The Heat waived forward Jarvis Varnado and guards Charlie Westbrook and Larry Drew II on Monday.
“They always are,” Erik Spoelstra said of the difficulty of making cuts. “It’s always uncomfortable this time of year because you start to build a connection with guys. Nobody in this camp deserved it, but you have to trim down.”
Spoelstra said it was especially tough waving Varnado, who was on last year’s championship team. Varnado’s play was solid during the summer league, but he became a numbers casualty. He had to be released by opening night or he would have been guaranteed $250,000.
The moves reduced the preseason roster to 17. The Heat must make two more cuts by next Monday’s 3 p.m. deadline to reach the NBA regular-season maximum of 15 players.