NBA Rumors: Heat President Hints At Haslem Staying On As Coach

At 39, there is no question that Udonis Haslem of the Miami Heat can retire from active NBA ball. Until now, that remains unsettled although team president Pat Riley gave an update on what may probably be ahead for the three-time NBA champion.

According to Tim Reynolds, the status of Haslem remains wide open. This means that the 6-foot-8 forward who went undrafted in the 2002 NBA draft could return for another season but be more of a mentor than someone who would see action for head coach Erik Spoelstra. But Riley added as well that Haslem is an exceptional coach, hinting that the NBA vet could either join the team's coaching staff or suit up with likely less (to none) minutes for the 2019-20 NBA season.

Pat Riley says Udonis Haslem remains "wide open." ... "He told me that he's not finished yet with these guys. He feels like he can do some more mentoring." But Riles opens the notion that UD would "be an exceptional coach."
— Tim Reynolds (@ByTimReynolds) June 21, 2019

Haslem has played his entire NBA career with the Heat since 2003. He is one the well-loved role players ever to put on a Miami Heat jersey and this is another factor that Riley may be considering, Heat Nation reported. On whether he suits up or calls it a career will depend on who Miami has on its end. Apparently, the team is in rebuilding mode and several stars may possibly be headed out the door.

As mentioned in a previous post, the Heat are likely to offer the likes of Hassan Whiteside, Goran Dragic, James Johnson, and Dion Waiters to other teams as they try to offload roughly $75 million in team salary budget. With that investment failing to produce dividends, the Heat are expected to skim the market for new faces as it tries to improve on their performance last season. Seeing however that these aforementioned players hold hefty contracts, looking for takers is expected to take time.

So far, the Heat have added some new faces to the mix. That includes Tyler Herro and KZ Okpala from the 2019 NBA Draft. There are also other young players who were added after the draft such as Jeremiah Martin, Chris Silva, Nick Weiler Babb, Kyle Alexander, and Nick Mayo, the Miami Herald reported. Miami intends to give players who make the grade two-way contracts with Martin and Silva among those strongly considered.

With the obvious intent of getting younger, Haslem's status with the Heat could very well be known after the NBA Summer League. Riley and Spoelstra know that there is still work to be done -- meaning it will be a long NBA offseason for the Heat.