LAS VEGAS (AP) — Wayne Ellington is returning to the Miami Heat, after nearly two weeks of waiting and wondering if he would get his wish to be back with the club for a third season.A person with direct knowledge of the terms said Thursday night that Ellington accepted a $6.3 million, one-year offer that exactly matches his salary from last season. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the contract has not been signed.Keeping Ellington was a top priority for the Heat this summer, and the veteran guard made clear that he wanted to be back in Miami. On Day 12 of free agency, a deal finally got struck."I feel great here in Miami," Ellington said. "I've built very strong relationships with a lot of people. These guys that I go to war with every night, we've gone from strangers to teammates to brothers. This is where I wanted to be."Ellington set a Heat record with 227 3-pointers last season, and established career highs of 11.2 points and 26.5 minutes per... [More]

MIAMI (AP) — If there was any reason for solace in the Miami Heat locker room after the final game of the season in Philadelphia, it was this: They knew they lost to a better team.The Heat were good. They weren't great.Hence, the challenge of the offseason is clear: The Heat have to not only find ways to improve, but will have to find some creative ways to make it happen. They don't have a pile of salary-cap space to play with, they don't have any picks in this year's draft and they know that fellow Eastern Conference clubs like the 76ers — who needed five games to oust Miami from the playoffs — might only get better."We gave everything we have," Heat guard Dwyane Wade said. "We have to be OK with that."And with that, there is Question No. 1 of the offseason: Does Wade have any more to give?Wade is considering retirement, a decision that could affect some of the personnel decisions the Heat will make this summer, plus could also have an impact on whether Udonis Haslem returns to Miami for... [More]

MIAMI (AP) — Monday is the day that the Miami Heat will gather for the annual team picture. They're always set up the same way: coaches sitting in the middle of the front row, the team's shorter players sitting on either side of Erik Spoelstra and his assistants, support staff and taller players standing in the back.Some smiles might be forced.The Heat are dealing with a 7-foot problem, at the wrong time of year. Center Hassan Whiteside was fined an undisclosed amount Sunday for "comments detrimental to the team" — a response to his remarks expressing frustration with his role. He went on an expletive-laden tirade after Miami's 110-109 overtime loss Saturday to the Brooklyn Nets, when the Heat missed a chance to clinch a playoff spot, saying he should play more and might be better elsewhere.The team had no additional comment Sunday. They resume practice Monday, when Whiteside's words will be a hot topic again."Man, it's annoying, you know. Why we matching up? We got one of the best centers... [More]

MIAMI (AP) — Monday is the day that the Miami Heat will gather for the annual team picture. They're always set up the same way: coaches sitting in the middle of the front row, the team's shorter players sitting on either side of Erik Spoelstra and his assistants, support staff and taller players standing in the back.Some smiles might be forced.The Heat have a 7-foot problem to deal with, at the wrong time of year. The playoffs start in two weeks, and Miami's highest-paid player — center Hassan Whiteside — is voicing his frustration with his role. He went on an expletive-laden tirade after Miami's 110-109 overtime loss Saturday night to the Brooklyn Nets, when the Heat missed a chance to clinch a playoff spot, saying he should play more and may be better off elsewhere."Man, it's annoying, you know. Why we matching up? We got one of the best centers in the league," Whiteside said. "Why we matching up? A lot of teams don't have a good center."Whiteside didn't play in the final 21 minutes on... [More]

MIAMI (AP) — Dwyane Wade went to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High hoping to spread some goodwill and bring much-needed smiles to faces of students and teachers.He also went to listen — and was impressed by what the kids said.Speaking Thursday about his surprise visit the previous day to the school in Parkland, Florida were 17 people — mostly students — were shot and killed last month, the Miami Heat guard said he was stunned to see how well-organized the Douglas students are already in their quest for fast and substantive societal change."They are well-prepared and well-aware of what they need to do and what they want to do and the change they want to see," Wade said. "It's great. It's great to hear. It's great to see that, because I come from a community in Chicago where our youth are getting killed daily and don't have the same voice, don't have the same light on them that Parkland has. These kids understand what they have."Numerous students posted video and photos of Wade's visit on social... [More]

Dwyane Wade could not be more excited to get back to his familiar surroundings.He's also excited for an unfamiliar uniform.It's an unusual perk, but one of the things Wade said he's looking most forward to when he returns to the Miami Heat on Friday night is the team's new "Vice" jersey and shorts — the design being a play on the themes of Miami in the 1980s, replete with pastel trim and a font the team used when it played in its original arena."OK, I've seen the jerseys — me and a friend of mine, won't say his name — and I was like, 'Listen, I need to get those shorts, at least,'" Wade told The Associated Press in an interview after his trade from Cleveland to Miami was completed Thursday. "The jerseys are unreal."The friend, by the way, was fellow former Heat star — and fellow fashion aficionado — LeBron James."I will not confirm nor deny who it was," Wade said.The Heat are wearing the uniform 15 times this season, with 10 of those left to play. They are in them for Wade's return against... [More]

