CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP)—Miami linebacker Jordan Futch was recovering
Tuesday from a suspected case of heat exhaustion, which necessitated him being
taken from the Hurricanes’ practice field by paramedics and transported by
ambulance to a nearby hospital.

Futch, who has been trying to recover from an upper-body injury, was
conditioning around 8:30 a.m. Tuesday adjacent to where most of his teammates
were practicing. It was already 82 degrees on campus at that point, and felt
like 88 when factoring in unseasonably high humidity—“sneaky hot,” Miami
coach Al Golden said.

Futch was running and apparently felt faint, then went to the ground. He was
tended to on-site by team athletic trainers, and paramedics were called as a
precaution.

“It seems like everything is fine,” Golden said. “I think it was a case
of dehydration and low sugar levels. Again, I’m not the doctor but I’m just
trying to give you the idea that everything’s fine. He just felt really weak or
faint.”

Futch was not available for comment. Golden said he is not expected to play
Saturday when Miami (5-5) visits South Florida (5-4) in the Hurricanes’
next-to-last regular-season game.

“Jordan has been limited in his activity for the last nine or 10 days …
and we wanted to be safe,” Golden said. “From all accounts Jordan is doing
fine.”

Futch has 20 tackles in nine games this season for Miami.

Also Tuesday, Golden said safety Ray-Ray Armstrong will play against South
Florida. Armstrong did not play last week against Florida State while team
officials investigated whether he broke NCAA rules by having dinner with a
friend who owns a public-relations firm and represents professional athletes.

Miami compliance officers checked into the matter, found no wrongdoing, and
Golden said that athletic director Shawn Eichorst gave Armstrong full clearance
on Monday.

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So instead, Riley stood at midcourt, microphone in hand and reciting the Pledge of Allegiance while military members and their families packed into bleachers on either side of the gymnasium — the latest in an ongoing series of tributes the Heat have held for service members and their families in recent years.

“That’s why we’re here,” Riley told the crowd. “We’re here because of what you do for us and the freedoms we have in this country and freedoms that you’re allowing other people to have in other countries. I can’t wait ‘til the day everybody comes back from Iraq and Afghanistan. I can’t wait for that day that everybody’s back with their families and able to come to Heat games.”

That day may be next month. Or next year. Either way, the answer should be coming soon. After two more days of talks in New York ended Thursday night, the NBA proposed a deal that would allow for a 72-game season starting Dec. 15. Players are expected to decide to take it or leave it by early next week.

“I’ve had enough,” Riley said of the waiting game that comes with the lockout. “I’ve waited long enough. I think we all have.”

Since 2006, the Heat have honored military personnel in a number of ways, whether it’s welcoming returning veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan at home games or last year’s move to hold training camp at a pair of U.S. Air Force installations in Florida’s Panhandle. Riley indicated that may happen again in the future. And the team’s community-relations side has tried to keep the Heat brand visible in South Florida while the lockout continues.

Still, there are some days boredom is unavoidable. Riley claimed he’s become the No. 1 gin rummy and backgammon player in the Heat offices during the lockout, and professed that his new look — a silvery goatee — is as good as the one team owner Micky Arison has had for years.

“The day that we start,” Riley said, “this thing is history.”

He hopes to be shaving soon enough. And when the time comes, he said Heat coach Erik Spoelstra and the rest of the staff will be ready to start moving very quickly to prepare for an abbreviated season.

“Right now we have one of the greatest bases of fans in the league and I think they’re patiently waiting,” Riley said. “They’ve supported us. We’re supporting them. And we just hope that we’re going to be able to deliver to them the same thing we delivered last year, which is exciting basketball. We’ve got some great, great, great talent, great players and we can’t wait to get it going again.”

___

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Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

It was just a couple of days ago I was feeling despondent about the chances my beloved Miami Heat would get the chance to compete for a title this year. Reading one of the latest articles by Joseph Goodman of the Miami Herald on Wednesday, Oct. 26 that reported because of a stalemate in talks between the NBA owners and players trying to end the lockout and reach a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) the league was ready to cancel games through Nov. 28 I was as depressed as can be.

