Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Heat tying 14-man roster to personnel fit, not tax
CHICAGO — Although the NBA luxury tax remains an ongoing concern, the Miami Heat’s decision to remain with a 14-player roster amid ongoing injury absences appears to be based more on Erik Spoelstra’s options with his rotation than a bill that would come due at season’s end.
With Goran Dragic sidelined until next week after having his swollen right knee drained Monday, with Tyler Johnson now away from the team with a hamstring issue and Dion Waiters yet to make it back from January ankle surgery, the Heat find themselves limited when it comes to playmakers.
Yet even while going without a true point guard in Dragic’s absence, the Heat have declined to move toward an available veteran such as Jarrett Jack, Jameer Nelson, Ty Lawson, Aaron Brooks, Mario Chalmers or even a G League player, such as Briante
Weber.
Spoelstra said having Dwyane Wade back from his two-week paternity leave and James Johnson back this week after being sidelined since May surgery for a sports hernia has eased the need to a pure point guard.
“Now I feel a lot more comfortable and so does our team than we did a couple of games ago,” Spoelstra said before Friday night’s game against the Chicago Bulls at the United Center.
Spoelstra also cited the playmaking abilities of Josh Richardson, Justise Winslow and Rodney McGruder.
“We have all of our other ballhandlers playing,” he said. “So the guys that can initiate offense other than Goran are all here and they will be available. So J-Rich can get us organized, Dwyane, JJ, Justise and even Rodney has been adding more to his plate in that regard. So we’re better off than we were when we didn’t have Dwyane and JJ.”
With the Heat already above the NBA luxury tax, adding a veteran for the team’s open 15th roster spot would cost $8,546 per day, plus the accompanying luxury tax, which would put the daily cost just above $20,000 per day.
Yet while getting below the luxury tax to ease future transactions is a seasonlong goal, the Heat preference to remain intact amid Dragic’s injury and the other absences is more a factor of finding playing time for those already in place.
Should the Heat add a veteran point guard, the domino factor could wind up costing playing time for Wayne Ellington or even Bam Adebayo, when factoring in the positional versatility of James Johnson and Winslow.
Instead, the belief within the organization appears to be that a point guard added to the mix would be unlikely to move into a Spoelstra rotation already 10 deep if also factoring in Derrick Jones Jr., even with Dragic, Waiters and Tyler Johnson missing. As it is, Kelly Olynyk was not utilized in Tuesday’s loss to the Brooklyn Nets.
The Heat also have the versatility provided by two-way players Duncan Robinson and Yante Maten. Such players are allowed to spend up to 45 days in the NBA between the start of G League training camp and the end of the G League regular season.
Entering Friday, Robinson had utilized 10 of those NBA days. Maten, who has utilized three, has been returned to the Sioux Falls Skyforce.
If there is a silver lining with Dragic out, Spoelstra said it allows Winslow to explore more of his playmaking.
“In many ways he will probably be more comfortable with Goran out right now,” Spoelstra said, “because I’m going to shift some of the ballhandling and playmaking and initiating onto his plate. I think in the short term that will probably get him a lot more comfortable.”