Heat add Lakers free agent Markieff Morris to bolster power rotation

The Miami Heat on Tuesday addressed their power void for the third time in two days in NBA free agency with the addition of Markieff Morris.

The Heat picked up the free agent from the Los Angeles Lakers in the wake of adding Milwaukee Bucks power forward P.J. Tucker on Monday and then bringing back free-agent center Dewayne Dedmon.

Those moves came after the Heat lost Trevor Ariza, their playoff starting power forward, to the Lakers in free agency, included center Precious Achiuwa in the sign-and-trade transaction for Toronto Raptors free-agent guard Kyle Lowry, and then saw veteran big man Nemanja Bjelica leave in free agency for the Golden State Warriors.

Instead, the Heat now have a power rotation of fifth-year center Bam Adebayo and the veteran support of Tucker, Morris and Dedmon.

Forced to work with a $143 million hard cap for the coming season as a result of utilizing the league’s sign-and-trade mechanism to add Lowry, the Heat entered Tuesday roughly $11.5 million under that ceiling.

Against that backdrop, the Heat added Morris and allowed guard Kendrick Nunn to depart to the Lakers, essentially in a cost-saving free-agency swap.

Morris arrives on a minimal one-year deal, similar to the Heat’s agreement with Dedmon. Those two deals came while the Heat also added two-way guards Gabe Vincent and Max Strus on two-year standard contracts, with their first seasons guaranteed at $1.7 million and the second years non-guaranteed.

The maneuvering leaves the Heat with 11 players under contract for the coming season: Jimmy Butler, Duncan Robinson, Tyler Herro, KZ Okpala, Adebayo, Lowry, Tucker, Morris, Dedmon, Vincent and Strus. The expectation is that veteran power forward Udonis Haslem also again will return at the veteran minimum.

By rule, the Heat can go with as few as 14 players under standard contract, as they have in previous seasons when up against the luxury tax or hard cap, with teams limited at 15 such players during the regular season, as well as two additional players on two-way contracts that do not count against the cap. Teams can carry up to 20 players during the offseason.

Although the machinations for the acquisitions of Lowry will not be finalized until Friday, both Goran Dragic and Achiuwa on Tuesday acknowledged the ends of their Heat tenures.

On social media, Dragic, who has been with the Heat since February 2015, was a 2018 All-Star, and helped push the Heat within two victories of the 2020 NBA championship posted on social media, “Miami!!! Thank you for all of the LOVE, KINDNESS and SUPPORT over these last seven years. You embraced me and my family like your own from Day 1 and we are forever grateful for the life we’ve built, friends we’ve made and experiences we’ve shared as a part of the #305. We will never forget you #HeatNation and will see you all soon.”

Achiuwa, selected No. 20 in the 2020 NBA draft out of Memphis, had an uneven rookie season but the potential of the member of the Nigerian national team drew the notice of the Raptors, who are led by Nigerian team president in Masai Ujiri.

In an interview with ESPN’s The Undefeated, Achiuwa addressed his Heat tenure.

“I think it was a great place that I got drafted by,” he said, “not just that I was able to play, I was able to learn a lot, to learn accountability from the first day.

“They told me from the first day that this opportunity requires accountability. I had to be accountable for what I did out there and I was able to show what I could do while also learning how to play the NBA game. And I had great vets with me on the team. ... I don’t really put a cap to what I can accomplish.”

Among the Heat’s remaining free agents, left unsigned are Haslem, Andre Iguodala, Victor Oladipo and Omer Yurtseven. The Heat retain the wherewithal to bring all back on nominal salaries, or utilize those players in sign-and-trade agreements.

Among players with ties to the Heat, former Heat forward James Johnson agreed to terms Tuesday with the Brooklyn Nets and rumored Heat target Andre Drummond agreed to terms with the Philadelphia 76ers.