The Miami Heat did not add a player to its roster ahead of the Feb. 9 trade deadline, but the Heat is on track to add an accomplished 34-year-old five-time All-Star and an experienced 10-year veteran to fill its two open roster spots just days later.
Forward Kevin Love, the five-time All-Star, committed to join the Heat on Sunday once he clears waivers following his contract buyout with the Cleveland Cavaliers, league sources confirmed to the Miami Herald.
League sources also confirmed that the Heat plans to use its final roster spot to sign free agent center Cody Zeller, the 10-year veteran. Zeller has not played this season after being waived by the Utah Jazz in October.
Love and Zeller will add frontcourt depth to a Heat roster that needs it.
Joining the Heat appealed to Love because of the possibility for consistent and significant playing time and the opportunity to play in Miami alongside the leading duo of center Bam Adebayo and wing Jimmy Butler, according to a source.
Love (6-8, 251 pounds) helps address multiple Heat needs as a shooting big who can play as a center when Adebayo is on the bench as part of smaller lineups or alongside Adebayo as a power forward. There’s also the possibility that Love will become the Heat’s new starting power forward if the team wants to shift Caleb Martin (6-5, 205 pounds) back to a bench role to play his more natural position as an athletic two-way wing.
Love averaged 8.5 points while shooting 35.4 percent on 4.8 three-point attempts, 6.8 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game in 41 games (three starts) with the Cavaliers in his 15th NBA season prior to his buyout. He played through a fractured right thumb that he sustained in November, but recently fell out of Cleveland’s rotation and has not appeared in a game since Jan. 24.
Love was one of the league’s top candidates for last season’s Sixth Man of the Year Award that went to Heat guard Tyler Herro. Love averaged 13.6 points while shooting 39.2 percent on 6.4 three-point attempts, 7.2 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game in 74 games (four starts) last season.
Love had been with the Cavaliers since joining the organization prior to 2014-15, winning one championship in 2016 and making consecutive All-Star Games in 2017 and 2018 during his time in Cleveland.
While obviously past his prime years, the Heat hopes Love’s three-point shooting, above average rebounding ability, frontcourt versatility and playoff experience proves to be an asset.
Zeller, 30, will bring much-needed size to the Heat’s roster at 6-11 and 240 pounds. He has not played since last season, when he averaged 5.2 points and and 4.6 rebounds in 27 games with the Portland Trail Blazers before he underwent surgery on his right knee in January 2022 that ended his season early.
With Heat second-year center Omer Yurtseven expected to make his season debut shortly after the All-Star break following left ankle surgery, Zeller will give Miami yet another backup center option.
Backup center has been a glaring hole in the Heat’s rotation since the start of the season when Dewayne Dedmon was being used in that role. Miami has been outscored by six points per 100 possessions when Adebayo, the Heat’s starting center, has been on the bench this season.
Undrafted rookie Orlando Robinson, who is on a two-way contract, took over for Dedmon and has played as the Heat’s backup center since early January to somewhat stabilize the non-Adebayo minutes. But the results have not been positive in recent weeks, with the Heat outscored by 16.1 points per 100 possessions in five games with Robinson on the court since the start of February.
With the trade of Dedmon opening two roster spots and nearly $5 million of room under the luxury tax threshold, the Heat is in position to use the remaining $3.1 million of its midlevel exception to sign Love or any other free agent without needing to enter the tax. Miami can also offer a veteran minimum contract to free agents.
The expectation is the Heat will use part or all of the midlevel level exception to sign Love and likely will sign Zeller to a minimum contract for the remainder of the season. But contract details were still being worked out as of Sunday afternoon.
Now that the roster is full, the Heat doesn’t have room to convert Robinson’s two-way contract to a standard contract or bring back guard Jamaree Bouyea after his 10-day contract expired on Friday. Robinson is only permitted to be on the Heat’s active list for four more games this regular season as part of his two-way deal before he’s forced to log the rest of his minutes this season in the G League, unless Miami waives a player to open a roster spot for his two-way contract to be converted.
The Heat’s decision to add a pair of frontcourt players with its two open roster spots comes as the Kyle Lowry situation has recently started trending in a more positive direction. The team’s hope is that Lowry, who missed the last six games before the All-Star break because of left knee soreness, will be able to return to game action in the coming weeks.
With the NBA currently in the middle of the All-Star break, the Heat (32-27) will reconvene for practice in Miami on Thursday before resuming its schedule Friday against the Bucks in Milwaukee. The Heat is in seventh place in the Eastern Conference standings.
