We are 22 days away from NBA Training Camp, which begins on October 3rd. The Miami Heat currently has 13 roster spots filled and must sign a 14th player before the regular season starts. It is more difficult for teams to continuously carry fewer than 14 guaranteed contracts because of the new Collective Bargaining Agreement. Miami hasn’t made any additional moves since July. Instead, they been focused on the Damian Lillard and have put any other potential moves on pause. One previous candidate, Christian Wood, signed with the Los Angeles Lakers recently.
Kelly Oubre on the way?
Still, there remains some players on the market who can still join the Heat. One of them is Kelly Oubre, who Marc Stein reports is likely signing with the Heat. Of course, that’s if they’re eventually able to reach an agreement on the Lillard trade. Oubre is coming off a season where he averaged 20.3 points and 5.2 rebounds with the Charlotte Hornets. He’s also coming off a two-year, $26 million contract with the Hornets. Since the free agency period started in July, there hasn’t been much noise on potential destinations for the forward.
Due to Miami’s salary-cap limitations and the strict CBA rules, the Heat can only offer outside free agents the minimum contracts at this time. However, that didn’t prevent the Lakers from signing Wood, who averaged 16.6 points and 7.3 rebounds per game last season. And it could be the case with Miami as well when it comes to Oubre, depending on if they can land Lillard.
Since Lillard’s trade request on July 1st, there hasn’t been any substantive conversations between the Portland Trailblazers and the Heat. Mostly because of the lack of suitors and teams are just returning from their vacation periods. With training camp on the horizon, things could pick up soon.
