Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
A decision tougher than role on roster
Haslem conflicted about next twist in Heat career
MIAMI — Sometimes it is as basic as bucks.
Those are the decisions that Hassan Whiteside and Goran Dragic are left with following the Miami Heat’s lottery season, whether to pick up their player options for next season.
And sometimes it is complicated as commitment.
That is where Udonis Haslem stands, the veteran power forward conflicted whether to return for a 17th Heat season after teammate Dwyane Wade has retired after a 16th NBA season.
On the face of it, a player who appeared in 10 games for a total of 74 minutes this past season hardly would appear to stand as a point of consternation for the franchise.
But only as teammates transitioned to the offseason did it become apparent how much a single veteran in warmup gear can mean.
“He means so much to this franchise,” Dragic said, “but most of all to these young players.”
On the face of it, the natural transition
would be for Haslem to move on to the coaching staff, especially if assistant Juwan Howard lands one of the lead jobs he will be interviewing for, with meetings already planned with the Los Angeles Lakers and Cleveland Cavaliers.
But Dragic said that misses the point.
“He’s kind of a bridge between the coach and the players,” he said.
Unlike with the significant realities the Heat face with the high-end option decisions of Whiteside and Dragic, the financial implications with Haslem are meager. Not only would a veteran minimum salary for next season be $2.6 million, but just about half would be covered by the league, further easing the salary-cap and potential luxury-tax impacts.
The only real impact would be the utilization of a roster spot, which could become an issue with Duncan Robinson and Yante Maten no longer eligible to be reclassified to non-roster, two-way status.
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra and Heat President Pat Riley have said there is no rush, that a seat at the table will be left for the embodiment of the franchise’s culture.
“I think he just needs to chill and think about it,” Riley said. “That’s it. Obviously Mr. 305 is a lifetime guy. He’s given up a lot in his career to stay here, financially. He is beloved in the community. And so we’re just going to leave it up to him, let him think.
“I’ll talk to him a couple of times this summer, but I don’t want him to make the decision right now. It’s a hard job for a warrior to do — be a locker-room guy and a mentor, as Dwyane was, as Juwan Howard was and is. And those kind of the players that have that kind of respect, you don’t get the chance to compete, it makes it doubly hard. And he’s such a warrior and such a competitor, you have to give that great thought to keep that in the locker room.”
For Haslem, who turns 39 in June, the indecision was heightened by Wade’s retirement tour, his “One Last Dance.” The perfection of that yearlong celebration left Haslem conflicted.
“Although nothing on the scale of what Dwyane has done for his one last dance, a lot of people feel like I should take the time to be celebrated at some point,” he said. “Personally, as the person I am, I feel like the Haslem family as a whole deserves the opportunity to celebrate when my career does come to an end. So that has some effect on a decision that we make.”
Those emotions resonated last week, when Wade celebrated in Brooklyn not only with family and friends, but then at an after party in New York with so many close to him, including Haslem.
“My stepmom wasn’t there, my father wasn’t there, my wife wasn’t there, my kids weren’t there,” Haslem said, if, indeed, his double-double performance against the Nets at Barclays Center was his last call. “So that wasn’t my moment. That’s what makes it hard, either way.”
As does this: He’s not sure who gets the baton next, one that has been passed along the Heat’s culture over the years from Alonzo Mourning to Eddie Jones to Brian Grant to himself.
“It would bother me,” he said, “to walk away knowing that it hasn’t been 100 percent solidified who that guy would be.”
He knows who it could be.
“I see glimpses of it in Justise [Winslow], more so than anybody,” he said. “You guys might be surprised, but I’ve seen glimpses of it down the stretch in Dion [Waiters]. I’ve seen glimpses of it more so in JJ [James Johnson]. I see glimpses of it, but have I see the consistency of it where that maybe makes us comfortable? Not quite. But guys are getting there.
“Until that’s 100 percent embedded in this guys, that’s my responsibility to make sure it is.”
“He is beloved in the community. And so we’re just going to leave it up to him, let him think.”
—Heat president Pat Riley on Udonis Haslem