The Miami Heat’s roster is starting to take shape and it looks a lot like last year’s. Jimmy Butler is going to fulfill his contract with the Heat next season, and Bam Adebayo has signed a new contract extensionwhich will give the Heat some financial breathing room with that deal. Tyler Herro, Terry Rozier, Duncan Robinson, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kevin Love and Nikola Jokic will all be back under coach Eric Spoelstra.
Thomas Bryant will also be back. Bryant had opted not to renew his $2.8 million contract to become a free agent, but on Wednesday he agreed to re-sign with Miami on a one-year veteran’s minimum deal worth about $2.8 million. The opt-out and re-signing saved the Heat money (even though he makes $2.8 million, he’ll only count as $2.1 million against the salary cap) and helps with the second tax line, which the Heat are running into but don’t want to cross. The re-signing of Bryant and Love, plus the Heat drafting Indiana center Kel’el Ware in the first round, means Orlando Robinson is unlikely to return to the team (the Heat have a July 15 deadline to guarantee his salary for next season).
One new face will be veteran point guard Alec Burks, who spent last season with the Pistons and Knicks and averaged 10.4 points per game but is now headed to Miami on a veteran minimum contract (because he’s been in the league for more than 10 years and is worth $3.3 million), news first revealed by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
(Like Bryant, Burk’s salary only counts as $2.1 million against the salary cap under NBA rules.)
Burks brings scoring power, can hit 3-pointers (career 38.3 percent from deep) and had a pair of games last season where he scored 30-plus points.
There are still questions to be answered about the Heat’s roster for next season. Is free agent Caleb Martin returning? — but Miami is going to bounce back with a team that will make the postseason and be scary in a playoff series if healthy, but doesn’t look like a real threat to Boston, New York and Philadelphia atop the East.