Over 12 hours after the conclusion of their final preseason game against the Memphis Grizzlies, the Miami Heat announced Saturday morning that it has waived Nassir Little, Zyon Pullin, Isaiah Stevens and Warren Washington.
OFFICIAL: The Miami HEAT have waived Nassir Little, Zyon Pullin, Isaiah Stevens and Warren Washington.
— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) October 19, 2024
As a result, they will enter the 2024-25 season with 17 players on the roster: 14 players on standard contracts plus three two-way players (Dru Smith, Josh Christopher, Keshad Johnson).
It’s not confirmed whether or not Little–the only player previously on a non-guaranteed standard deal–would join Sioux Falls, though it’s expected that the other three would start the season on the Skyforce.
Anthony Chiang confirmed that if Little was on the roster past the 5 p.m. deadline today, the Heat would begin accruing his daily cap hit if he was still on the non-guaranteed deal–which would prolong the date that the Heat would be able to convert a two-way (likely Keshad Johnson) or sign a player for the minimum without exceeding the second apron.
Among the other three that were cut, Stevens had the best preseason, despite only totaling six points in 49 minutes. He continued to be a revelation as a playmaker, posting 12 assists to just three turnovers, developing great synergy with heat first-round rookie Kel’el Ware.
Ultimately, Miami made the right decision with its two-way spots. Dru Smith earned it, as did Josh Christopher and Keshad Johnson. At some point or another, a team could very well give Stevens a two-way. But two-way deals don’t count against the team cap, and the Heat have been known to shift them around, depending on the circumstances.
What do you think about the final roster cuts? Let us know in the comments!
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knicks look terrible.bridges shot is broken og 225mil contract thats crazy.i think we are better than them.
Embiid and George are already out and the season hasn’t even started yet. Once again, the other teams win the offseason and the Heat will win the postseason
Tonight’s the night.
If you are Celtics, Knicks, Lakers or T’Wolves fan.
Nas is a good player, but he’s got the same problem that a lot of NBA washouts have. He’s not good enough to have the ball in his hands, and he doesn’t fit a role off ball. I’m sure he’ll be a great player in Europe or Asia somewhere.
I’m glad to see Dru Smith back on a 2-way. If he’s healthy, I think he’ll be on a standard contract by midseason. That dude is a pitbull on defense that can run point. I’m planting my flag as the #1 Dru Smith fan on HHH
Heat played some minutes with Burks as point guard. Not looking good, so I think, there is a rosier as a starting point guard, then playmaking by commite (Bam, JB, JJJ, Jovic), and then lineups with Dru as point guard. He ll get his 10-15 minutes a game sooner or later.
Used to be a Dru smith hater but he won me over this preseason I’m rooting for him
I’m somewhat with you on this. I felt he was a nice guy, but the wrong choice for the third 2-way contract. He has worked hard to win that spot.
we might not win a championship in the finals but could win the in-season tournament
There is a 100 or so players which are trying everything to find the way to join the league every year. And they are playing for for 2 peanuts for years to get a chance to reached NBA.
I thing that league as rich as NBA should insure better payment for those on two way contracts and in G league. Majority of those players never made it, and the least thing league can do for them is to be paid decently when they trying doing it.
The league has actually done that. 2 way players earn more than half a million per season. G-league players earn about $40,000 for the 5-6 months they play PLUS meals, lodging, and health care. So, it’s probably more than if they got a regular job out of high school or college.
Thank you for an explanation, I didn’t realised that. I read about those salaries several years ago, and I was shocked. I didnt noticed that anything changed in past years. I took a look, and even 10 days contracts are well paid.
But for the G-league, 40.000 doesn’t seems a lot, at least not for US. For a single man is probably enough, but for the family probably not.
You’re right, they used to be bad.
Ehh pay em more, what’s the worst that could happen?
I agree they should pay the g league players more. Maybe double so they have enough to spend the other 6 months concentrating on improving their game.
Well, there goes my idea of keeping Little and dangling Highsmith in trade offers. But, circling back to the proposed Kuzma trade by Sunman, Kuzma is a far superior player to Caleb, and it would be the type of upgrade we need as he is a scorer, a quality fourth option. He is also right in size. We can’t upgrade on Jovic with someone under 6’9”.
As I wrote in the other thread, Jovic is more efficient at the type of offense required from him in his role than Kuzma has shown himself capable of.
Classic good stats bad team guy.
Should have kept Nassir little zyon pullin Isaiah Stevens they should have waived Josh Richardson dru smith Thomas bryant it’s over another year of a play in team
I’ll try this again. It’s not football. You can’t waive players under contract. It would not create space to sign any players. Only way to add is by trading players, and the Heat cannot take in more money than they send out.
You can’t waive them. You can pay them for the year and release them but then you can’t fill behind them if you are already at the apron.
If they hadn’t signed Christopher, another team would have signed him. Johnson is the one they may lose.
What do you mean Johnson is the one they may lose
Signed by another team like Swider and Williams.
I don’t think he can be poached while on a 2-way.
Yeah that’s why I was confused
Confirmed:
No, another team cannot sign a two-way player on your team because the team that signs a player to a two-way contract has exclusive rights to that player for the duration of the contract
My bad. I missed that part. Glad. Johnson may wind up being one of the best of the bunch.
I totally agree! Guy is a bit of a beast.
Surprised the experiment got cut short so early, but can’t say I disagree. Wasn’t impressed in his minutes, I know he shot the three well last game but didn’t like outside the box score, he was late off-ball, confused in defense sometimes, he dove for the ball a couple times but his hustle outside that didn’t really jump out IMO
We’re not winning a ring We’re not winning the championship this year we will be a play in team but at least Jimmy Butler gets his Extension an I can tell grizzlies has more faith in Zach Edey than the heat has in Kel’el Ware they should Trade or waive Thomas bryant should have kept Orlando robinson or omer Yurtseven or Warren Washington could have kept Nassir little Isaiah Stevens zyon pullin should have traded or part ways with Thomas bryant should Trade or waive Josh Richardson
The Heat CAN’T waive anyone on a guaranteed contract. They’d still have to pay him and it wouldn’t free up a single dollar. They can only add a player by trading someone. Yurt? Warren Washington? Lol. Yurt was so good that he’s out of the league. And Ware thoroughly outplayed Edey yesterday.
Lol yurt played himself out of the league 🤣 an huh duh I know Ware outplayed edey didn’t say he didn’t I said grizzlies has more faith in their rookie center than our team has in Ware
Why do they have more faith? Heat have always brought players along slowly and not just hand a rook minutes. They chose him at 15 so they must have some faith in him. And, yeah, no team wanted Yurt this year – think there’s a reason for that?
Too slow. Can’t defend. Not a great shooter.
Don’t misunderstand me, I was a fan of Yurt and wanted to see him succeed. Just didn’t work out for him.
Btw, Yurt is in Panathinaikos now, where he joined Kendrick Nunn. He should do better in european basketball. They have a really good team, that won the EL recently. Players with nba experience, too- Juancho Hernangomez, Cedi Osman, Kostas Antetokoumpo, Jerian Grant
Thanks! Hopefully they do well enough to get another shot in the NBA. If not, they will still make a lot more money than I ever did. 😀
Heat have Bam. Grizzlies don’t have a legit center. They traded Steve Adams to Houston.
We’ll have to see what happens with Zach Edey before we say the Grizzlies don’t have a legit center
I thought SM meant they picked Edey because they didn’t have a legit center, whereas we have Bam.
They Did Not Have a Legit Center After Trading Away Steve Adams.
Little’s time was little.
Nas bad