Miami Heat add Okaro White using the NBA’s hardship exception
By Wes Goldberg
The NBA granted the Miami Heat an extra roster spot to help make up for the injuries the team has faced so far this season.
Update, 1/17: The Miami Heat have officially signed Okaro White to a 10-day contract, the team announced. He will wear No. 15. White’s contract will expire after 10-days, at which time he can be signed to a second 10-day deal if Josh McRoberts or Josh Richardson have not returned from injury by then.
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The Miami Heat have had a rough season, and the NBA seemingly agrees, as the league will officially recognize the team’s injury woes as a hardship.
The league granted the Miami Heat an additional roster spot that the team will use to call up Okaro White from its D-League affiliate the Sioux Falls Skyforce, reports The Vertical’s Shams Charina.
Sources: The Miami Heat have acquired a player exception to sign a player and are calling up forward Okaro White of Sioux Falls.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) January 15, 2017
The roster spot was granted under the hardship exception.
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What is the hardship extension?
It’s a temporary roster spot that is granted by the league, allowing a team to exceed the 15-man roster limit when it has at least four players who are injured for at least two weeks. Each of the four players must miss at least three consecutive games during their two-week absence.
The Heat applied and were granted to exception after listing Josh Richardson as week-to-week with a foot injury. Richardson has missed the last two games and will miss the team’s matchup with the Houston Rockets on Monday.
Josh McRoberts, Justise Winslow and Chris Bosh, in addition to Richardson, give the Heat the requisite four players to be granted the exception.
Hardship exception is granted because Miami currently has 4 players (Bosh, Winslow, McRoberts, Richardson) that have missed 3 or more games. https://t.co/Cs3pFvIr4b
— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) January 15, 2017
How long does the exception last?
The Heat will bring in White for a workout on Monday, according to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, with the intention to sign him. It is a temporary spot, so White can remain on the team until the first of the four players returns from injury. With Winslow and Bosh out for the season, in this case, that will happen when either McRoberts or Richardson returns.
Who is Okaro White?
White, 24, played on the Heat’s Orlando and Las Vegas summer league teams. 6-foot-8 forward who played college ball at Florida State. He also played in six preseason games. White has stretch-4 potential, shooting above 30 percent from three-point range.
It’s notable that Miami chose to call up White, and not Skyforce teammate Briante Weber, but with most of the injuries occurring at the forward position it makes sense to add another body into that rotation.