How the Miami Heat's training camp roster will shape up
By
Leonard Kreicas on Jul 30, 2015, 6:57p
9
Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports
A break down of how the Heat will assemble a training camp squad consisting of 15 to 20 players.
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With training camp beginning on Sept. 26 the
Miami Heat can add, at the most, five more players to bring their training camp squad to the maximum allowed of 20.
The team currently has 15 players on their roster:
Chris Andersen,
Chris Bosh,
Mario Chalmers,
Luol Deng,
Goran Dragic,
James Ennis,
Gerald Green,
Udonis Haslem,
Tyler Johnson,
Josh McRoberts,
Josh Richardson,
Amar'e Stoudemire,
Dwyane Wade,
Hassan Whiteside, and
Justise Winslow.
Summer League standout
Willie Reed was grabbed by the
Brooklyn Nets near the conclusion of the Orlando tournament. Big men Gabriel Olaseni and Seth Tuttle signed overseas. That leaves Greg Whittington, among others, as possible invitees from their Summer League team.
Whomever they invite to training camp has to take a spot away from one of 15 men already on the roster to make the opening-day team: he will face an uphill battle doing so. Last year the Miami Heat signed training camper Tyler Johnson later on in the season after a stint in D-League.
This year they can choose from:
- Unsigned free agents with NBA experience
- Summer League standouts who have not been signed
- Last season's intriguing D-League prospects
- Overseas' players (Max Kleber was injured for summer league)
Per
dleaguedigest, training camp invitees are known as "bodies," who can earn $15,000-$50,00 to participate. Afterwards, if they do not make the cut, they can be offered a
D-League contract by the team (up to $25,000) as an "affiliate player." (That's it!?!?)
Each D-League team can have a maximum of four "affiliate players," which gives a franchise exclusive D-League rights to those players, thus more time to evaluate their potential. "However, if a team does not own the players’ NBA rights via the draft, the player is available to sign an NBA contract with all 30 teams,"
according to SI.
Other possibilities for players, who do not make the Miami Heat team after training camp, include being signed by another NBA team or playing professional basketball overseas. This gives aspiring ballers a huge incentive to secure an invitation to the pre-season camp.
Heat management has many considerations to decide on whether to keep the roster as it stands now or change it as the salary cap hit is a big one, but that issue only needs to be finalized in 2016.
During August the Heat can waive a player and stretch his salary over twice the number of years left on his contract, plus one. For example, by waiving Chalmers in August his $4,300,000 salary can be stretched to a three-year salary cap hit of only $1,433,333 per season if another team doesn't claim him.
The team can also renounce a player entirely off their salary-cap books, although they still have to pay his full salary. That could still be big savings in luxury taxes and not be forced to give up other assets to make a trade. The Heat are allowed to trade a renounced player in a sign-and-trade agreement before the regular season starts.
After opening day the Miami Heat are free to trade or renounce a player(s), per normal CBA guidelines, during the season to avoid paying the luxury tax after the season.
You would think the D-League would pay more, a little more, considering that it's part of the NBA.