Yet, just two days later it seems like the clouds that have surrounded professional basketball might just be lifting, and a new, bright, sunshiny day could be on the horizon.

According to the latest article by Yahoo! Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski, the two sides are on the cusp of an agreement after having met into the wee hours of the morning on Friday, Oct. 28. The meetings, which lasted an apparent 15 hours, ended with a “strong expectation [within the negotiations] that hands will shake [Friday]” according to one source who’d been briefed on the meetings.

With those negotiations set to resume at 10:30 a.m. EST on Friday, that could very well mean NBA fans might be sitting down to dinner this evening knowing there really is going to be a season; even if it isn’t a full one.

However, it seems even a full season isn’t out of the question if the players and owners can finalize a deal on Friday.

“I think we’re within reach—and within striking distance of getting a deal,” Players Association executive director Billy Hunter said. “It’s just how receptive the NBA is, and whether they want to do a deal.”

On that score I won’t hold my breath, as I have come to thoroughly believe NBA commissioner David Stern isn’t so much concerned with reaching a deal as he is in getting the players to capitulate to all of his owners’ demands. Still, even I will admit I could be wrong on that, and will be more than happy to be so if it means the two sides reach an agreement that saves the 2011-12 season. As I stated in an earlier article, the Heat can’t win any games if there aren’t any games to play.

Reading Wojnarowski’s report I get the sense both the players and the owners—including Stern—are beginning to realize that. While the commissioner hasn’t said anything as optimistic as Hunter did in his quote above, he did seem perturbed the talks broke down last Thursday, Oct. 20; when he was not present because of illness.

“I leave these guys alone for a little bit of time,” Stern said, “and all hell breaks loose.”

Whether that really means Stern is going to push hard to get a deal done either Friday, or sometime over the weekend is still to be seen. However, if they can reach an agreement I doubt very much whether fans across the nation will be greatly concerned with some of the issues at the heart of the talks and how they play out; such as the Basketball Related Income (BRI) split that has driven so much of the contention in the talks.

They will be concerned with the exceptions that are going to remain in the new CBA, however, as those will effect what sort of team each franchise will be able to build going into the season. Miami, especially, would be hurt if the exceptions are drastically altered, as they face the prospect of very little salary-cap room going forward.

Still, whatever gets agreed upon, if they come out of the other side with professional basketball intact and ready to play the season, there won’t be a great deal to complain about; at least not for South Florida fans.

With the Miami Dolphins’ season all-but over with, the Florida Marlins not playing till next spring, and the Florida Panthers still facing a rebuilding period—despite their better play of late—sports fans of South Florida teams desperately need the Heat to once again take to the court.

So, it begs the question. Is there really a chance the 2011-12 NBA season can be saved?

Game On!

More from the Yahoo! Contributor Network

NBA Apparently Ready to Cancel Two More Weeks of 2011-12 Season

Nothing Bryant Gumbel Said About David Stern Proves He’s a Racist

Derrick Rose is Absolutely Correct in Saying the NBA Owners Are to Blame

Seven Players the Heat Will Be Calling When the NBA Lockout Ends

All stats and information taken from personal notes and verified at Basketball-Reference.com, NBA.com, and Yahoo! Sports.

Read more by Daniel Barber aka Hotnuke at TFS Sports.

*Daniel Barber has been a fan of all Miami teams since he was a child or since their inception having been born right above Miami.

Sources:

Basketball-Reference.com

NBA.com

Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.

