Salary cap raises the stakes for summer league players

The Heat, for the moment, is caught up in a numbers game, unable by league rules to sign any other players — besides Tyler Herro — without purging salary.

And that raises the stakes for three Heat summer leaguers without fully guaranteed contracts: Yante Maten, Duncan Robinson and Kendrick Nunn.

Releasing any of them before looming guarantee dates would free up the space to sign a veteran player.

And that’s why Maten’s solid 14-points, 13-rebound performance in Tuesday’s 96-92 Las Vegas Summer League win against Orlando was notable.

Once the Heat signs Herro, Miami will be less than $1 million below its hard cap of $138.9 million, a predicament that came into play when Miami acquired Jimmy Butler ina sign-and-trade.

That means the Heat, with its current roster structure, could not sign any player other than Herro, even to a minimum contract. And in order to sign a player, such as Udonis Haslem or anyone else, the Heat would need to either trim salary or dump one of its young players under non-guaranteed contracts: Nunn, Maten or Robinson.

The Heat has been very pleased with Nunn’s work during summer league, and Robinson also has impressed. That leaves Maten needing to make a case after an uneven start in the Las Vegas Summer League.

After playing well in two games in Sacramento (18.5 points per game and 8.5 rebounds per game), Maten entered Tuesday with seven points in two games in Las Vegas, on 5 for 16 shooting, and seven rebounds.

Maten matched his twogame Las Vegas point total in the first five minutes Tuesday, scoring the Heat’s first seven points.

Maten is guaranteed another $150,000 if he’s on the roster by Aug. 1, then another $150,00 if he’s on the team for the regular season opener and then $100,000 if he’s on the team Dec. 1.

Nunn, incidentally, gets a $150,000 guarantee if he’s on the roster Aug. 1. Nunn scored 11 of his 19 in the fourth quarter Tuesday and added eight assists. He’s averaging 20.8 points this summer while shooting 46.8 percent from the field and 38.9 percent on threes.

As for Robinson, his 2019-20 guarantee will rise to $1 million if he’s on the roster after next Monday.

Robinson, who entered averaging 17.0 points in Vegas after scoring 13.5 in Sacramento summer league, scored 14 points on 5 for 12 shooting.

THIS AND THAT

Herro was excellent

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Tuesday, scoring 19 firsthalf points and finishing with 25 points (7 for 15 shooting), seven rebounds and five assists. The Heat’s first-round pick was 9 for 10 on free throws and is 24 for 25 from the free-throw line in summer league.

The Heat improved to

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6-0 this summer, including 3-0 in Las Vegas. Miami plays Minnesota at 7 p.m. Wednesday on NBA TV

The Heat held out rookie ● K.Z. Okpala as he continues to familiarize himself with the Heat’s offensive and defensive systems. The team said he’s unlikely to play Wednesday.