Miami Heat and Atlanta Hawks Swap Okaro White and Luke Babbitt
On February 8th, 2018, the Atlanta Hawks traded forward Luke Babbitt to the Miami Heat for forward Okaro White.
Okaro White had a long path to get to the Miami Heat. A former defensive stalwart in college with the Florida State Seminoles, White was undrafted in 2014 and went on to play in Italy for Virtus Bologna and Greece for Aris Thessaloniki. After two seasons overseas, White got his chance in the summer of 2016.
The 6′8″ forward played in 2016 Summer League for the Orlando Magic in Orlando and for the Miami Heat in the Las Vegas edition. White appeared in five games with the Heat and managed 8.6 PPG, 5.8 RPG and 1.4 APG in 19.5 MPG.
Seeing some potential in White, the Heat added the forward to their training camp roster. Though White didn’t make the roster after playing in six preseason games, the Heat sent him down to their NBA G-League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce.
In the G-League, White appeared in 23 games (all starts) and posted 18.4 PPG, 8.7 RPG, 1.7 APG, 1.1 SPG and 0.6 BPG in 33.0 MPG. With the Heat decimated by injuries in mid-January, the team called up White, signing the former Seminole to a 10-day contract. White became a regular part of the team’s rotation and signed another 10-day before signing a two-year deal.
For the rest of the season, White was a part of Miami’s 30-11 second half run during the 2016-17 season that nearly brought them from the basement of the Eastern Conference to a playoff spot. The team finished up with a 41-41 record. White appeared in 35 games, contributing 2.8 PPG, 2.3 RPG and 0.6 APG in 13.5 MPG.
Going into the 2017 offseason, White looked to mold his game after Heat veteran James Johnson. That meant developing his ability to make plays for others out of the post and the perimeter while still manning the paint as a power forward. White played in 2017 Summer League for the Miami Heat teams in Orlando and Las Vegas. He played in a combined seven games and put up 18.6 PPG, 8.1 RPG, 1.3 APG, 0.9 SPG and 1.3 BPG in 33.1 MPG.
Going into the 2017-18 season, White made the cut in training camp and had his contract guaranteed for the entire season. After playing in six games (four starts) White suffered a broken left foot that required surgery and never played again for the Heat up until his eventual trade to Atlanta. White finished his run in Miami with averages of 2.9 PPG, 2.3 RPG and 0.6 APG in 41 games. The 6′8″ forward shot 39% from the field and 88% from the free-throw line.
Luke Babbitt became a member of the Atlanta Hawks after he signed a one-year deal for the veterans minimum of $1.9 million. He was coming off a solid 2016-17 season with the Heat where he operated as a stretch-four and nailed 87-of-210 trifectas (41.4%).
Babbitt was a regular part of the Hawks rotation early on — even starting in games when Ersan Ilyasova went down with an injury. Babbitt’s playing time declined sharply in late December and it remained that way until his eventual trade to the Heat. Overall, the forward appeared in 37 games (nine starts) and compiled 6.1 PPG, 2.2 RPG and 0.7 APG in 15.4 MPG. Atlanta was 17-37 when they traded Babbitt.
The trade was purely financial for the Hawks. By moving Babbitt’s $1.9 million salary for White’s lesser salary, the Hawks saved $55,615. Miami acquired a player in Babbitt that they wanted to spread the floor, while forward Kelly Olynyk was out due to injury.
The Hawks waived Okaro White immediately after the trade. White later signed a 10-day contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Babbitt rejoined the Heat looking to continue the hot shooting stretch — 44.1% on 111 three-point attempts — he had in Atlanta as well as the strong shooting season he had the previous year in his first stint with the Heat.
Babbitt’s role fluctuated wildly from a spot starter to a regular DNP, coach’s decision. He struggled in his second go around with Miami, shooting just 24.4% from three on 45 attempts. Overall, Babbitt appeared in 13 games (five starts) and produced 2.5 PPG and 1.2 RPG in 11.2 MPG.
Miami went 15-12 the rest of the season to finish as the sixth seed in the East at 44-38. In the postseason, the Heat fell to the Philadelphia 76ers in five games. Babbitt went scoreless in two games and 3:18 of action. After the season, the Heat never re-signed Babbitt.
Luke Babbitt on leaving the Heat the previous offseason (via South Florida Sun Sentinel):
“It was a difficult offseason leaving these guys, but that’s the business of it and kind of in the past now. I haven’t really dwelled on it. I was happy to be in Atlanta, enjoyed my time in Atlanta, a great group of guys over there, great coaching staff, a young team that’s obviously improved a lot over the years. So that was a different experience for me, and I bring that experience here now and I’m thankful to be back.”
On the possibility of taking 15 threes in a game:
“Fifteen? That sounds good to me. We’ll see what happens. I’m going to play the way I always play, try to space the floor for these guys, give ‘em driving lanes, play hard on defense and the shots will come.”
How it feels like not much time has passed:
“It’s great to be back. It almost feels like I never left. It really hasn’t been that long in terms of months. It felt a little weird coming in, but as soon as we got going during shootaround, it was just like old times and great to see all the guys, all the coaches.”
On the difference in playing for a potential playoff team in Miami versus playing for a non-playoff team in Atlanta:
“We’re right in the middle of a playoff race, so having that motivation for every day, every game, going from Atlanta, a rebuilding team, to a team like we are brings excitement every night.”
On having Dwyane Wade — who was acquired at the deadline in a separate deal — back in Miami:
“I’m the trade acquisition that all this hype for, right? No, it's great having Dwyane Wade. It’s a long time coming and we missed him last year, so I’m happy for him, happy for the city.”
Miami Heat president of basketball operations Pat Riley on reacquiring Babbitt (via South Florida Sun Sentinel):
“We wanted to sign Luke again last summer but really ran out of roster spots. [Heat Coach] Spo loves Luke and loved the fact that he spaces the floor. He’s a no-nonsense player. When you take a look at his numbers from his three-point range this year, even though it’s a small sample size or a smaller sample size, from all areas of the court he’s above average and I think way above average. Of a lot of the guys that were traded today, he was the very best three-point shooter out there. So we’ve been talking about Luke and others for a while.”
Atlanta Hawks general manager Travis Schlenk on the Hawks not feeling pressure to make a huge deal (via the Atlanta Journal-Constitution):
“We are in a position where we don’t have to do a deal we are not comfortable with. We think (salary) cap space will be very valuable this summer, especially based on the way the deadline went. It’s more important to maintain cap space next summer.”
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra on bring Babbitt back after the deadline (via South Florida Sun Sentinel):
“It was very good to see Luke back here.”
Heat guard Goran Dragic on Babbitt (via South Florida Sun Sentinel):
“Luke is a player that gives you that outside shooting. Especially the defense, they cannot shrink for him so much. If they do, you have a really good three-point shooter who is knocking down those shots. He kind of gives us the spacing on offense, for us attackers, we can get inside the paint and make plays. He can help us in a lot ways. Luke, he already knows the system from last year.”
Heat guard Josh Richardson on Babbitt after first practice after trade (via South Florida Sun Sentinel):
“Yeah, Luke was very not talkative as always. He was like, ‘What up dog?’ That's it.”
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