We have a deal … for a free agent that wasn’t on the Heat last season!
Veteran free agent guard Alec Burks has signed a one-year deal with the Miami Heat, ESPN NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski was first to report Wednesday.
Free agent G/F Alec Burks has agreed on a one-year deal with the Miami Heat, sources tell ESPN. pic.twitter.com/s2S7E127NM
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 3, 2024
The deal is worth the minimum, putting the Heat at 14 players on the roster–including 13 on guaranteed standard contracts. Orlando Robinson’s $2.1 million deal is non-guaranteed and will become fully guaranteed on July 15.
The Heat is $6 million above the $178.132 million first apron and $4.7 million away from the $188.931 million second apron, which it does not want to pass. Assuming Robinson gets cut, then Miami’s nearly $7 million away from the second apron while being $4 million above the first.
Burks, who will turn 33-years-old on July 20, spent last season with the Detroit Pistons and New York Knicks. He averaged 10.4 points and 2.3 rebounds on 36.9 percent shooting, though shot 37.6 percent from 3-point range (on 5.0 attempts; 53.6 3PAr) and 86.8 percent from the free-throw line.
Burks is a solid bench scoring guard who can space the floor and provide secondary creation for bench units. Over his previous four seasons, he posted 13.0 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.6 assists on 41.4/40.3/84.6 shooting splits. He’s not a perfect player, but he can help run second units and capitalize off second- and third-side actions.
He could be very useful with Josh Richardson and Dru Smith recovering from shoulder and knee surgeries, respectively. He could also be a viable replacement offensively for Caleb Martin or Haywood Highsmith–both unrestricted free agents–in addition to another any other moves in the backcourt (if that happens).
The former No. 12 overall pick has spent 13 NBA seasons with seven different organizations: The Utah Jazz, Knicks, Pistons, Golden State Warriors, Cleveland Cavaliers, Philadelphia 76ers and Sacramento Kings.
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Kel’el Ware is exactly the kind of player Miami has needed for years!!! I can’t wait until he gets his feet wet and puts on a few pounds of muscle. Kel’el will allow Bam to be all he can be.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5vPTbGZGRs
Today is the day 🙂
Right now looking like DeMar to Kings.
First time I hear/read that Heat interested in Markkanen.
Trading Lauri Markkanen would buy Utah a one-way ticket toward the front of the tank line, and Markkanen indeed stands as perhaps the league’s most intriguing trade chip with Mikal Bridges now in New York. A pile of teams have shown interest in him, including the San Antonio Spurs, Sacramento Kings, Miami Heat and Warriors, sources said. History suggests Danny Ainge, Utah’s CEO, will move Markkanen once someone meets his price. That could be tomorrow or months from now if the Jazz raise Markkanen’s salary and then sign him to a contract extension once they are allowed to do so in early August.
Source: ESPN
I think he would be a great fit next to Bam, but I don’t think the Heat are willing to trade what the Jazz would want. The only way I see this working out is if it’s part of a 3-team Jimmy Butler trade.
Especially when you factor in the Danny Ainge angle.
That’s a pipedream. Ainge hates the Heat. The only way he makes a deal is if Pat drops his pants around his ankles…and that ain’t gonna happen.
Get your minds right. We got one.
Anthony Chiang: After the Heat’s first summer league practice today in San Francisco, Cole Swider says Kel’el Ware is a “physical monster.” Swider added that Ware reminds him of Dereck Lively.
I believe, I believe!!
Caleb seeking $15 million per year. Will he get it? Not sure. Do your thing, Caleb
I am also seeking $15 million per year
Do your thing, sir. Market drying up though. 😉
10.0 ppg/ 4.4 rpg/ 2.2 apg/ 43.1 fg%/ 34.9 3pt%/ 29 year old = $15M/$45M?
On what planet?
This is a guy Miami picked up off the trash heap and developed after Charlotte waived him.
I would much prefer to sign Highsmith for half that amount.
Heat insider Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald reported Tuesday that Miami “made a push” to retain Martin ahead of free agency, and one source told Heat insider Ethan Skolnick of the Five Reasons Sports Network that it was in the range of $12 million.
Low IQ Caleb never was the sharpest pencil in the box.
Ethan said there are teams out there that still have that $12 million, but let’s see if they actually offer that to him. Doubtful
One guy reporting the 76ers are now out of the Caleb sweepstakes as his market is higher than they can go. Interesting. I’m curious where he ends up and probably means 76ers will continue to target Highsmith.
