They didn’t trade into the first round. But they did trade into the second.

For most of the night, Shane Battier was the Miami Heat’s only presence at the NBA Draft.

Then they made a late move by trading a future second-round pick (top-40 protected in 2017; unprotected in 2018) for the rights to Battier’s potential apprentice – 6-foot-7, 206-pound Long Beach State swingman James Ennis, who turns 23 on Monday – just before the draft ended. He was originally selected by the Atlanta Hawks with the 50th pick.

It was not an impulse decision.

The Heat became aware of the Southern California product when he was still playing at Ventura College more than two years ago, and scouted him in person before he ever took the floor for Long Beach State as a junior.

“I heard about (Ennis) when he was (still) at Ventura College,” Heat vice president of player personnel Chet Kammerer said.

“His first year at Long Beach State, I went to practice there with coach (Dan) Monson, and watched the first weekend of practice. They had this real good team with Casper Ware, (Larry) Anderson and (TJ) Robinson. I went to watch those guys. But when I got there to watch the practice, I noticed this young, long wing. By the end of the practice, I was really impressed with him. I said, ‘There’s the best pro prospect on the roster.’ ”

The Heat were particularly attracted to Ennis’ versatility.

He fits the mold of a Heat player these days – he can play multiple positions and shows a varied set of skills. In his college career, he proved he could shoot, rebound, pass and defend – and do all those things with explosiveness.

Using Inspector Gadget-like arms and springy legs, Ennis has become a highlight-reel waiting to happen with his explosive dunks. He started dunking before his sophomore year of high school. He increased his leaping ability at college by high jumping for his track and field team. His personal best was 6 feet, 11 inches.

But perhaps most important is his potential as a floor spacing shooter. He’s not quite there yet – he shot 36% from 3-point range as a senior – but, given his shooting stroke, he projects as someone who can develop nicely in that role.  Read more…

Well, one of the Miami Heat’s bigger future assets is now not so big.

Pending league approval, which for salary cap reasons won’t come until July, the New Orleans Pelicans will reportedly trade center Nerlens Noel and a 2014 top-5 protected first-round pick to the Philadelphia 76ers for point guard Jrue Holiday. The Sixers will also send its 42nd overall draft pick, point guard Pierre Jackson of Baylor, with Holiday.

Who won?

Not the Heat.

Holiday was an All-Star point guard. He was the team’s best player. He was young. A cornerstone. Now he’s gone.

By trading for Noel, the former Kentucky standout, the 76ers will almost certainly not have any interest in bringing back center Andrew Bynum either. Noel, coming off a March 12 operation to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, is not expected to be ready to play until at least the end of December.

The Sixers will now have a projected $18 million in salary cap room heading into the offseason, but not a whole lot of high-quality outside free agents are expected to have much interest.

This is a complete rebuild for Philadelphia.

With their No. 11 pick, the Sixers took guard Michael Carter-Williams from Syracuse to replace Holiday. They will be giving significant minutes to a rookie point guard and a rookie center next season, as well as to a sophomore power forward in Arnett Moultrie and a fourth year shooting guard in Evan Turner, amongst several other youngsters. That’s very likely a lottery team for the foreseeable future.

Not a good outcome if you’re the Miami Heat.

Read more…

The following post has been written in response to a column by Ira Winderman, a local beat writer who I enjoy reading and respect very much, in which it was stated that Ray Allen could not earn more from the Heat by opting out of his contract. As I often do all across the cyber universe of NBA basketball, I respectfully informed him that the Heat could in fact offer Allen both a higher starting salary and a longer contract by utilizing his Non-Bird rights if Allen were to first opt out. The revision of his column to reflect the correction has led to widespread speculation that Allen opting out is a forgone conclusion. While I have informed others of the possibility, I have never written about it on this blog because I do not believe it has a realistic chance to happen. I continue to believe that Allen will opt in by the June 29 deadline. The following post describes why. 

The plot keeps growing. And with it, so too the potential outcomes.

As expected, James Jones and Rashard Lewis have exercised their player options that will pay them $1.5 million and $1.4 million for next season, respectively. The Heat has also picked up its $4.0 million team option on Mario Chalmers.

