Player availability – or lack thereof – was a focus for Pat Riley during the Heat president’s annual end-of-season press conference, writes Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. Riley repeatedly brought up the fact that Miami needs to have its best players available more often and made it clear that figuring out how to improve on that front will be a goal this offseason. “That’s a deep dive for us this summer, player availability,” Riley said. “We must change some things but we aren’t go to rip anything apart.” Riley’s most noteworthy comments on the subject came when he was asked about the possi ..read more

Now that the Bucks‘ season has come to an end, the Pistons are expected to formally seek permission to interview Milwaukee general manager Jon Horst for their president of basketball operations job soon, Marc Stein reports in his latest story at Substack. According to Stein, it’s not yet known whether the Bucks will grant Detroit permission to meet with Horst, a Michigan native who began his NBA career in the Pistons’ basketball operations department. Elsewhere in his Substack article, Stein says that Jimmy Butler‘s future has become an “increasingly hot topic” around the NBA following the Hea ..read more

Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel looks at important dates for the Heat‘s offseason. Two of the most significant are July 6, when Bam Adebayo will become eligible for a three-year, $165MM extension (which could be much larger if he wins Defensive Player of the Year or is named to an All-NBA team) and July 7, when Jimmy Butler will be eligible for a two-year, $112.9MM extension ..read more

Caleb Martin said at Friday’s exit interviews that his preference is to remain with the Heat, but Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald explains that the team’s financial situation may not make that realistic. Martin has a $7.1MM player option for next season, which he’s expected to turn down to seek a longer and more lucrative contract in free agency. “Everybody knows I want to be here. I make that known,” Martin told reporters. “That’s my goal is to be able to stay here, make it work. I want to be here as long as possible and for them to want me to come back. That’s my main goal.” As we noted r ..read more

Duncan Robinson, one of several Heat players affected by health issues this season, said on Friday that – based on the medical feedback he has received – he has no reason to believe that his back issue will “linger or last,” per Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. Robinson missed nine of the team’s final 14 regular season games due to the injury and played a limited role in the postseason. The Heat were among the teams most affected by injuries for a second straight season in 2023/24, setting a new franchise record by using 35 different starting lineups. Speaking to reporters on Friday, head co ..read more

While the Sixers are disappointed by how quickly their playoff run ended this spring, there are reasons for optimism going forward. For one, guard Tyrese Maxey showed this season that he’s an impact player capable of becoming a legitimate second star alongside center Joel Embiid, according to Gina Mizell of The Philadelphia Inquirer and Tim Bontemps of ESPN. “He was amazing this year,” Embiid said of his teammate, per Mizell. “One of the 10 best players in the world this year. … He’s gotten so much better. I think there’s another step he can even take.” Maxey will be a restricted free agent th ..read more

The Suns, Lakers and Heat have all mortgaged significant future assets and spent a lot of money to make themselves better in the present, yet none of the three won 50 games in the regular season and they combined to win just two playoff games before being eliminated in the first round, writes John Hollinger of The Athletic. As Hollinger details, all three teams face difficult questions entering the offseason, with Phoenix’s long-term outlook particularly problematic. Still, the best course of action for all three might be making relatively minor moves instead of going even more all-in than the ..read more

A source tells Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald that they anticipate 34-year-old All-NBA Heat small forward Jimmy Butler will look to nab a two-year, maximum-salaried contract extension with Miami, worth $113MM, before the start of the 2024/25 season. The theoretical deal would kick in for 2025/26. Butler has a $52.4MM player option for that year, which an extension would replace. If Miami opts to not extend Butler, Chiang argues, the team could be faced with an unhappy star. The 6’7″ swingman led the Heat to three Eastern Conference Finals and two NBA Finals appearances during his first fou ..read more

The Heat’s season ended in an appropriate way Wednesday night — with another new starting lineup. Injuries have forced coach Erik Spoelstra to juggle his rotations since training camp, and he unveiled his 37th starting unit in Game 5 at Boston, writes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. Rookie Jaime Jaquez was unavailable because of a hip injury he suffered in Game 4 and Spoelstra didn’t want to start Duncan Robinson, who has been limited by a back condition since late in the regular season, so veteran guard Delon Wright made the first playoff start of his career. Wright provided eight points ..read more

A recent TNT report (video link) indicated that Kevin Love might be considering retirement, but the Heat big man clarified today that he’s not ready to end his career, writes Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald. Chris Haynes relayed the story of a team meeting after the Game 3 loss to the Celtics in which Bam Adebayo “challenged his teammates to bring it.” One of the players who spoke up was Love, who according to Haynes, told the locker room, “Listen guys, I don’t know how much more basketball I have left in me. So we cannot go out like this.” Haynes added that Love’s comments “resonated” with ..read more