Heat’s Omer Yurtseven likely to miss extended time with ankle injury. Here’s latest

Miami Heat center Omer Yurtseven has yet to play through the first three weeks of the schedule and he likely won’t return any time soon.

Yurtseven has missed each of the Heat’s first 12 regular-season games, including Thursday night’s matchup against the Charlotte Hornets at FTX Arena. The injury keeping him out has been labeled by the Heat as a left ankle impingement.

Multiple league sources confirmed that Yurtseven is faced with the possibility of missing a large chunk of the season because of a bone-spur issue in his left ankle. But there’s some optimism that he’ll be able to play at some point this season.

Yurtseven continues to seek additional expert opinions on the injury and may need surgery, but that decision has not been made yet. The belief is that the surgery wouldn’t end his season, but he would be forced to miss an extended period that could last about three months.

Yurtseven’s only game action since the start of training camp was in the Heat’s preseason opener, when he recorded 11 points and nine rebounds on Oct. 4. He missed the rest of the preseason schedule and has not played yet this regular season.

Yurtseven, 24, is set to be a restricted free agent this upcoming offseason.

If the 6-11 Yurtseven is forced to miss another extended stretch as he continues his recovery, the Heat’s frontcourt depth is limited. Behind starting center Bam Adebayo, Miami has used veteran center Dewayne Dedmon as the backup with Yurtseven out.

Behind Adebayo and Dedmon, the only other center on the roster is Yurtseven. Other Heat options to fill in at center if Adebayo or Dedmon are unavailable are 6-foot-8 veteran Udonis Haslem, 6-foot-11 rookie Nikola Jovic or even 6-foot-7 two-way contract player Jamal Cain.

Prior to the injury, Yurtseven was vying for a spot in the Heat’s rotation after flashing his potential as a rookie. While Adebayo missed time because of a thumb injury last season, Yurtseven grabbed at least 12 rebounds in 11 straight games for the longest such streak in Heat history before falling out of the rotation when Adebayo returned.

Because of the Heat’s salary cap situation, signing a replacement player for Yurtseven would make it a luxury tax team. Miami stands just about $200,000 away from the luxury tax.

Among the centers who remain available as free agents are Hassan Whiteside, DeMarcus Cousins and Tristan Thompson.

The Heat could also use one of its two-way contract slots, which are currently occupied by Cain and guard Dru Smith, to sign a developmental big man. Two-way deals can be swapped out at any time and do not count toward the salary cap.

The Heat also remains without guard Victor Oladipo, who has yet to play this season because of left knee tendinosis. His return is not considered imminent, with no timetable offered by the team.

With the Heat entering the season with 14 players on standard contracts, it was already one shy of the NBA regular-season maximum of 15 players. But with Yurtseven and Oladipo out, Miami’s depth has already been tested early this season.

Yurtseven initially downplayed the ankle injury, saying in late October that “structurally [it’s fine].”

“I went to like five different doctors just to make sure everything was fine just to double, triple and quadruple check,” he said.

Just as recently as this past weekend, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said Yurtseven was able to take a step forward in his recovery. Yurtseven even traveled with the team on recent road trips before this latest setback.

“I feel like everything is for the best,” Yurtseven said last month of his injury. “I just try to think that God was protecting me from something worse. But other than that, it’s not in my control. What I’m trying to do right now is control the recovery and maximize it, and that’s the process for me right now.”