Roster move may open spot for Haslem

Heat waive Maten in advance of Thursday guarantee deadline

MIAMI The Miami Heat have waived forward Yante Maten in advance of his Thursday guarantee date, opening the door for the addition of at least one veteran to the roster.

Monday’s move with Maten was made in advance of the Heat’s deadline for increasing his guarantee from the $100,000 he already has received for 2019-20 to $150,000.

Thursday also is the deadline for the Heat to guarantee the contract of forward Derrick Jones Jr. for the season and to increase the guarantee of guard Kendrick Nunn from $50,000 to $150,000.

With only the announcement of the Maten move on Monday, it makes it likely that Jones and Nunn will receive their upcoming guarantees.

With 10 players under fully guaranteed contracts for 2019-20, and with the Heat likely to open the season with a 13- or 14-player roster due to the hard salary cap that resulted from the signing of Jimmy Butler, this latest round of guarantees have both financial and flexibility implications.

While not as certain as Jones’ guarantee of his full $1.6 million salary for the season, Nunn also appears assured of having his guarantee picked up at his Thursday deadline, based on his solid summer-league performances.

Maten’s guarantee on his $1.4 million 2019-20 contract would have risen to $300,000 on opening night and then $450,000 on Dec. 1, with Monday’s move making those additional deadlines moot.

Among the options for the Heat with the now-vacated roster spot

could be a return for a 17th season by forward and team captain Udonis Haslem, or one of the remaining veterans on the free-agent market, a list the includes Jamal Crawford, J.R. Smith and Jeremy Lin, as well as Vince Carter and Carmelo Anthony.

Maten, who went undrafted in 2018 out of Georgia, was a summer-league revelation a year ago, along with Duncan Robinson, the 2018 undrafted forward out of Michigan. The two played on Heat two-way contracts last season before those deals were changed to standard NBA deals the final week of the 2018-19 season.

Robinson recently had a $1 million guarantee for 2019-20 picked up by the Heat, all but assuring a roster spot.

But while Robinson again thrived this summer, Maten was uneven with his play in both the Sacramento and Las Vegas summer leagues. He will become a free agent if not claimed during the NBA’s 48-hour waiver period.

In addition to the 13 or 14 players on the openingnight roster, the Heat can sign up to two players to two-way contracts, with those contracts not counting against the salary cap, luxury tax or hard cap. Those moves could come from the trio of players signed at the close of summer league to Exhibit 10 contracts — Chris Silva, Jeremiah Martin and Kyle Alexander — with each guaranteed no more than $50,000.

Maten is not eligible for such a two-way contract, nor is he eligible to return to the Heat’s G League affiliate, now that he has received more than $50,000 in guarantees from the Heat this season.

Maten this past season appeared in two games with Heat, with two points, three rebounds and a steal in 13 minutes. He appeared in 30 games (all starts) with the Sioux Falls Skyforce, the Heat’s G League affiliate, averaging 23.5 points, 9.7 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 1.17 blocks in 32.7 minutes, shooting .543 from the field.

Teams can carry a maximum of 20 players until opening night, with the current Heat roster at 16. The limit is reduced to 15 regular season.

The 10 players under full guaranteed contracts for the Heat are Butler, Goran Dragic, James Johnson, Justise Winslow, Dion Waiters, Kelly Olynyk, Meyers Leonard, Tyler Herro, Bam Adebayo and KZ Okpala.

The Heat open training camp in late September, with the regular season to open in mid-October. The NBA schedule is expected to be released in early August. for the