MIAMI (AP) -Forwards Udonis Haslem and Dorell Wright are expected to be sidelined because of injuries when the Miami Heat open training camp Saturday morning.
Haslem has a sprained left foot and is listed as day to day. Wright is still recovering from offseason knee surgery and it isn’t known if he’ll be ready when the regular season opens Oct. 29. The only other Miami player on what will be a 20-man training camp roster definitely out is guard Jason Richards, who tore ligaments in his left knee and will miss the entire season, Heat president Pat Riley said Thursday.
“We’re going to have to manage our team from where we are. If there’s some trades or some things of that nature that we can do, that we feel are going to really help the team, then I’ll do them,” Riley said. “But right now, we’re not in the market for anybody, because we can’t really afford to sign anybody like that, because we are that close to the tax.”
Riley said the Heat payroll, as it stands now, is only $415,000 under the luxury tax threshold.
nterest in free agent Shaun Livingston, the former Los Angeles Clippers guard who hasn’t played since a massive left knee injury in a game on Feb. 26, 2007.
“There’s a big question mark with the kind of injury that he had and whether or not he’s going to be able to come all the way back,” Riley said. “It’s a risk, but it’s a big upside risk.”
Livingston’s agent, Henry Thomas, said his client wants to be with a team by the start of camp.
The Heat are opening camp a few days ahead of most NBA teams because they will be playing two preseason games in Europe next month.
Notes: The Heat have 16 players under contract: guards Dwyane Wade, Mario Chalmers, Daequan Cook, Chris Quinn, Marcus Banks and Richards; forwards Michael Beasley, Shawn Marion, James Jones, Yakhouba Diawara, Haslem and Wright; and centers Joel Anthony, Mark Blount, Jamaal Magliore and David Padgett. Three others – forwards Matt Walsh and Omar Barlett, along with guard Tre Kelley – have been invited to camp, and the team hopes to sign all three of them and another player, presumably Kasib Powell (who has an offer sheet from the Heat), on Friday.
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