To date, the Miami Heat have taken a continuity-is-best approach to their offseason. After re-signing Wayne Ellington and Derrick Jones Jr., the Heat have more or less ensured last season’s roster will be in tact for 2018-19. Another move to keep a familiar face in the Miami fold seems to be on the way as well, too.
According to Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel and Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald, the Heat are working to secure a deal that will keep longtime forward Udonis Haslem in South Florida. Here’s more from Winderman on the Haslem-Heat pact in the works:
The Miami Heat are moving toward an agreement with Udonis Haslem for a return for a 16th season with the team, a source familiar with the discussions confirmed Wednesday to the South Florida Sun Sentinel.
Haslem, 38, whose playing time was reduced to 14 appearances for a total of 72 minutes last season, going without a postseason appearance as the Heat fell in five games in the first round of the playoffs to the Philadelphia 76ers, had spoken earlier in the offseason of potentially looking to play elsewhere, including overseas, in a bid for more playing time.
Since then, however, he has been working out with several Heat players, including a Tuesday session with Tyler Johnson, James Johnson, Wayne Ellington and Dwyane Wade, who, like Haslem, remains a free agent.
Of his talks with the Heat, Haslem told the Associated Press, “It was a great conversation. At the end of the day, it was a conversation about if they want me back and if I want to be back.”
Jackson reports if and when Haslem re-signs with the Heat, the veteran big man is expected to receive the $2.4 million veteran’s minimum.
The Heat continue to wait on what another team legend, guard Dwyane Wade, will do next season. Wade is a free agent and had been wooed by a team in China with a lucrative contract this summer. However, last weekend, Wade made it clear that if he does play in 2018-19, it will only be for the Heat.
Earlier in the offseason, Haslem had said he would be open to playing overseas if he could not work out a deal with the Heat for next season. Haslem’s role for Miami has steadily diminished over the last three seasons and in 2017-18, he logged career lows in minutes (5.1 per game), points (0.6), rebounds (0.7) and field goal percentage (20.0).
Undrafted in 2002, Haslem spent his first pro season in France before signing with the Heat as a free agent in 2003. He is Miami’s career leader in rebounds with 5,711, and has appeared in 844 regular-season games — 33 shy of Wade’s record. He’s also seventh on the Heat scoring list (6,486 career points).
Among active players, only the Dallas Mavericks’ Dirk Nowitzki and the San Antonio Spurs’ Manu Ginobili have spent the entirety of a career spanning at least 15 years with one franchise. Former Spurs guard Tony Parker had also logged at least 15 years with the team, but left San Antonio this summer in free agency to sign with the Charlotte Hornets.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