Dwyane Wade did not see this coming.Not right now, anyway. He has fully believed for many months that he would eventually return to the Miami Heat, though he figured it would happen in a free-agent deal this coming summer and not on a Thursday afternoon while he was headed into Cleveland's practice facility for a workout with LeBron James.Then came the text from agent Leon Rose: "Call me 911," he wrote."So if you get a text like that and the trade deadline is coming up and you know the team that you're on is going to be very active, you know something is going down with you," Wade said. "And my mind went right to, 'No, it's not Miami. There's no way.' My mind went right to that because I felt like that's the only other place I can be."He was right. Wade, who left Miami in 2016 for his hometown of Chicago, is now back in his NBA hometown. He's with the Heat again, getting traded as part of Cleveland's massive roster shake-up Thursday in exchange for a second-round pick in 2024."I always... [More]

MIAMI (AP) — The first time Dwyane Wade was supposed to make a public appearance on behalf of the Miami Heat back in 2003, he found himself paralyzed by nervousness.So Rasual Butler jumped into action, joining his teammate for the event solely to keep him calm."That's who he was," Wade said. "A great individual that was always there for people when they needed him."Tributes like that were offered all over the basketball landscape in honor of Butler, a longtime NBA player who died Wednesday in what police said was a single-vehicle rollover crash in Los Angeles. Police said Butler and his wife, R&B singer and former "American Idol" contestant Leah LaBelle Vladowski, died at the scene and that autopsies were pending.Butler was 38. The NBA released a statement saying it was "devastated" by Butler's death."A pro's pro, Rasual enjoyed a long, successful career and was widely respected by his peers and coaches," the NBA said.That's perhaps an understatement.Butler never played in the NBA Finals.... [More]

Monty McCutchen's father raised an interesting point not long ago, and it resonated right away with the former NBA referee who decided to hang up his whistle earlier this season."He told me that no decision is real if it is easy," McCutchen said.McCutchen's move off the floor and into the NBA office was certainly not easy. But instead of calling a few games a week, McCutchen sees his job now as one where he could have a say in how they all get officiated. About a month into his job as an NBA vice president overseeing referee development and training, McCutchen is jumping in with both feet.He and fellow NBA executive Michelle Johnson are going to be instrumental in the league's plan to improve how players and referees get along. There's going to be more education, more studying, more explaining and more listening — and McCutchen truly believes it will work."I'm invigorated by the people I'm working with, Michelle Johnson," McCutchen said. "I'm invigorated by the people in our office who... [More]

Monty McCutchen's father raised an interesting point not long ago, and it resonated right away with the former NBA referee who decided to hang up his whistle earlier this season."He told me that no decision is real if it is easy," McCutchen said.McCutchen's move off the floor and into the NBA office was certainly not easy. But instead of calling a few games a week, McCutchen sees his job now as one where he could have a say in how they all get officiated. About a month into his job as an NBA vice president overseeing referee development and training, McCutchen is jumping in with both feet.He and fellow NBA executive Michelle Johnson are going to be instrumental in the league's plan to improve how players and referees get along. There's going to be more education, more studying, more explaining and more listening — and McCutchen truly believes it will work."I'm invigorated by the people I'm working with, Michelle Johnson," McCutchen said. "I'm invigorated by the people in our office who... [More]

F Udonis Haslem made his first appearance of the season and scored two points Sunday.

F Udonis Haslem, inactive since Feb. 4, entered the game late in the fourth quarter and played one scoreless minute. Haslem, 36, is Miami's lone holdover from the team's three championship teams. He appeared in 17 games this season.

F Udonis Haslem was back with the Heat on Monday against the Wizards after missing Saturday's game against the Bulls with an excused absence. Haslem, who has played his entire 13th-year NBA career with the Heat, was allowed to see his son, Kedonis, play in a Florida high school football championship game.He did not see any action against Washington.

F Udonis Haslam was a late scratch for personal reasons, wiping away the final link between LeBron James and the Heat's championship past. There was no one on the floor in a Miami jersey whom James played with -- and he only left the franchise three seasons ago.

F Udonis Haslem, appearing in just his fifth game for the Heat this season, chipped in four points and three rebounds."All hands on deck," Haslem said.

F Udonis Haslem got into a heated verbal altercation with a fan during the fourth quarter Wednesday at Detroit. Haslem confronted the fan, who was sitting in the front row, after timeout was called with 5:11 remaining. The fan was escorted by security out of the stands. Haslem said afterward the fan "disrespected" him but did not make a racially offensive comment.

F Udonis Haslem didn't get into the game Thursday. Coach Erik Spoelstra said he regrered that, referring to the fact that Haslem, who has played with Miami for his entire career, entered the NBA the same year as G Dwyane Wade, who returned to Miami Thursday for the first time since joining the Bulls. Spoelstra said he had planned on getting Haslem into the game in the second quarter but "didn't get around to it."

F Udonis Haslem made his first appearance of the season in the second quarter and played 15 minutes. The 36-year-old veteran, in his 14th season with Miami, is now the Heat's longest tenured player after Dwyane Wade ended his 13-year career with the Heat and joined the Chicago Bulls in the offseason.

F Udonis Haslem agreed to a one-year, $4 million deal to return to the Heat. Haslem, 36, averaged 1.6 points and 2.0 rebounds while playing in 37 games last season.

F Udonis Haslem has a sore left foot. But that won't keep Haslem from playing in the series, according to Erik Spoelstra said. "I've seen the man play through, literally, a broken foot for two months in the playoffs," the Miami coach said.