Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Derrick Walton Jr. faces yet another contract deadline.
Guard is an unrestricted free agent
LAS VEGAS — The Miami Heat have withdrawn their qualifying offer to guard Derrick Walton Jr., making him an unrestricted free agent, the Sun Sentinel confirmed Wednesday.
The Heat had a Friday deadline for the decision, after which the offer for a twoway contract, which was accompanied by a $50,000 guarantee for next season, would have remained in place until a decision was made by the guard who went undrafted out of Michigan in 2017.
Walton, who played on a two-way contract last season with the Heat, has struggled with his shooting during the team’s summerleague play in Sacramento and Las Vegas.
The Heat on Tuesday offered a two-way contract to summer-league shooting revelation Duncan Robinson, the undrafted forward out of Michigan. The Heat previously this month signed forward Derrick Jones Jr. to a standard contract, which includes a 2018-19 guarantee for $1.5 million, after he finished on a two-way contract for the Heat last season.
Heat management has expressed a preference to wait on offering their second two-way contract until later in the offseason, with teams limited to two such agreements.
“We maybe might keep the second one, because having a slot sometimes helps you,” Heat Vice President of Player Personnel Chet Kammerer said. “I don’t think we all really know exactly what the best way is at this point. Some franchises grab the two-ways early.”
The decision to withdraw the qualifying offer comes in the wake of Heat video coordinator Eric Glass, the team’s summer-league coach, praising Walton after Wednesday’s practice at a Las Vegas high school.
“He’s been great,” Glass said. “It’s really hard in this game, especially when you’re a shooter, when your shot’s not going, to find a way to impact the game. He’s done that.
“He’s never put his head down. He’s never turned down an open shot. He’s focused on giving to his teammates and competing on the defensive end of the floor and that’s all you can ask for.”
A year ago, the Heat poached Walton from the Orlando Magic’s summerleague roster and made him the franchise’s first-ever player signed to a two-way contract.
“I’m not worried about it,” Walton said of Friday’s deadline that ultimately was pushed up two days by the Heat. “I’m honestly not worried about it. Just worry about what’s in front of me and let that be what it is. At the end of the day, there’s not really much I can do about it in the first place, so I can just control what I can control.”
Walton remains with the Heat summer-league roster.
By removing the qualifying offer, the Heat lose the ability to match outside offers, with Walton free to sign with any team.
Despite the shooting struggles, Walton said he believes he has been making advances this summer.
“Just be a lot more defensively minded like I’ve been doing,” he said. “I think I’ve been doing a pretty good job. I think it’s pretty well known that I can shoot the ball. The fact that I haven’t been making shots at the normal rate doesn’t really alarm me. It doesn’t really bother me. Just, overall, be a leader out there, run the team, be defensive minded, show my playmaking ability.
“I think I’m doing pretty well. But there’s always strides I can make. I think there’s some stuff that I can still do, be a lot more attacking will make me more effective.”