Heat adds Terry on 10-day contract
Required by league rule to sign a player Wednesday, the Heat gave a 10day contract to Emanuel Terry, a power forward who has appeared in two NBA games, for the Phoenix Suns late last month.
Terry went undrafted out of Division 2 Lincoln Memorial in Cleveland in 2018.
He averaged 16.9 points, 10.3 rebounds and 2.2 blocked shots per game as a senior, led the Railsplitters to South Atlantic Conference regular season and tournament championships and was named an AllAmerican by the National Association of Basketball Coaches.
He also won the Bevo Francis Award as the top small college player in the country. And the South Atlantic league named him the conference’s top defensive player.
After going undrafted last June, Perry signed with the Nuggets, impressed in the Las Vegas Summer League and was invited to Denver’s training camp, where he was cut Oct. 8. He signed with the Cleveland Cavaliers on Oct. 11 but was released after two days.
Cleveland signed him to its G-League team in Canton, and Terry played 20 games for Canton, averaging 8.1 points and 6.4 rebounds for the team.
On Jan. 5, the Heat’s G-League team in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, acquired Terry from Canton for guard Malik Newman, and Terry — in nine games, including eight starts — averaged 16.4 points, 9.2 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.1 blocks in 30.7 minutes while shooting 58.4 percent from the field.
He signed a 10-day contract with the Suns on Jan. 27 and debuted that night with five points, three rebounds, two steals and an assist in eight minutes of a loss to the Lakers. He played in one other game for Phoenix, with four points, three rebounds and a steal in 10 minutes in a loss to San Antonio.
He shot 4 for 6 overall and didn’t attempt a threepoint shot in his two games with the Suns.
His contract expired Feb. 7, and he then rejoined Sioux Falls.
Terry gives the Heat 14 players, but two of those 14 — Goran Dragic and Derrick Jones Jr. — are injured. Duncan Robinson and Yante Maten, signed to two-way contracts, do not count among those 14.
By league rule, the Heat was required to add a 14th player no later than 14 days after dropping to 13. The Heat was left with 13 players when it traded Tyler Johnson and Wayne Ellington to Phoenix for Ryan Anderson exactly 14 days ago.
By signing players to 10-day contracts and then going to back to 13 players for another 14 days, the Heat keeps alive the possibility of being able to slip under the luxury tax threshold this season.
Barry Jackson: 305-376-3491, @flasportsbuzz