Can we finally get Saric on this team? It’s been a long time coming. Too late, but better late than never 😉
No defense. No dice.
Plenty of “no defense” guys have come to the Heat and performed better. Not good, but their effort increased. I just like the fit at possibly a vet minimum. The Luke Nuke’em position
3 days ago has a triple double against Slovenia… and he played great.
And he played good enough D while on the 76ers. I have always wanted him on this team.
I would of said yes, but it’s probably too late now with the signing of Bryant. Plus still got jovic, love, bam, and ware.
I dont know where no defense is coming from.
Not the best defender, but not exactly the bad one.
My bad. He’s middle of pack defensively. If he can be had for cheap. ok.
Just to clarify things for everyone, in 2023-2024, DeRozan shot 43% at mid-range, 51.4% in the paint and 64.8% in the restricted area. Furthermore, he made 28 of 71 (39.4%) of his corner 3’s. However, he shot only 31% (48/155) above the break. Overall, he was 33.3% from 3 pt range.
Bottom line, if he only shoots corner 3’s and mid-range or closer shots and keeps his 3 pt shots above the break to a minimum, he could definitely be a huge benefit on offense.
P.S. I guess it doesn’t matter. Heat no longer in running for DeRozan.
From Barry Jackson last night:
Heat is trying to do something in trade market, I’ve been assured. (DeRozan seems too difficult at moment; other options less clear). That’s why they have left themselves 7 M under 2nd apron for now. So it’s not like they’re sitting around playing scrabble.
Pat and Mickey trying to run it back, does that count?
Make no mistake, with Jimmy not getting the extension wanting to take it in to next year, running it back is the silent tank/gap year. You would have Duncan and possibly Jimmy off the books. You would have young ascending players in Jovic, JJJ and Ware to go along with Bam, and you would have cash. I’m here for it.
DeRozan would be a fun storyline to the Jimmy era, but it might delay the reset.
Agree.
If there is no player available, which makes us a clear contender (Derozan is not that), they lets play out what we have and decide later.
But of course, if Heat can get Derozan for less then 15 mill/year and less then 2 years, then they should go for a deal, and trade one of Dunc or Herro.
But still, we need more then that. At least a consistent 20 points/game forward with reliable outside shot.
Agree, this seems to be correct. It’s not so much a tank as there are not enough avenues of Improvement available. There aren’t any quick fixes and unlikely they would change the balance of power anyway. So, maybe we should take a longer range perspective. The push to get a crown in the Jimmy era may not be happening.
“The push to get a crown in the Jimmy era may not be happening.”
And that would be sad and why a lot of the fanbase is frustrated, but as you mentioned, the quick fix might not be there. It sounds like they are exploring those options, but might come back to let’s just run it back and reassess during or after the season.
I know that everyone is obsessed with ‘ringzzz’ these days, but if this is the end of the Butler era, I think we have to consider it a huge success. They won the East twice and were one shot away from a third time.
As far as where the team goes from here, I think you and I are seeing something similar @2qbn. I don’t think the Heat are going to ‘stealth tank’, I think they are going to try and be as competitive as possible. But I think the team building strategy is focused on being ready to reload once Jimmy’s contract expires, as opposed to going ”all-in” to win a championship with Jimmy Butler.
The only problem is that the Heat won’t be getting Donovan Mitchell or kinda star player to play with the young players. Very few Vet star players will agree to play alongside with promising younger players.
Miami Depth Chart (so far)
PG: Rozier, JRich,
SG: Herro, DRobinson, Larsson
SF: Butler, Jaquez, Burks
PF: Jovic, Love,
C: Bam, Bryant, Ware
2-ways: Pullin (SG), Smith (PG), Johnson (SF)
Qualifying offers/RFA’s: Alondes Williams (SG) and Cole Swider (SF)
If no new rotation players are brought in by the 2024-2025 playoffs and assuming everyone is healthy (big assumption), this looks like the best case scenario rotation:
PG: Rozier, JRich
SG: Herro, DRobinson
SF: Butler, Jaquez
PF: Bam, Jovic
C: Ware, Love
Where does this line-up place them among last year’s playoff teams? (Boston, New York, Milwaukee, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Indiana and Orlando)
Somewhere between 5 and 7, if Jimmy is serious about this season, bam, and herro up there game a lil. Also growth from the youngins and most importantly staying healthy.
