Heat face opening-night call on Nick Richards’ non-guaranteed $3.1 million deal

The Miami Heat have a real roster call to make on center Nick Richards before opening night. His one-year, $3.1 million contract is fully non-guaranteed, and it becomes fully guaranteed if he is still on Miami’s roster when the regular season opens, unless the guarantee terms are changed before then, the Miami Herald’s Anthony Chiang reported Wednesday.

Richards signed the deal in late August to fill the Heat’s 14th standard roster spot. Because of the league’s veteran-minimum rules, his cap hit would be about $2.5 million if Miami keeps him, even though he would be paid the full $3.1 million.

Richards: “It’s their decision”

The 28-year-old big man said he is not getting ahead of himself. “I just take it one day at a time,” Richards said. “Ultimately, it’s their decision. I mean, I think I come out here every single day, do my best, play the hardest, try to play as hard as I can play.”

Erik Spoelstra made it clear Richards has helped his case in camp. “I like what he’s been bringing,” the Heat coach said, pointing to both his preseason minutes and his work in practice. “He’s a very good rebounder. He can rebound in traffic. He can rebound above the crowd.” Spoelstra added that Richards gives Miami “something a little bit different than all the other bigs provide,” though he said the team still has to shore up some details in his pick-and-roll coverage.

Why the decision matters

Miami entered camp with 14 players on standard contracts, one below the regular-season maximum. Two of them were never fully locked in: Richards, whose deal has no guaranteed money, and forward Myron Gardner, who has only $500,000 of his $2.3 million salary guaranteed. That gives the front office flexibility right up to the final cut.

Richards is a true center behind Bam Adebayo and Bobby Portis, and nearly all of his NBA minutes have come at the five. Keeping him could also affect the two-way group. The Sun Sentinel’s Ira Winderman noted that two-way center Vladislav Goldin, who put up 18 points and six rebounds against Minnesota in the preseason, may become expendable if Richards stays on the standard roster.

Richards admitted in the summer that a non-guaranteed contract was not what he and his agency had planned. With opening night close, the next few days will decide whether that $3.1 million becomes real.