Miami Heat make roster cuts, 17 guys left before Monday’s deadline

The Miami Heat have cut three more guys from the team, leaving 17 guys on their roster.

As of Saturday evening, the Miami Heat are 17 players deep.

Having cut DeAndre Liggins, Erik McCree and Tony Mitchell from the initial 20-man roster, head coach Erik Spoelstra and company still have some decisions to make before Monday. No NBA team is allowed to have more than 15 guys, going into regular season play.

"“That is the other side of the business, But we said it from the first day of training camp, that we want to continue to build a relationship. Even the guys that we want to transition to Sioux Falls, we have a great history of guys go to Sioux Falls and we invest all of our resources of manpower, of coaching, of just service to the guys to try to help them reach their dreams.”"

The Sioux Falls Skyforce being the Heat’s Gatorade League affiliate team.

"“So it’s a great opportunity. It’s not a demotion, it’s not a cut, it’s an opportunity to continue to develop this relationship with us and we’ll continue to monitor them.”"

And he means that, too. After all, Tyler Johnson, Okaro White and Hassan Whiteside all spent time in the G-League.

But now the question is, who will be left standing on Monday?

Well, A.J. Hammons is still around.

A center who came aboard via sending Josh McRoberts to the Dallas Mavericks, Hammons did not play a single second of preseason basketball for Miami due to the flu. But it probably wouldn’t have mattered much anyways, because of guys like Bam Adebayo, James Johnson, Jordan Mickey, Kelly Olynyk and Hassan Whiteside.

So it’s debatable whether or not the Heat actually have any use for him, moving forward. Especially with Rodney McGruder being sidelined by a leg fracture. Could he stick around? Yes. But there is also the possibility that Miami decides to look elsewhere for a guy who fills a more immediate void.

As for Derrick Walton Jr., he’s actually already signed to a two-way deal. Which fortunately, doesn’t count against the 15 player maximum. Something that’s extra important, given the fact that he didn’t quite produce impressive preseason numbers.

Then there’s Matt Williams, an undrafted guard, who reportedly will also receive a two-way contract. A 3-point specialist, he certainly makes sense in the organization’s current system.

At the very least, the good news is that Mickey Jordan already has a guaranteed contract.

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The Miami Heat still have a little time to tweak their roster, before their 2017-18 run officially begins.