Miami is not the 5th best team in the east im sorry they just aren’t, I’ll give them 6th/7th best team even if everything goes how you think it will
We shall see..
Truth…I can only control my words, thoughts, & actions. Heat Nation stay strong !
Yes sir!
I guess one way to spin this is Herro for Markennen but we won’t many options at scoring guard off the bench to play the hot hand.
They have clarkson dont need ty
They have Clarkson, Sexton and Keyonte George (2024 All Rookie 2nd team).
Aiight like every other trade proposal Herro for assets.
Point being the possible added roster flexibility. Because Terry Jimmy Bam Tyler is a lotta 1st team ball handling.
Well, is something better then nothing?
Such players should be added after all star break to fill the holes, not now.
I prefer to play young players at the beginning of the season.
I don’t think that backup shooting guard is what this team needed most.
Have to laugh. We just watched the old Hitchcock movie ‘Lifeboat’. About people stranded in the ocean, arguing with each other, and losing hope as the days go by with no rescue in sight. It struck me as similar to how some are feeling here. We have no control over anything, so let’s just make the best of it. That’s what I’m going to do anyway.
Lol. The internet is one big ‘lifeboat’
No control of anything?
There is a 0.00000001 % chance, that Riley is lurking on HHH for trade ideas, which is much more like a chance for those in the boat to be saved by aliens.
So keep going, there is a chance.
All I am saying is that I HAVE NO CONTROL over whatever moves the team does or doesn’t make. The team has the control. I’m just along for the ride.
We are all just riding along this Pat Riley train lol
I suppose we all know that. But its fun to forget it for just enough time to put the comment on HHH.
Cause hoping and praying is better? Hoping and praying Jimmy can play x amount of games, hope and pray he actually tries when he does, hope and pray that the teams that got better this offseason don’t mesh etc etc cause hoping and praying is better
Yup, this makes sense. Here come the 1-year minimum contracts. The cold, hard journey to ‘cap space’ begins this offseason.
I could be wrong, but if I’m not, this is bad news for anyone that was hoping the Heat would go after Ingram, Markannan, LaVine, or any of the other fringe all-stars that might be available. It’s really not even looking good for bringing back Highsmith or Caleb at this point. Even the latest DeRozan rumors are saying that the Heat aren’t offering what DeRoazan is asking for.
For those of us that hav ebeen watching the Heat for a while, this feels like a redux of the Shawn Marion / Jermaine O’Neal years. A decent playoff team that will do what they can to win, but unwilling to compromise their future cap space. Things worked out pretty well last time around. Let’s hope the summer of ’26 can recapture that magic…
Since DeRozan will probably wont accept MLE ( about 13m), then the only way we get him is via sign-and-trade with the only 2 remaining team that has capspace : detroit and utah.
And among these 2, the more realistic one is with utah (them taking herro, us getting derozan, bulls getting picks)
not necessarily. Brooklyn and San Antonio both showed interest in Tyler Herro last year during the Dame rumors. They could both be roped into a 3-team trade, if the Heat are willing to swap Tyler for DeRozan.
I only wish all of the HHH fans knew and loved hockey and the Florida Panthers. We have a remarkable GM in our midst in Bill Zito. He Is truly a genius. He handles every aspect of the job, from talent evaluation, to contracts, to team building, as well as it can be done. He is always two steps ahead, and has an answer to every contingency. And he does it in a league where, if anything, there is less room for error than the NBA.
Lets be real about the 2 org.For 30 years the panthers were nothing 30.One finals appearance for 3 decades.The heat under riley with zo timmy dwade jimmy have been in the playoffs pretty much every year.Kudos to the panthers for the last few years but to compare the panthers to the heat is like comparing the marlins to the yankees,Things are cyclical in sports cant stay on top forever.
True and good points. And Riley was great for so many years. But, Zito and Riley have almost parallel work schedules. They team build in the same few days. The contrast between the last two years of Riley and Zito could not be more obvious. Zito has it totally together. If Pat were running for president, he would be called sleepy Pat. What Zito has done in the four years since he took over, taking a perennial loser and changing the entire culture to the best organization in hockey, to a place everyone wants to come to, is remarkable. It’s a what have you done for me lately job and after a while, you can’t rest on your laurels forever. And both teams have great owners so Riley certainly is not hampered from producing in any way.
