Category: Miami Heat Blog

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Heat, Hornets swap Shabazz Napier, PJ Hairston in draft-day trade

The Miami Heat announced today that they have acquired the draft rights to guard Shabazz Napier (24th overall) from the Charlotte Hornets in exchange for the draft rights to P.J. Hairston (26th overall) and Semaj Christon (55th overall), a 2019 second-round draft choice and cash considerations.

“Shabazz Napier is a winner, he’s a two-time NCAA champion and he’s one of the elite players in college basketball,” said HEAT President Pat Riley. “We feel very fortunate we were able to acquire him and we feel like he fits in extremely well. He has a high motor, high basketball IQ, is a great shooter and has great character.”

Napier, a two-time NCAA champion, appeared in a school-record 143 career games (98 starts) for the Huskies and averaged 13.7 points, 4.5 assists, 4.0 rebounds, 1.76 steals and 32.3 minutes while shooting 41.1 percent from the field, 37.5 percent from three-point range and 81.3 percent from the foul line. He totaled 1,959 points while dishing out 646 assists, becoming the only player in school history to total at least 1,500 points and 500 assists.

During his senior season, Napier helped lead UConn to the 2014 NCAA Championship after appearing in 40 games (all starts) and averaging 18.0 points, 5.9 rebounds, 4.9 assists, 1.83 steals and 35.1 minutes while shooting 42.9 percent from the field, 40.5 percent from three-point range and 87 percent from the foul line. He was named the 2014 American Athletic Conference Player of the Year and earned the 2014 Bob Cousy Collegiate Point Guard of the Year Award. Additionally, he was a unanimous All-Conference First Team selection and named to the AP All-American First Team. He led his team in points (720), rebounds (196), assists (195), steals (73), field goals made (213), three-point field goals made (87) and free throws made (207) while capping his senior season averaging 21.2 points during the NCAA tournament, earning the Final Four and East Regional Most Outstanding Player honors.

Pat Riley statement on LeBron James entering free agency

Pat Riley statement on LeBron James entering free agency

The following statement was released today from Pat Riley of the Miami Heat:

“I was informed this morning of his intentions. We fully expected LeBron to opt-out and exercise his free agent rights, so this does not come as a surprise. As I said at the press conference last week, players have a right to free agency and when they have these opportunities, the right to explore their options. The last four seasons have been historic and LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and Erik Spoelstra have led the Miami HEAT to one of the most unprecedented runs in the history of the NBA. We look forward to sitting down with LeBron and his representatives and talking about our future together. At the moment, we are preparing for the opportunities in the Draft and Free Agency as we continue with our goal of winning NBA Championships.”

LeBron James to become free agent

What would you do if you were LeBron James? Continue on with your Heat contract, hope that Dwyane Wade’s knees hold up, and hope the team adds a better bench? Opt out, test free agency, but perhaps wind up staying with the Heat? Or leave South Beach (well, Miami) and take your talents elsewhere? Here’s ESPN.com with news on this situation:

LeBron James’ agent, Richie Paul, has informed the Miami Heat that James will exercise his early termination option and become an unrestricted free agent on July 1.

Opting out does not mean James has decided to leave the Heat, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press, who spoke on condition of anonymity because neither the four-time NBA MVP nor the team had made any public announcement.

James had until June 30 to decide whether to opt out of the final two years of his contract with the Heat. He was scheduled to make $20 million next season.

Chris Andersen may opt out of Heat contract

Here’s the South Florida Sun Sentinel with a Heat update:

Chris Andersen may opt out of Heat contract

Miami Heat center Chris “Birdman” Andersen will opt-out of his contract to become a free agent, according to Yahoo Sports.

Andersen will decline his $1.5 million player option for next season, according to the report.

Andersen, who turns 36 on July 7, has been a steal for the Heat since he joined the team in 2013. His 2013-14 salary was only $1.4 million.

LeBron James says he has been bothered by ankle for a few days

The Spurs currently lead the Heat 3-1 in the 2014 NBA Finals. Miami is coming off a Thursday home loss. Here’s the South Florida Sun Sentinel reporting on the series and Heat star LeBron James:

LeBron James says he has been bothered by ankle for a few days

What started with LeBron James unable to even make his way off the court due to cramps could close with the Miami Heat forward limping to the finish of these NBA Finals.

In the wake of Thursday’s 107-86 loss to the San Antonio Spurs that dropped the Heat to a 3-1 deficit in this best-of-seven series that continues Sunday at 8 p.m. at the AT&T Center, both James and coach Erik Spoelstra acknowledged an ongoing ankle issue briefly took James off the court in the first quarter of Game 4.