The surprising revelation, however, is the apparent indecision of Ray Allen. Allen holds a $3.2 million player option. The common logic has been that – having hit the most iconic shot of the 2013 playoffs, perhaps the single biggest three-pointer in Miami Heat history, perhaps the single biggest field goal of his life, and, as a result, having won his second NBA title – he was surely rejuvenated and excited to return.

That notion now appears at least somewhat in doubt.  Read more…

(Note: This post has been updated from last season)

Micky Arison was one of five NBA owners who voted against the current Collective Bargaining Agreement back in December of 2011. It was mostly a symbolic move – he knew the agreement would pass either way. But the point that Arison was making was clear: the harshest elements of the new contract, the more penal luxury tax system and the new revenue sharing model, were clearly aimed directly at the Miami Heat.

The lockout having ended, the season was spared and the Heat went on to win its first, and now its second, championship of the Big Three era. Heat fans have thus far been spoiled by Arison’s willingness to spend his way into ensuring the future is bright in Miami. But the day of reckoning the league had envisioned for the Heat is now upon us, and Pat Riley and crew had better be prepared.

Yes, Micky Arison is a multi-billionaire. And yes, he is sitting on a several-hundred-million-dollar unrealized gain with his investment in the Miami Heat, having purchased the team for a mere $65 million in 1995. But how much can be reasonably asked of him to spend on payroll? After all, it is a business. He has a right to turn a profit. Or at least limit the losses.

Player salaries, when combined with luxury tax obligations, can get quite expensive for a title contender such as the Heat. Revenue sharing obligations only increase that financial burden.

In this new salary cap environment, where even the most lavish of owners such as Mark Cuban of the Dallas Mavericks and James Dolan of the New York Knicks are for the first time monitoring their payroll, where legitimate championship contenders need to part ways with budding superstars, some financial responsibility is inevitable.  Read more…

The Miami Heat have no first or second round picks in the 2013 NBA Draft, which is to be held on June 27 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

The Heat’s first round pick was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers as part of the LeBron James sign-and-trade on July 9, 2010. It was subsequently traded to the Los Angeles Lakers, and is now the property of the Phoenix Suns. It has become the No. 30 and final pick in the round.

The Heat also acquired a first round pick from the Philadelphia 76ers in the Arnett Moultrie draft-and-trade on June 28, 2012. However, the pick is lottery protected through 2015; if not conveyed by 2015, it will become consecutive second round picks in 2015 and 2016. Since the Sixers missed the playoffs this past season, the pick will be conditionally transferred to the Heat next year.

The Heat’s second round pick, which has become the No. 60 pick in the draft, is property of the Memphis Grizzlies. It was included in the Dexter Pittman trade on February 21, 2013.

Currently a bystander to Thursday evening’s activities, should the Heat attempt to trade into the first round of the draft?  Read more…

When the Miami Heat signed Chris “Birdman” Andersen in January, they were hoping for an extra body off the bench who could bring energy, rebounding and defense. Since joining the team, the veteran forward/center has given them much more than that.

Outside of LeBron James, Andersen was the Heat’s most important player on offense during various stretches of the regular and postseason. Andersen was the beneficiary of James’ creative passing, scoring mostly at the rim, mostly on dunks, adding vertical floor spacing to the Heat’s offense, drawing double and triple teams away from the perimeter, and forcing opposing defenses to pay the ultimate price for their help defense.

Outside of James, he was also the Heat’s most important player on defense at times. James has praised Birdman profusely in the past, comparing him to his former Cleveland Cavaliers teammate Anderson Varejao for his hustle and energy. He blocks shots, he’s versatile enough to check both frontcourt positions, and he rebounds the basketball.

The Heat repeated as champions because they have LeBron James. But they wouldn’t have been nearly as dominant as they were without the contributions of their many secondary players, guys who know their roles and do what they’re supposed to do. Birdman has shown that he can be as valuable to the team as anyone not named James, Wade or Bosh.

He was a wonderful addition for the Heat this past season. A perfect fit. The missing piece at a position of desperate need. But he’s also a soon-to-be 35-year-old, low-minute, high-energy reserve. How should the Heat value such a player? How much can they afford to pay?

Basic mathematics could provide the answers.  Read more…

It’s still time for celebration in Miami, the Heat just having won its second NBA title in as many seasons. The champagne is still flowing, the parade is still upcoming, and the sheer joy of the moment is still bringing smiles to all of our faces.

