MIAMI — When it comes to the Heat’s G League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce, the son also rises.
The latest example is the Skyforce’s addition of CJ Butler, son of Heat assistant coach and former Heat forward Caron Butler.
CJ Butler, a 6-foot-5 guard, went undrafted out of UC Irvine last June and then attended training camp with the Skyforce. He appeared in 117 games, making 42 starts, at UC Irvine and averaged 4.0 points on .467 percent shooting, 1.8 rebounds, 0.6 assists and 0.5 steals in 14.4 minutes a game from 2018 to 2023.
The Skyforce for years has offered opportunities to those connected to the Heat realm, with those formerly with the Skyforce including Trey Mourning, the son of former Heat center and current team executive Alonzo Mourning; Anthony Mason Jr., the son of late former Heat forward Anthony Mason; and Juwan Howard Jr., the son of former Heat forward and assistant coach Juwan Howard.
Other sons of players with NBA ties who have been with the Skyforce have included Ron Artest III, Larry Drew II, Patrick Ewing Jr. and Jai Lucas.
The Skyforce had an opening for Butler after losing Heat camp prospect Drew Peterson to the Boston Celtics on a two-way contract. In addition, Heat two-way players Cole Swider, RJ Hampton and Jamal Cain are currently with the Heat, after previously having been assigned this season to the Skyforce.
Interviewed in college about being the son of a long-time NBA presence, CJ Butler told BVM Sports, “At times I did feel some pressure to live up to what my dad has been able to accomplish. The older I get, the more the expectations and pressures go away as I become my own player and person.
“My dad was the one who got me into basketball without even trying or really forcing it. It was all around me growing up, so it was only a matter of time before I too fell in love with it.”
Butler played 3:46 on his Skyforce debut Friday night, converting a 3-pointer in going 1 of 2 from the field.
Nikola Jovic, the 2022 first-round pick out of Serbia, returned Saturday to the Heat after concluding his two-game stint with the Skyforce.
Jovic on Friday night had 16 points on 3-of-13 shooting, nine rebounds and three assists in an uneven 35:27 in a 117-99 road loss to the Chicago Bulls’ G League affiliate.
The Skyforce are now idle until the coming week’s G League Winter Showcase in Orlando, which coincides with the Heat’s game there against the Orlando Magic on Wednesday night.
While the incentives were a longshot, the Heat’s salary-cap ledger is assured of a degree of relief now that guard Tyler Herro on Saturday missed his 18th game with the ankle sprain sustained on Nov. 8.
As part of the four-year, $130 million rookie-scale extension signed by Herro a year ago, the final $10 million on the contract included a series of annual bonuses for league-wide honors. By NBA rule, players must appear in at least 65 games during the 82-game regular season to qualify for such honors. Herro now can appear in no more than 64.
Herro’s 2023-24 bonus breakdown was $1.5 million for NBA Defensive Player of the Year, $1 million for NBA Most Valuable Player, $1 million for first- or second-team All-NBA and $500,000 for third-team All-NBA.
The bonuses do not roll over, so the maximum Herro can receive annually in bonuses is $2.5 million.
The bonuses initially were written so that Herro also had to appear in at least 75% of regular-season games to collect, but that was superseded by the NBA’s 65-game mandate for annual awards.