“I went to go get re-taped, re-tape my ankle,” James said early Friday. “It’s been kind of bothering me for the last couple days, but I felt OK.”

With James unable to finish Game 1 due to cramps exacerbated by an air-conditioning malfunction at the AT&T Center, the Heat were unable to hold off the Spurs. Thursday, James appeared to be easing his way into Game 4, with both James and Spoelstra insisting that the other time James left the bench at the outset was because of a bathroom break.

Will Carmelo Anthony join Heat this summer?

Here’s the New York Daily News reporting on a rumor that would shake up the NBA would if it actually materialized:

Will Carmelo Anthony join Heat this summer?

Carmelo Anthony responded to reports that he will join LeBron James this summer and sign with the Miami Heat by saying “nothing is legit until a deal is signed.”

The celebrity website TMZ videotaped Anthony as the Knicks All Star was leaving Mastro’s Steakhouse in Beverly Hills on Thursday, the day before he is scheduled to meet with Knicks president Phil Jackson, head coach, Derek Fisher and GM Steve Mills.

Yahoo! Sports reported that Garden Chairman James Dolan is scheduled to join the group as well. Dolan is on the West Coast with the Rangers who were playing Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals in Los Angeles.

Dolan’s role in Anthony’s free agency is compelling because Anthony represents Dolan’s biggest basketball transaction. It was Dolan who hijacked the Anthony trade talks from former Knicks president Donnie Walsh in 2010. Jackson recently mocked the deal when he addressed the possibility of pursuing Denver head coach Brian Shaw by reminding reporters the Nuggets have all of the Knicks assets.

Spurs back in Miami as NBA Finals continue

Here’s the Los Angeles Times reporting on the Spurs-Heat NBA Finals. Game 3 is tonight in Miami:

The Spurs are back for Game 3 of the Finals on Tuesday, intent on forgetting as much as they can about the last time they were here on this stage.

“For me personally, I’m definitely not going to think about that the next two games,” San Antonio guard Tony Parker said after the Spurs fell, 98-96, in Game 2 on Sunday night. “I’m going to focus on what I can do to help the team win. Going to be big games coming up.”

The Heat and Spurs are in a similar spot to where they were last year, the series tied after two games. The difference is that the next two games will be in Miami as part of the new 2-2-1-1-1 series format instead of in San Antonio for three games as part of the old 2-3-2 alignment that ended last year.

It seemed pretty clear what fixes the Spurs needed to make after another unhappy ending doomed them in Game 2. They led by a point after Parker made a three-pointer with 2:26 remaining before their final four possessions went like this: missed Manu Ginobili three-pointer, Ginobili turnover, Ginobili missed jumper and meaningless Ginobili three-pointer with 0.3 seconds left.

San Antonio’s demise was not solely a one-man operation, though.

The Spurs missed eight of 20 free throws in the game, including four in a row in the fourth quarter.

Dwyane Wade fined for flopping in NBA Finals Game 2

michael redd

Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade has been fined $5,000 by the NBA for violating the league’s anti-flopping rules during Game 2 of the 2014 NBA Finals.

The flop was easily visible even in real time, and became blatantly obvious when shown repeatedly in slow-motion replay.

The incident occurred with 4:09 remaining in the second quarter of Miami’s 98-96 win over the San Antonio Spurs last night at AT&T Center.

To view the play click on this link.

Heat point guards not doing much in 2014 NBA Finals yet

Here’s the Miami Herald reporting on Heat and Spurs 2014 NBA Finals series:

Heat point guards not doing much in 2014 NBA Finals yet

Nine NBA Finals games between the San Antonio Spurs and Miami Heat over the last two summers have shown us the stars need assistance to win the series, even if you’ve got the best player on the planet on your side.

The defending champs squeezed by the Spurs in a 98-96 Game 2 win on Sunday night, evening the series and avoiding their first two-game playoff losing streak in more than two years. But they did so without much help from two point guards that have been so valuable in years past.

Mario Chalmers scored five points and Norris Cole didn’t dent the scoreboard, but the team’s starting point guard said it hasn’t yet become a concern.

“Game 1, I was in foul trouble the whole time, but today I got into a little bit of a rhythm,” Chalmers said, dismissing the idea that playing the first two games on the road makes a difference. “But our job is really to contain Tony Parker and hit shots when we get shots.”