For the front office, however, it’s time to get to work. There are tough decisions to be made.

Toughest of all may be the case of Mike Miller.

Miller is a truly wonderful guy. He’s classy. He’s humble. He’s a family man with a touching story. He’s a great teammate. He’s a great player. He can hit a barrage of clutch three-pointers to clinch NBA titles. He can hit them without shoes on. When he’s right, he can be the second most valuable player on the team.

But the Heat is in a difficult financial position and, as such, his tenure on the team is in doubt.

He knows it. He recently sold his beautiful Pompano Beach residence at auction in preparation.

Was he right? Were his actions premature? What are the alternatives for Miller and the Heat?  Read more…

The clock is ticking. Within a week, the first decisions for next season need to be made.

By June 29, there will have to be resolution with the four players on the roster with options for the 2013-14 season.

Of those decisions, only one is at the Heat’s discretion, the third and final year on Mario Chalmers’ contract. It is a $4 million team option. It almost assuredly will be picked up, a bargain price for an NBA starting point guard.

Three other options are out of the Heat’s control – player options held by guard Ray Allen and forwards James Jones and Rashard Lewis.

Allen has been silent on the issue of his $3.2 million option. But having hit the most iconic shot of the 2013 playoffs – and perhaps the single biggest field goal in Miami Heat history – resulting in his second NBA title, he is surely rejuvenated and excited to return. Lewis and Jones have each already expressed their excitement in returning with varying levels of certainty.

This is a happy team. It is a back-to-back NBA champion. It is the prohibitive favorite to get a third consecutive. Why would anyone choose to leave?

All four are likely to return.

But, for Lewis and Jones – who are playing at or near the minimum salary – there is a deeper story here. With the Heat in a financial crunch and attempting to keep its core together, the Heat and salary cap guru Andy Elisburg need to get creative. They have a golden opportunity to save as much as $3.1 million next season, and they should pounce. Read more…

This was never about winning. It was never about the rings or legacy or proving to the world that the Big Three model does work. Never about the pure joy of being the best at what you do. This was always about the money.

The Miami Heat, who have now won their third NBA championship, get to take home the Larry O’Brien trophy for the second time in as many seasons. The team also gets to take home a little pocket change: $3,811,608 in playoff bonus money.

In the NBA, there is no championship prize money per se – just a $13 million bonus pool that is funded by playoff gate receipts and is then allocated to playoff teams. The amount earned escalates as one’s team advances in the playoffs.

As a team, the Heat earned $2,302,232 from the pool for winning the championship, compared to the $1,525,515 the Spurs received as runner-up.

Earlier, the Heat earned $374,947 for finishing with the best record in the NBA, another $328,078 for finishing with the best record in the Eastern Conference, $194,016 for participating in the first round of the playoffs, $230,853 for participating in the Conference Semifinals, and $381,482 for participating in the Conference Finals.

Read more…

Their validation came in the form of a second consecutive championship celebration that began here late Thursday night and probably won’t end for days. And as the final seconds ticked off the game clock inside AmericanAirlines Arena, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh reveled in the moment. They earned it!

For Miami’s Big Three, the team’s 95-88 victory over San Antonio in Game 7 of the N.B.A. Finals completed a journey several years in the making. Their Finals disappointment against Dallas in 2011, unforeseen setbacks and relentless criticism – much of it misguided – no longer mattered. They accomplished what they set out to do: win multiple N.B.A. titles as teammates.

That singular pursuit is what prompted the incomparable James to walk away from the team that drafted him, incurring the wrath of fans in his home state. It’s why Wade, one of the game’s greatest ever superstars, willingly stepped aside to let basketball’s best player lead the Heat. It’s why Bosh allowed himself to be denigrated from franchise player to disrespected third wheel.

The payoff was worth it.

In winning consecutive N.B.A. championships, the Heat joins an exclusive club that includes only the Boston Celtics, Chicago Bulls, Detroit Pistons, Houston Rockets and the Los Angeles Lakers. The list of teams that have made at least three straight Finals appearances in doing so is even shorter: the Celtics, Bulls, Pistons and Lakers.  Read more…