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Heat add Alec Burks on one-year deal in NBA free agency as backcourt insurance

Ira Winderman, South Florida Sun-Sentinel on

Published in Basketball

MIAMI — The Miami Heat did not go high end with their first (and perhaps only) outside signing during NBA free agency, but they did add an ambulatory element to their mix.

In the wake of the Heat ending this past season with Terry Rozier (neck), Duncan Robinson (back) and Josh Richardson (shoulder) dealing with ailments, and with former Heat guard Dru Smith added back to the roster this week while still recovering from last season’s major knee injury, the Heat reached an agreement Wednesday with New York Knicks free-agent guard Alec Burks on a one-year contract.

Burks, who turns 33 on July 20, split this past season between the Detroit Pistons and Knicks. Since being selected No. 12 out of Colorado by the Utah Jazz in 2011, Burks also has played for the Jazz, Sacramento Kings, Cleveland Cavaliers, Golden State Warriors and Philadelphia 76ers.

With a career 10.8 scoring average and .383 3-point percentage, Burks provides depth in a wing rotation that also includes Jimmy Butler, Tyler Herro, Rozier, Richardson, Robinson and Jaime Jaquez Jr., among others.

Two of Burks’ best games of the season came during the Knicks’ playoff loss to the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference semifinals, when he put together 20- and 26-point performances. He also shot 5 of 8 on 3-pointers in another game in that series.

The agreement with Burks gives the Heat 14 players under standard contract for next season, one shy of the regular-season limit. Of those 14 contracts, only center Orlando Robinson does not hold a guaranteed contract for 2024-25.

 

The move toward a veteran such as Burks comes as somewhat of a surprise in the wake of Richardson, 30, on Saturday opting into the second and final year of the two-year free agent contract he signed with the Heat last summer and with the Heat selecting Arizona guard Pelle Larsson with the No. 44 pick in the second round of last week’s NBA draft.

Burks’ contract is for the 10-year-plus veteran minimum of $3.3 million, with it counting at $2.1 million toward the Heat’s position hard up against the new punitive aprons of the NBA luxury tax.

His addition comes after the Heat earlier this week lost veteran guard Delon Wright to the Milwaukee Bucks on a similar one-year, veteran-minimum contract.

The addition of Burks likely precludes a return of veteran point guard Patty Mills, who is a free agent after finishing last season with the Heat.

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