in 2026 and 2028, respectively.
3). The Heat’s initial goal in Butler trade talks was to get an All Star player. If that couldn’t happen, the objective was to get a good player who would help with a playoff push and a draft asset.
While the preference was shorter contracts, Miami opted for Wiggins instead of trying to create trade packages that would leave them with mostly or all expiring contracts for average players.
4). While Memphis showed interest in Butler, the fact his camp discreetly made it known that he didn’t want to play there was a deterrent, and the Grizzlies were unwilling to offer any promising young players.
▪ Bam Adebayo, asked by an international reporter late Friday about moving on from Butler, said “If somebody wants out, you can’t try to persuade them to stay.”
Meanwhile, Warriors owner Joe Lacob joked about Butler preferring the Suns, telling the Athletic: “He was trying to get where he thought he wanted to go. He just happened to be thinking incorrectly at the time. That’s now been amended.”
▪ Warriors coach Steve Kerr said he had never met Butler before Thursday night’s introductory news conference, and Erik Spoelstra said he didn’t speak with Kerr before the trade.
Spoelstra was on Kerr’s Team USA coaching staff at last summer’s Olympics, and the two men are friends.
“I think we have enough respect for each other,” Spoelstra said. “We texted each other once the deal went through just to wish each other the best on it. We also have that respect that you want each other to learn about the players without any kind of influence. We were both on the same page about that.”
▪ Spoelstra, asked about how much Heat newcomer Davion Mitchell will help the Heat’s point of attack defense, said: “We were trying to address that, especially when Dru Smith went out [with a season-ending Achilles injury]. Dru was handling a lot of that point of attack for us. I look at how a guy impacts winning and that is how Dru is elite.
“Now we’ve had times we were able to do it. We have the ninth best defense for a reason. It’s just not consistent enough. A position of need would be somebody like that. When that became available, and Andy [Elisburg] presented it, [I said] ‘Let’s go, let’s do this!’ We’ve been fans of his for awhile.”
Meanwhile, Spoelstra on Friday described Wiggins as an “elite defender.”
“You can put the ball in his hands; he can make plays,” Spoelstra said. “You can also play him off the ball. Defensively, I think he’s elite. We need that. You can put him next to Bam, Kel’el [Ware], there’s a lot of defensive impact and versatility there.”
Wiggins will wear Butler’s former No. 22 jersey.
▪ Among those who texted Tyler Herro to congratulate him after he was named to his first All-Star game, per Herro: former Heat teammate Andre Iguodala, Suns guard and fellow Kentucky alum Devin Booker, Detroit guard Tim Hardaway Jr. and Pistons teammate Malik Beasley (one of only two players, with Anthony Edwards, who has more made threes than Herro this season) and former Kentucky coach John Calipari, among many others.
▪ The Heat will hold an introductory press conference for Wiggins, Mitchell and Kyle Anderson on Sunday at 9 a.m. at Kaseya Center ahead of their first practice with the team. The press conference will be streamed live at https://www.youtube.com/MiamiHeat.
This story was originally published February 8, 2025 at 10:00 AM.
