Goran Dragic will miss two months with right knee surgery.

Dragic had missed 12 of Miami's last 14 games due to knee issues.

Dragic had a player option for the 19-20 season.

Dion Waiters returned to practice with the Miami Heat for the first time since last January when he underwent ankle surgery.

Erik Spoelstra was quick to caution that it was not a full-contact practice, with the team declining to make Waiters available for comment until he completes such a session.

"He's doing more work right now," Spoelstra said. "He's getting better, making progress."

Spoelstra declined to offer a timetable.

"I don’t know," he said. "Basically, right now it's day-by-day evaluations, but he's doing a lot more on the court, which is good."

Even with a losing record and a top-10 payroll in the NBA, the Miami Heat lead by Erik Spoelstra and 73-year-old team president Pat Riley refuse to tank their season or undergo a rebuilding process. 

On the topic of whether the Heat should tank their season for a high draft pick, Spoelstra responded “do the history on it. What franchises have had the most enduring sustainable success over the last 24 years? We’re up there with the top three or four. The teams that constantly tank, I don’t know where they are...but if you are hardwired to find a way to get it done without any excuses, you will find different pathways. There’s no one way to do it.”

Other NBA executives have noted the Heat's lack of flexibility in the trade market with Josh Richardson their most valuable piece, but they feel that Richardson would only be available if the Heat could land a star in return. 

The Heat have been frequently linked as a potential destination for John Wall as they believe their unique team culture could rehabilitate any player.

Dwyane Wade says he and LeBron James shifted the culture of competitiveness throughout their NBA careers following the Miami Heat's 108-105 loss against the Los Angeles Lakers. With Wade retiring this summer, it was the last regular season matchup between the two players.

After the game, Wade discussed the influence of the 2003 NBA draft class that featured him and James. Wade stated that "we were definitely part of shifting the culture. I don't want to say changing it, we shifted a little bit. Even from the start with us, being so close, going out to eat, going to movies, etc., then go out and play each other the next night. People didn't understand that at first. But we shifted the culture of how you can still compete, you can still be great and push each other. It's not for everyone. You got the Mamba mentality, if it's not for Giannis, it's not for everyone. It's something that worked for us. We clicked from the beginning and we've pushed each other and helped each other's careers go up another level and another notch. So he's been great for me and I've been great for him". 

James finished the game with 28 points, 12 assists, and 9 rebounds. Wade added 15 points, 10 assists, and 5 rebounds. 

Hassan Whiteside headed to the locker room with 40 seconds left in the Miami Heat's 105-90 loss to the Orlando Magic. He didn't play in the fourth quarter.

When asked for an explanation, head coach Erik Spoelstra responded that Whiteside was "probably extremely upset like we all are" after the Heat were outscored 30-12 in the third quarter.

Whiteside finished the game with 12 points and 9 rebounds in 25 minutes. He is averaging 13.5 points, 13.7 rebounds and 2.9 blocks on the season.

Dwyane Wade called Donovan Mitchell "special" following the Miami Heat's 102-100 win over the Utah Jazz. The two players exchanged jerseys following the game as Mitchell scored 18 points and Wade added 15 points in the matchup. 

Drawing comparisons to the Heat guard, Mitchell reached out to Wade over the phone for two hours to seek advice about the leap between his rookie and sophomore year last summer. 

Averaging 15.4 points in 25 minutes this season, Wade added that he's having fun coming off the bench with coaches encouraging him to shoot 6 3-pointers per game. 

“Outside of probably my better friends in the league, Victor Oladipo and Donovan Mitchell are two of the guys I talk to the most,” Wade said. “They’re just guys who are similar in how our games structure and guys who really want it and want to be great.

“We was on the phone for two hours,” he continued. “I don’t talk to nobody for two hours no more, but he wanted to pick my brain, he had a lot of great questions and we just talked about the game. We talked about my first year to my second year, how did I make the jump, and he had a lot of great questions.”