In the chaos that is roster reconstruction amid the NBA’s omicron breakout, the Miami Heat are reaching to their past by extending an emergency 10-day contract to former championship guard Mario Chalmers.
The move came in the wake of the Heat losing both Duncan Robinson and Marcus Garrett to NBA health-and-safety protocols, a list that stood eight deep Thursday, also including Kyle Lowry, P.J. Tucker, Max Strus, Gabe Vincent, Udonis Haslem, Zylan Cheatham.
Robinson’s absence will snap his franchise-record streak of 182 consecutive appearances.
A member of the Heat’s championship teams in 2012 and ‘13 alongside Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh, Chalmers is one of five additional players the Heat brought in on emergency contracts as COVID-19 ravages the roster.
While Lowry and possibly even Garrett could come off that list as soon as Friday, it again will leave the Heat decidedly shorthanded on Friday night against the Houston Rockets at the Toyota Center, if that game is played.
NBA regulations require at least eight players in uniform. The Heat, by bringing in five players from the G League, including Chalmers, should be able to meet that threshold.
Chalmers, 35, last played for the Heat in 2015, when he was traded to the Memphis Grizzlies, in a salary-cap move. His most recent action in the NBA came in 2018 with the Grizzlies.
Since leaving the NBA, Chalmers has played in Italy, Greece, Puerto Rico, the G League and the halfcourt Big3 summer circuit.
Out of the chaos that was Wednesday night’s postponement in San Antonio, the Heat took flight to Houston for something they hoped will be closer to normalcy.
Whether that is achievable in the NBA in the midst of COVID-19 likely will remain in question.
Initially scheduled as the second game of a seven-game trip, the meeting with the Rockets now will open what is a six-game trip.
A sign of hope came with the Heat scheduling a Thursday evening practice in Houston. Teams in the midst of severe outbreaks generally are dissuaded from anything more that one-on-one player workouts with coaches. But, then, that practice plan ultimately was scuttled later in the day.
Among the positive developments for coach Erik Spoelstra’s team, if positives can be drawn in a league where as many as a third of all players have been impacted by protocols in the recent days:
— Jimmy Butler, who had been declared out for what would have been Wednesday’s game in San Antonio, is moving closer to a return from the sprain right ankle suffered in the closing minutes of Tuesday night’s home victory over the Washington Wizards.
— Emergency 10-day roster additions Kyle Guy, Aric Holman and Haywood Highsmith are expected to be positioned for availability for Friday night’s game, after initial concerns regarding protocols. The Heat also plan to sign outside-shooting specialist Nik Stauskas, a veteran of 335 career regular-season games with the Sacramento Kings, Philadelphia 76ers, Brooklyn Nets, Portland Trail Blazers and Cleveland Cavaliers.
— Lowry’s timetable in NBA health-and-safety protocols leaves the door open to have him back in uniform Friday night. Lowry has missed the past two games, after testing positive for COVID-19 following the Heat’s Dec. 23 victory over the Detroit Pistons at FTX Arena.
Those players likely will stand as the swing votes as to whether the Heat return as a competitive factor — or return at all.
In addition to those in protocols, ruled out due to injuries are Bam Adebayo (thumb), Dewayne Dedmon (knee), Markieff Morris (neck), KZ Okpala (wrist) and Victor Oladipo (knee).
Should all the injured players (including Butler) and those in protocols (including Lowry and Garrett) be unable to play Friday, it would leave the Heat with an available roster of Tyler Herro, Caleb Martin, Omer Yurtseven, and newcomers Chalmers, Highsmith, Holman, Guy and Stauskas. That would meet the required eight minimum needed to be available. Such an alignment would have Spoelstra relying on three or four players who have never seen action with the team.
The caveat, however, is that with daily testing now required, availability becomes more of a day-to-day, or even hour-to-hour issue. Cheatham, for example, was signed to a 10-day emergency contract to help the Heat get to eight available players, only to test positive himself. His contract expires following Friday’s game.
Cheatham remains in quarantine in San Antonio. Tucker was able to drive to Houston, where he owns a home, and is isolating there. Lowry, Strus, Vincent and Haslem remain in quarantine in South Florida, although Lowry could fly Friday.
Both Dedmon and Adebayo are on the trip, with only Dedmon’s timetable leaving the door open for a potential return while the Heat still are on the road.
The Heat’s Wednesday postponement came with several members of the organization in quarantine, including assistant coach Caron Butler, trainer Jay Sabol and television analyst John Crotty. Others have since been added to that list, including on Spoelstra’s staff.
The Heat’s trip is scheduled to continue Sunday in Sacramento, Monday at Golden State, with games following against the Portland Trail Blazers, Phoenix Suns and Atlanta Hawks. The Heat are scheduled to return to South Florida during the three-day break between the games in Phoenix and Atlanta.
