Cuts send three to developmental league
MIAMI – The Miami Heat’s final cutdown went as expected Saturday, with the team releasing DeAndre Liggins, Erik McCree and Tony Mitchell, players signed with the intent to funnel them to the developmental league.
The moves leave the Heat with 17 players under contract, with a league-wide reduction to a maximum of 15 required by Monday, two days in advance of the Heat’s season opener at the Amway Center against the Orlando Magic.
The Heat’s roster work, at least for the moment, appears to be over, with teams also allowed to sign up to two players to two-way contracts that do not count against the 15-player limit.
Undrafted Michigan guard Derrick Walton Jr. has already agreed to one of those deals, with undrafted Central Florida guard Matt Williams likely to get the other. Such players can spend no more than 45 days on an NBA roster once the G League begins its training camp on Oct. 12, the bulk of their season to be played with the Sioux Falls Skyforce.
With Saturday’s moves, center A.J. Hammons, who was acquired in the offseason from the Dallas Mavericks in the Josh McRoberts’ salary dump, remains on the Heat roster. Hammons did not play during the preseason and appears to be redundant on a roster that already features Hassan Whiteside, Kelly Olynyk, Bam Adebayo, James Johnson, Jordan Mickey and Udonis Haslem in the power rotation.
“That is the other side of the business,” coach Erik Spoelstra said of roster cuts. “But we said it from the first day of training camp, that we want to continue to build a relationship. Even the guys that we want to transition to Sioux Falls, we have a great history of guys go to Sioux Falls and we invest all of our resources of manpower, of coaching, of just service to the guys to try to help them reach their dreams.
“So it’s a great opportunity. It’s not a demotion, it’s not a cut, it’s an opportunity to continue to develop this relationship with us and we’ll continue to monitor them.”
Rodney McGruder, who is scheduled for leg surgery Tuesday, continues to count against the Heat’s 15-player roster, which would be the case even if he eventually is declared out for the season.
Walton has intrigued since he began training with the Heat following summer league.
“He has a moxie in close games, but also does a good job of organizing you,” Spoelstra said. “He has a lot of developing to do, but we think with our program in Sioux Falls and spending some time with us that he’ll get better pretty quickly.”
Williams’ makes him a NBA.
Liggins, the NBA journeyman and Skyforce veteran who signed Tuesday, started in his only preseason appearance with the Heat, Friday night against the Philadelphia 76ers in Kansas City, closing with five points, three rebounds and a steal in 27 minutes.
McCree, a wing who went undrafted out of Louisiana Tech, was signed on Sept. 18. He appeared in two games during the preseason, totaling six points, three rebounds, one assist and a steal, shooting 3 of 8 from the field.
Mitchell, a developmentalleague veteran forward who was signed Thursday, did not appear in the preseason. 3-point prospect shooting in today’s