Category: Miami Heat Blog

The Miami Heat announced today they have made qualifying offers to Dorell Wright, Chris Quinn and Kasib Powell, making them restricted free agents.

Wright, a 6’9”, 210-pound forward, who was originally drafted by the HEAT in the first round with the 19th overall selection of the 2004 NBA Draft, becoming the first high school player to ever be drafted by Miami, appeared in 44 games (34 starts) for the HEAT last season averaging 7.9 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 25.1 minutes of action. He recorded single-season career highs in starts, field goal percentage (.488) and offensive rebounds (48). He finished third on the team in blocks (41), fourth in defensive rebounds (172) and fifth in total rebounds (220). He also became the first player in HEAT history to be perfect from both the field and foul line in a game with a minimum of five attempts from each category when he was 5-of-5 from the field and 7-of-7 from the foul line on Feb. 4 against Toronto.

Quinn, a 6’2”, 175-pound guard, appeared in 60 games (25 starts) for the HEAT last season averaging 7.8 points, 3.0 assists and 2.0 rebounds in 22.3 minutes of action. He finished the season tied for 27th in the NBA in three-point field goal percentage (.403) while finishing second on the team in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.24). Quinn also increased his numbers in many statistical categories from the previous season including points (3.4 in 2006-07), assists (1.5 in 2006-07), rebounds (0.7 in 2006-07), minutes (9.7 in 2006-07) and starts (one in 2006-07) while shooting 42.4 percent (36.6 in 2006-07) from the field, 40.3 percent (35.1 in 2006-07) from three-point range and 86.7 percent (67.6 in 2006-07) from the foul line.

Powell, a 6’7”, 215-pound forward, appeared in 11 games (four starts) for the HEAT last season averaging 7.6 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 27.6 minutes of action. He scored a career-high 18 points vs. Chicago on Apr. 8 and grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds at Toronto on Apr. 14. Additionally, in his three starts with the HEAT, Powell, the 2007-08 NBA Development League MVP, averaged 8.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 2.00 steals in 35.8 minutes of action.

The Miami Heat announced today that they have requested waivers on forward Alexander Johnson.

Johnson signed with the HEAT as a free agent on August 24, 2007, and appeared in 43 games (six starts) for Miami during the 2007-08 season. He averaged 4.2 points and 2.2 rebounds in 12.8 minutes per game.

Jeff of InsideHoops.com says: On paper, Johnson is one of those guys that could easily fall out of the league, but I’ve seen him enough to think that he honestly belongs on an NBA roster and can help a squad off the bench. He’s worth signing.

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Ira Winderman) reports: Pat Riley, you see, was leaning toward selecting Central Michigan center Chris Kaman with the No. 5 pick that night. “I looked at him as a little bigger Dave Cowens. And I thought he would develop into a real good interior scorer, rebounder, which he has,” Riley said in a reflective moment recently. “That particular draft, we definitely were in need of a post-up presence, of an inside presence.” While Riley was looking out for a power rotation rocked by the kidney illness of center Alonzo Mourning, his staff was looking out for its leader. The Riley cabinet, which included General Manager Randy Pfund, wanted Wade. Revisionist history offers the tale of Riley, on a treadmill in Milwaukee months earlier, being smitten by the performance of Marquette’s Wade during the NCAA Tournament. But at the 11th hour, there still was need for convincing.

The Miami HEAT announced today that they have hired David Fizdale as an assistant coach, returning the Los Angeles native to where he began his NBA career. Fizdale, who has served as an assistant coach for the past five seasons in Golden State and Atlanta, began his professional career assisting in the HEAT’s video room during the 1997-98 season. Among his responsibilities in his new role he will be assisting in the areas of player development, scouting, game preparation and other duties assigned by Head Coach Erik Spolestra.

“We’re excited to welcome David back to the HEAT organization,” said Spoelstra. “He has proven to be a great teacher and has helped developed a number of young players in his 10 years of coaching on the professional and collegiate level. Additionally, his belief and familiarity with our culture is an added bonus.”

The 34-year old Fizdale returns to Miami after spending the past four seasons (2004-08) as an assistant coach with the Atlanta Hawks where he played an instrumental role in the development of their young players. He helped the Hawks increase their win total in each of the past three seasons and this year earn the franchise’s first postseason appearance since 1999, before being eliminated in seven games in the opening round by the eventual Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics. He began his NBA coaching career as an assistant coach with the Golden State Warriors for one season (2003-04).

Directly before joining the Warriors, Fizdale worked as an assistant coach for one season at Fresno State University (2002-03) where his responsibilities included player development and serving as the school’s recruiting coordinator. After concluding his collegiate playing career and spending one year as the HEAT’s video intern in 1997-98, he began his coaching career with a four-year stint (1998-2002) as an assistant coach at his alma mater, the University of San Diego.

The AP reports: Dwyane Wade still believes his knee will be ready for the Beijing Olympics. The Miami Heat guard, who missed the final 21 games of last season because of chronic soreness in his surgically repaired left knee, said Sunday that he’s been playing 5-on-5 games for about a week with “no problems.” Wade is spending much of his offseason rehabilitating in Chicago, with eyes on both getting a spot on the Beijing-bound team—USA Basketball will finalize its Olympic roster later this month—and ensuring that he’s fully healthy when the Heat open training camp in late September.

The AP reports: Alonzo Mourning, whose season ended when he suffered severe knee and leg injuries in a game in December, said that if his body gets healthy, he’d like to play one more season before finally calling it a career. “I just want to get my body right to do it. I need to get my body where my mind is,” said Mourning, while appearing at Miami Dolphins defensive end Jason Taylor’s charity golf event. Mourning, 38, has said several times previously that a return wasn’t out of the question – but yesterday’s comments may have been his strongest yet.