Kendrick Nunn joined the Heat late in the bubble after testing positive for coronavirus.
Now, he’s stepping away early.
Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald:
Hopefully, everything is alright with Nunn.
He must quarantine in his hotel room upon return. Among the key ways to minimize the quarantine length? Testing negative daily while away. Apparently, Nunn is set to get tested while gone. As someone who already recovered from coronavirus, he likely has resistance to re-contracting the virus. But the outside world presents plenty of potential pitfalls that could increase a player’s quarantine length.
The Heat didn’t publicly disclose this. But the league is pretty selective in mandating transparency.
Miami is shorthanded on the perimeter. Jimmy Butler and Goran Dragic are banged up. Now, Nunn – a talented rookie who already starts – is out.
The Heat are fourth in the East, one game up on the Pacers and 76ers. It’s unclear where Miami would prefer to finish in that 4-5-6 race. A first-round matchup with Indiana or even Philadelphia in the 4-5 series would likely be easier than facing the probable-third-seeded Celtics. However, winning the 4-5 series would mean facing the powerful Bucks – rather than the Raptors or Celtics – in the second round.
With four seeding games left – including two against the Pacers – the Heat have plenty of variance in how their season finishes.