“Assuming Robinson gets cut, then Miami’s nearly $7 million away from the second apron while being $4 million above the first.”
— huh wait, what? Who’s this ‘Robinson’ that is going to be cut? Duncan? are there such plans?
oops, i totally forgot Orlando lol
No demar no caleb prob no hh.Alex burks is a streaky 3 pt shooter.He can get 20 or get 3 pts. backup veteran to replace caleb hh.We just got worse
True, if we lose Caleb and HH, we are right now a worse team at a time we needed to improve to have any chance to keep up. It’s still early though. We need to trade as it’s the only way left to improve. Sticky wicket is we have to add picks to our assets to make someone give us something back that improves us. Pat has us in a tough spot, because they have to take our overpay too. But, he turned Kyle and his absurd contract into Rozier with a pick, so anything is possible.
But, right now, nothing makes sense. Why keep Jimmy if you’re not going to upgrade the team around him. And, if you think there are questions now about Jimmy and that his value is lower now after his injury, wait till he is counted on too much to carry us. Right now there are teams that will still give us some real value back and it’s much more likely he will have less value, not more, down the road, especially as we get closer to losing him for nothing.
But, what can we do, the players we want to trade are overpaid so noone wants them and the ones other teams would want, we don’t want to give up as it would hurt us at the same time we are trying to upgrade. Our only chance is giving up our precious few picks to sweeten the deals to get anything done.
But, it’s better than staying Pat. Do something, and something that moves the needle, as Burke, Love and Bryant don’t move the needle much.
they move the needle in a downward direction.this mess is riley overpaying for dunc and tyler,
Exactly. How he got out of the Lowry mess was a miracle. But, no magic genie this time. This has been hanging over our heads for two years now. Doing whatever Jimmy says to do is part of the problem. He told Pat to get Lowry. Then he dictates to Pat to let him play out his contract. He should be traded if we get no one to support him. We need an A player and a B+ player to compete with Philly and Boston, and an A- to catch up to NY, Milwaukee. And they all need to be two way players, good on defense. That’s how far behind those teams we are. We are also behind, but a little less, Cleveland and Indy. Anyone who can’t see that is blind, or doesn’t know basketball, or has their own agenda. And we need those players without losing Jimmy, Bam, Terry, JRich, Alex, Ware, and JJJ. And we need those seven healthy. If we can’t get an A or an A- ( to quantify, DeRozan is an A for one more year, LaVine is an A-) we should trade Jimmy. If a month goes by and we haven’t improved, we need to take over the asylum from the lunatics.
To further quantify the difference between Boston and Philly and us, Boston has two solid A+ players in Tatum and Brown, an A player in Holiday, two A- players in White and Porzingus. Philly has a high A+ player in Embiid, a low A+ in Maxey, a solid A in George ( he used to be an A+), and a B+ player in Oubre and maybe a low B+ in Gordon. We have a high A player in Bam, a high A in Jimmy (used to be an A+), a low A- in Terry, and a B+ in Tyler. Everyone else we have is B or lower. We clearly have less than those two teams.
We need a backup pg pronto, I hope to god I don’t have to watch JRich as a backup pg anymore.
As a backup 2 he’s solid but as a backup 1 he stinks.
I would love to see Lowry back here on a vet’s minimum. Having him back up TRoz would be solid as FK.
The dude was brutally overpaid at his previous salary but getting him on a vet’s minimum would be an absolute steal.
We can’t do the Lowry thing again, especially with the fans in their doom bunkers.
Tyus Jones would be nice, but not realistic as he can get more money than what the Heat can offer. So realistic options are like Dennis Smith Jr (good D off the bench) or Jordan Goodwin. For a lottery ticket-like move to see if you hit paydirt I like Malachi Flynn.
That’s why they brought back Dru Smith.
Not on a two way with the game limitations. At least I hope not. The guys I mentioned will be around for vet minimum and you can still keep Dru Smith on the two way and see if he finally breaks through.
Or develop Pullin. I think he has a higher ceiling.
I disagree with you guys on Lowry I think Lowry would make an excellent backup pg at the vet’s minimum.
Dude was 4th in WS on this team in that 2023 run to the finals because he was coming off the bench where he belongs and he was 3rd in on/off for that 6ers team in the playoffs.
This guy does so much little sht that doesn’t show up on a box sheet to help a team win.
