Heat waive Weber, Udrih; keep McGruder as 15th man

The Miami Heat are slashing point guard jobs as they approach the opening-night roster deadline.

The Heat have waived point guards Briante Weber and Beno Udrih, a source told Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel. This, despite the fact that nominal backup point guard Josh Richardson is currently recovering from a partially torn MCL.

Additionally, Udrih's contract is fully guaranteed at the veteran's minimum ($1.6 million), while Weber's was partially guaranteed at $328,000 and would've cost the Heat just $110,000 more to remain on the roster from opening night until Dec. 1.

The Heat will instead retain guard Rodney McGruder - who went undrafted out of Kansas State in 2013 - to fill their 15th roster spot. McGruder outperformed both Weber and Udrih during the preseason, averaging 7.4 points and 1.8 assists while shooting 34.6 percent from 3-point range across eight games.

"Leading up to it has been fun, just building a relationship with guys and just learning a lot, just trying to take full advance of the opportunity that they gave me," McGruder said, according to Winderman.

Weber - who finished as the preseason leader with 2.4 steals per game - struggled offensively, shooting just 30 percent from the field and 14.3 percent from deep.

"I did what I could do," Weber said. "I handled my business. I played my heart out and did what I can do, did everything Coach asked me to do."

If he passes through waivers unclaimed, the Heat will retain Weber's D-League rights, and they've reportedly encouraged him to return to their affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce, where he played 28 games last season.

Udrih was also waived by the Heat in the middle of last season - after averaging 4.4 points and 2.5 assists in 36 games - before signing back on with a one-year deal in August.