Former Miami Heat star (and current Dallas Maverick) Caron Butler tells Fox Sports that he wouldn’t exactly be opposed to taking his talents back to South Beach: “Butler, a two-time All-Star working his way back from a season-ending knee injury suffered in January, will be an unrestricted free agent whenever the NBA lockout ends. It wouldn’t be a surprise if Miami, where Butler broke into the NBA and played from 2002-04, took a look at him. ‘It’d be interesting,’ Butler said in an interview with FOX Sports Florida about the prospect of returning to the Heat. Asked whether Miami is on his list, Butler eventually said, ‘Yes.’ But he didn’t want to talk too much about the Heat, which is understandable. Butler, 31, remains loyal to Dallas, which wants him back after a season in which Butler went down with a ruptured right patellar tendon Jan. 1 and could only watch as the Mavericks beat the Heat for the NBA title last June. And he has no idea what the new rules might be in the NBA. ‘I love Dallas, what that organization, the fans, what they did for me when I went down and got injured,’ said Butler, who went scoreless in 12 minutes in the South Florida All-Star Classic on Saturday night, an event put on at Florida International University by Heat stars LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. ‘They supported me and stood by my side. Winning a championship there and being part of that there, that’s always special. So I just don’t know what it’s going to end up like. You got to see how stuff is structured with the new deal, the new collective bargaining agreement.’ Butler said Mavericks officials told him before the lockout started July 1 they want to re-sign him. But it’s unclear what type of salary Butler, who made $10.56 million last season, might be able to command.”

MIAMI — It took some prodding. But count forward Caron Butler as a candidate to return to the Miami Heat.

Butler, a two-time All-Star working his way back from a season-ending knee injury suffered in January, will be an unrestricted free agent whenever the NBA lockout ends. It wouldn’t be a surprise if Miami, where Butler broke into the NBA and played from 2002-04, took a look at him.

“It’d be interesting,” Butler said in an interview with FOX Sports Florida about the prospect of returning to the Heat.

Asked whether Miami is on his list, Butler eventually said, “Yes.” But he didn’t want to talk too much about the Heat, which is understandable.

Butler, 31, remains loyal to Dallas, which wants him back after a season in which Butler went down with a ruptured right patellar tendon Jan. 1 and could only watch as the Mavericks beat the Heat for the NBA title last June. And he has no idea what the new rules might be in the NBA.

“I love Dallas, what that organization, the fans, what they did for me when I went down and got injured,” said Butler, who went scoreless in 12 minutes in the South Florida All-Star Classic on Saturday night, an event put on at Florida International University by Heat stars LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. “They supported me and stood by my side. Winning a championship there and being part of that there, that’s always special. So I just don’t know what it’s going to end up like. You got to see how stuff is structured with the new deal, the new collective bargaining agreement.”

Butler said Mavericks officials told him before the lockout started July 1 they want to re-sign him. But it’s unclear what type of salary Butler, who made $10.56 million last season, might be able to command.

“They definitely told me they wanted me back,” Butler said. “I’m grateful for the organization. We’ll see what happens. I love Dallas. I like a lot of other places. But I really love Dallas.”

So where else does Butler like?

“That’s pretty much it,” Butler said of not wanting to mention any teams other than Dallas and Miami. “I don’t want to throw no (other) teams out there. But I am open to any suggestions.”

Perhaps Wade, who played with Butler with the Heat in 2003-04, will suggest Butler might want to return to Miami once free agency gets under way.

“Me and Dwyane, we always talk about a lot of things. So anything can happen,” said Butler, who said the two have yet to talk about the forward’s free agency.

Butler averaged 15.4 points as a rookie with the Heat in 2002-03 before slumping to 9.2 when Wade arrived in 2003-04. But after being traded to the Lakers in 2004 and moving on to Washington in 2005, Butler played in All-Star games in 2007 and 2008.

Butler, who has a career average of 16.6 points per game, landed in Dallas in February 2010. He was averaging 15 points before crashing to the floor with his season-ending injury at Milwaukee, which is just north of his hometown of Racine, Wis.

“Good,” Butler said of how his knee feels, later calling it “100″ percent. “Ready to play. Anxious to play.”

It’s just not clear with which team yet.