The Miami Heat fortified their bench depth by signing ex-New York Knicks guard Alec Burks to a one-year deal, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Burks signed for the veteran minimum contract worth about $3.3 million after coming off a three-year, $30 million deal he signed originally with the Knicks in 2021. He recently switched representation, joining Klutch Sports to prepare for his free agency.
A 13-year veteran, Burks was the 12th overall pick in 2011. He last played with the Knicks arriving at the trade deadline from Detroit along with veteran wing Bojan Bogdanovic.
The 30-year-old Burks averaged 6.5 points in 13.5 minutes across 23 games to end the regular season with the Knicks.
In the Knicks’ second-round loss to the Indiana Pacers in the last playoffs, Burks averaged 14.8 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.0 assists while shooting 42.9% from the 3-point range. He joins a deep Heat bench that already has Kevin Love, Duncan Robinson, Josh Richardson, Thomas Bryant and Nikola Jovic.
Thomas Bryant Returns on One-Year Deal
Heat’s reserve center Thomas Bryant will return on a veteran minimum deal, according to NBA insider Marc Stein.
The Heat will be saving some money by Bryant opting out of his player option and returning on a new veteran minimum deal, according to Miami Herald’s Anthony Chiang.
Bryant’s cap hit is just $2.1 million similar to Burks.
“If Bryant would have exercised his player option, his salary would have counted as $2.8 million against the salary cap, luxury tax and aprons.
But because Bryant became a free agent and then returned to the Heat on a new one-year minimum contract, NBA rules shrink his cap hit for this upcoming season to just $2.1 million despite still having an actual salary of $2.8 million,” Chiang wrote on July 3.
ESPN’s front office insider Bobby Marks tweeted the Heat still have their $5.2 million taxpayer midlevel exception.
The Heat are already above the first apron and roughly $7.9 million below the second apron with only two roster spots left to be filled. Their key free agents Caleb Martin and Haywood Highsmith are still left unsigned.
DeMar DeRozan, Heat Share Mutual Interest
Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson reported that unrestricted free agent DeMar DeRozan and the Heat share mutual interest.
However, the Heat have to be creative to snag the best free agent remaining on the market since the six-time All-Star DeRozan is seeking more than the non-taxpayer midlevel exception, according to Bleacher Report/TNT’s NBA insider Chris Haynes.
“So a team is going to have to get really creative if they want to try to offer DeRozan something more than the midlevel exception,” Haynes said on the #ThisLeague Uncut podcast on July 2. “With a sign-and-trade, you get a three-year deal. I know DeRozan will probably be amenable to taking on a one-year deal. But I just don’t see him taking the full midlevel exception, which is that $13 million.”
The Heat only have the $5.2 million taxpayer midlevel exception and veteran minimum contracts at their disposal to sign DeRozan.
The only way they can land DeRozan is via sign-and-trade or offloading some salaries to open up the necessary cap room to sign the former Chicago Bulls star for more than the non-taxpayer full MLE even on a one-year deal.
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