MIAMI (AP) — The NBA draft lottery is in May, the draft happens in June and
free agency arrives in July.
The Miami Heat aren’t hurrying toward any of them.
Changing from the normal end-of-season schedule, the Heat have told players —
whether they’re about to become free agents or not — that they’re welcome to
stick around and keep working over the coming weeks. So while Monday was the
start of the traditional exit meetings with coach Erik Spoelstra and team
officials, it wasn’t a true parting of ways for the offseason.
“It’s cleanup day, not clean-out day,” Spoelstra said. “Lockers are still going
to be there. We want our guys to still feel at home here. Free agency is going
to happen. A lot of our players are going to have free-agent possibilities or
opportunities in July. But that’s July.”
So the nameplates will stay on the lockers, the practice gear won’t get packed
up for the summer and sneakers aren’t being shipped to offseason homes quite
yet. While a few players are in the midst of finalizing offseason plans out of
town — point guard Goran Dragic is returning to his native Slovenia and will
play for his national team this summer — some are already thinking about
getting back to work.
“Why not? It’s Miami,” shooting guard Dion Waiters said. “What other place is
better than this in the summertime? I think it’s great that guys should stick
around and take advantage of it while you’re here. … I’m going to be around.”
Waiters took a $2.9 million deal for this season, saying it was a bet on himself
— and it’s likely going to pay off, after Miami went 27-19 with him in the
lineup. Free-agent-in-waiting James Johnson is also likely going to get a huge
raise after the best season, by far, of his career. Luke Babbitt will be another
free agent and Wayne Ellington has a team option.
Some changes are coming, though if this core of Heat players had its way the
team wouldn’t look much different next fall. Dragic said the team that went
30-11 in the second half of this season, if healthy, could make a run at big
things next season.
“They know we want them back,” Dragic said. “They are a big part of this team.
Everybody’s so close, it’s going to be hard for them to choose some other team,
too. Hopefully they stay.”
Not making the playoffs was clearly painful, though some said things began
returning to normal over the weekend. NBA rebounding champion Hassan Whiteside
went over to Tyler Johnson’s house for some visiting and snapchatting, players
and coaches donned bunny ears at an end-of-season team party – it was Easter
weekend – and a few even watched some playoff games.
There isn’t a lot of looking ahead, at least for now.
“There’s a long way until this summer,” Spoelstra said. “It’s OK to still
reflect and embrace how unique this season was. I think so often all of us fall
prey to `what’s next’ and `what is the future’ and you’re not able to enjoy and
be present. You miss a lot of great things.”
Ellington said he’s thinking he will be back with the Heat, and Waiters — while
cautioning that he can’t predict the future — indicated that he’s already
thinking about staying with Miami.
“It was a blessing, man. Truly a blessing,” Waiters said. “But we’re just
getting started. It’s only the beginning. It’s only the beginning.”
If so, most of those lockers won’t need to be cleaned out for quite some time.