The vet’s min for Lowry? sign me up fast But I’m also realistic. I know that sht is unlikely to happen. Pat’s probably had his fill of Lowry and so do most of the fans.
Most of them don’t want anything to do with Lowry.
I don’t feel that way though.
Contrary to popular belief I still feel if healthy (big if) the Heat are a realistic title contender and only needs 2 more (along with Burks) high level role players to be back in the contender’s hunt.
Once around with Lowry was enough, thank you.
That wright defection was painful max.
I agree bro.
I love Delon’s abilities at both ends of the floor.
His signing with the Bucks has disappointed me more than anything else so far in free agency.
I am happy for anything we do to lengthen out our rotation. We are still so far behind two teams in the East it’s ridiculous. We are also notably behind at least four more Eastern teams. And we are in the pack with about three more. I am happy for acquiring Burks as he is an asset, and although different, sort of an older Caleb level replacement. But, we still got a lot of catching up to do.
BTW, I am not the only one not fully impressed. X is full of Pat Riley mockery these days, things like, “Pat just woke up and signed the first player he saw.” We seem to be becoming not one of the places players want to come to anymore.
After the sixers signed pg that was my thinking as well. Mia if we are being generous are the 6th best team (again being generous)
A better Philly, Bos,Ny, deep PO experience for Pacers only helped them. Haven’t mentioned Cle, mil or the up and coming Magic squad. Yeah 6th is being very generous if we’re being honest
Agree with your assessment. I also have all the teams you mention currently ahead of us. With Orlando it’s very close.
It’s important to honestly assess things as if we are keeping Jimmy for another year, it doesn’t make much sense to not give him a competetive team around him. Because, if we aren’t going for it, clearly the better move would be to trade Jimmy while his value is highest. We are at a crossroads and need to get very real and not just hope for the best.
Is Jimmy’s value really that high right now? Last any other team saw of him he was injured and then requested an extension. I would say the opposite as of today. Now that can change if he is playing most games and balling out next season. His value can recover and then teams trying to make that push for a title will be willing to deal if the Heat are either out of it or low in the standings.
lol. People on X. Are those the same people that said Jimmy Butler was destined for first round exits after he left Philly for the Heat? Or the people that said the Sixers won the offseason after they signed PJ Tucker away from the Heat?
Pat Riley is playing chess while people on Twitter are playing tic-tac-toe.
I LOVE this move. Dude is a bucket and for vet minimum. I’m not confused on what he is overall as a player, but this is a great buy low/high upside pickup.
I love your exuberance. Better than me attitudinally for sure.
I wish everyone knew how I root on a really good team with a well functioning front office, ie, how the Heat used to be. I shower the Panthers with praise, especially the GM. I’m not typically a negatively oriented person. But, I do try to honestly assess our situation. I am still a big fan and I am still hoping for the best.
How the Heat used to be? You guys are entertaining. The Heat were in the worst situation in the league according to Zack Lowe when they traded for Jimmy. We have been to two Finals, three ECF, and bounced in the fist round twice. The team appears to be positioning themselves to make this so called moves you crave next season and beyond and they get labeled has-beens. lol this fanbase I tell ya 🙂
You are still living in the past. I think there was a 2023 season you forgot about. You apologists are kind of funny.
You mean the 2023 season where Terry and Jimmy were hurt at the end, Herro for most of the season. That one? Yeah injuries means this FO team is washed up.
Last few draft picks of this has-been front office.
Bam-All Star and deserves DPOY
Herro-Won 6MOTY
Precious-was used in Lowry trade and will be in a teams rotation this year
Jovic-Probably our team MIP and a legit threat to be NBA MIP this season
JJJ-First team All NBA rookie
Ware-To be seen
And oh by the way we have the beast coach in the NBA.
Yeah man we’re in dire straights down here.
PS: The Bucks had Dame and Giannis, a better two than Miami has and remind me how their season went.
Well they won more games than Miami. And if we’re using injury excuses, didn’t they finish the season with Dame, Giannis and Middleton hurt? Also for what it’s worth, they beat Miami in 2 outta 3 match ups
Regular season doesn’t matter,it’s the playoffs that truly matters.
You can have your reality. I just, for once, sent back what you sent out. But, enough for me. See it how you want to. Best to you…
Interesting choice, this tells me that heat are prepared to probably lose both of caleb, Highsmith. Also it’s more likely now that miami trades either dunc or herro, or maybe even both.