While Miami may have dreams of landing Kevin Durant or another marquee free agent, the team will likely have to use all of its resources just to keep the current roster intact, Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel argues. Winderman believes Hassan Whiteside, who has been playing at an All-Star level so far this season, could command an annual salary of over $20MM. The team will also have to worry about a new contract for Dwyane Wade and possibly a new contract for Luol Deng, who will be a free agent at season’s end.
Here’s more from South Beach:
- The Heat would still like to move Chris Andersen to reduce their tax bill, but the team isn’t optimistic about finding a trade partner, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald passes along.
- The emergence of Tyler Johnson played a key role in Miami trading Mario Chalmers and the team has faith that the 23-year-old can handle an added role, Ethan J. Skolnick of the Miami Herald writes. “He has emerged,” Dwyane Wade said. “We’ve all seen it. When we got into this season, we all looked at each other and said, this guy’s made a big jump. He’s going to be important to us.”
- While there may be value in moving Deng before the trade deadline, keeping the veteran is the right move due to key role he plays on the team, Winderman opines in a separate piece.