Category: Miami Heat

MIAMI — So what does a Miami Heat starting lineup of Bam Adebayo, Nikola Jovic, Jimmy Butler, Tyler Herro and Terry Rozier look like? Erik Spoelstra got a look at the quintet in a game situation for the first time ever in Sunday’s 101-99 exhibition victory over the New Orleans Pelicans at Kaseya Center. The early math? The Heat outscored the Pelicans by two with those five on the court, before all five were given the second half off. “That group I thought was really encouraging,” Spoelstra said of the starters. “That’s how I thought they looked in training camp, in the Bahamas. The group...

At a time of year when the score stands as an afterthought, the Miami Heat found answers beyond the scoreboard in Tuesday night’s 111-108 preseason loss to the Charlotte Hornets at Spectrum Center. Jimmy Butler played, his first preseason action in two years. Bam Adebayo loaded up with 3-point attempts, an encouraging sign of an expanded offensive repertoire. Nikola Jovic settled in at power forward, offering a hint of what might follow with Erik Spoelstra’s lineup. And there was enough kid stuff to create hope going forward. “It was good to get that game conditioning in,” Spoelstra said of...

MIAMI — The Miami Heat announced three injury absences ahead of Monday night’s Red, White & Pink intrasquad scrimmage, with all three players also to miss Tuesday night’s preseason opener against the Charlotte Hornets at Spectrum Center. Tyler Herro, who has battled a series of injuries in recent years, is sidelined by a strained right groin. The team said an MRI was not necessary, terming it a slight ailment. Herro got shots in before Monday night’s scrimmage benefiting cancer care and research for the Baptist Health Miami Cancer Institute. Also sidelined Monday was forward Jaime...

MIAMI — Instead of remaining at 14 players under standard contract for training camp, a total that had been expected due to the team’s position hard against the highly punitive second apron of the NBA luxury tax, the Miami Heat have reached agreement with forward Nassir Little on such a deal, the South Florida Sun Sentinel has confirmed. Ineligible for a two-way contract due to his five seasons of NBA tenure, the agreement with the No. 25 pick in the 2019 NBA draft out of North Carolina is believed to be a non-guaranteed one-year contract for the veteran minimum. While a seasonlong...

The mere fact that competitive NBA basketball was being played on July 22 made Monday night at the Las Vegas NBA Summer League unusual enough. The fact that the game then went to an overtime decided by the first team to score seven points in the extra period made it all the more unusual. But, in the end, ultimately satisfying for the Miami Heat, who managed to steal into the desert night with the championship of the event with a 120-118 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies, a win decided when Heat second-round pick Pelle Larsson scored on a driving shot in the lane to end the untimed extra...

First the perspective: The Miami Heat’s semifinal game in the Las Vegas NBA Summer League on Sunday was bumped from ESPN to ESPN2 by . . . flag football, with the Heat replacing cornhole on the ESPN2 schedule. Then the reality: There was a game to win and now a chance for a trophy to secure, so the Heat played for keeps, their 102-99 victory on the UNLV campus over the summer roster of the Golden State Warriors putting them into Monday’s championship game against the Memphis Grizzlies (8 p.m. Eastern, ESPN). “I think the most important thing to think about for these guys is they want it...

The regular-season Miami Heat had to make it to the playoffs the hard way, working their way through the play-in bracket. The summer-league Miami Heat have simply steamrolled their way to the four-team playoff bracket of the Las Vegas NBA Summer League. In storming past the Toronto Raptors 109-73 Friday night on the UNLV campus, the Heat improved to 4-0 in the event, next to play in the semifinals on Sunday afternoon (ESPN), with a potential appearance in the championship game to follow Monday night. Pushing to a 13-0 lead at the outset, the Heat never looked back, despite Keshad Johnson...

LAS VEGAS — Jaime Jaquez Jr. didn’t have to be here; Kel’el Ware needs every one of these repetitions. Each of the Miami Heat’s past two first-round picks came away with net gains in Monday’s 102-73 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA Summer League on the UNLV campus. Jaquez closed out his two-game summer-league limited engagement with 23 points in 25 minutes. While the No. 18 pick out of UCLA in the 2023 draft mostly toyed with the summer-level competition, there still were strides, namely his 3-of-5 3-point shooting Monday. “Being able to make defenders really believe in my...

NBA free agents from the Class of 2024: Best available (not including restricted free agents): Gary Trent Jr., Tyus Jones, Spencer Dinwiddie, Markelle Fultz, Lonnie Walker IV, Precious Achiuwa,  Luke Kennard, Cedi Osman, Talen Horton-Tucker, Reggie Bullock Jr., Dennis Smith Jr., KJ Martin, Jordan Nwora. Agreed to terms: Kyle Anderson (Warriors), OG Anunoby (Knicks), Mo Bamba (Clippers), Nicolas Batum (Clippers), Malik Beasley (Pistons), Saddiq Bey (Wizards), Goga Bitadze (Orlando Magic), Buddy Boeheim Thunder), Bol Bol (Suns), Miles Bridges (Hornets), Thomas Bryant (Heat), Alec Burks...

Fresh off his work with USA Basketball’s Select Team in scrimmages against the Team USA in advance of the Olympics, Jaime Jaquez Jr. has been added to the Miami Heat’s roster for the Las Vegas Summer League. Jaquez, who drew praise for his work in helping prepare the Olympic roster for the Paris Games, extended his stay in Las Vegas for what are expected to be a pair of appearances with the Heat summer roster, starting Saturday against the Boston Celtics’ summer roster. Jaquez had an impressive NBA debut in summer league last year after being selected No. 18 out of UCLA in the 2023 draft....