For a few hours on Thursday, it looked as if the Heat would end up adding not just Andre Iguodala but Thunder forward Danilo Gallinari as well. However, Oklahoma City ultimately ended up not getting involved in the deal with Miami and Memphis that saw Iguodala, Jae Crowder, and Solomon Hill land with the Heat.
Like they did with Iguodala, the Heat were trying to complete an extend-and-trade deal for Gallinari, but the team’s desire to keep its 2021/22 cap sheet as clear as possible complicated those extensions talks. If the Heat had been willing to do an extension that was guaranteed through 2022, ESPN’s Zach Lowe believes they likely would’ve been able to acquire Gallinari without surrendering any of their key young players.
According to Lowe, talks between Miami and Oklahoma City focused on draft compensation. The Thunder already own the Heat’s top-14 protected 2023 first-round pick and wanted the protections lifted on that selection so that Miami could also trade its 2025 first-rounder to OKC.
As Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald explains (via Twitter), the Heat also probably could’ve acquired Gallinari without extending him, but they felt as if the risk of just renting the veteran forward for three months wouldn’t be worth the draft capital it would require.
Here’s more on the Heat:
- There was a belief that Crowder and Hill would be re-routed to the Thunder along with draft picks if Gallinari was involved in that Heat/Grizzlies swap. However, that may not have been the only scenario in play — David Aldridge of The Athletic hears from sources that Miami was also willing to discuss Kelly Olynyk and Derrick Jones in potential trades.
- Jeff Siegel of Early Bird Rights provides some new info on Iguodala’s extension with the Heat, tweeting that the two-year, $30MM deal – which is worth a flat $15MM per year with a team option on year two – features a 7.5% trade kicker. If he’s dealt, that bonus would only apply to Iguodala’s non-option year, unless the option is exercised before the trade.
- The Heat have newfound flexibility for the summer of 2020 after moving James Johnson and Dion Waiters. Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald explores possible paths Miami could take during the offseason, while cap expert Albert Nahmad of HeatHoops.com takes a more in-depth look at the financial situation facing the team as it considers its options for the next two summers.
- Count head coach Erik Spoelstra among those impressed with what president Pat Riley has done to revamp the Heat’s roster over the last year, as Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today details. “He’s one of the great visionaries of this Association, and it never ceases to amaze me how he continues to reinvent and think differently,” Spoelstra said of Riley. “That’s what visionaries do. They think way bigger and much differently than we do.”
So, Memphis valued Justise Winslow so highly that they were willing to take on Johnson and Waiters, two guys who were otherwise untradeable?
I know I’m a Riley critic, but how is this a good trade? Iggy is old and he’s going to be very highly compensated. Crowder is a rotation piece, but not going to carry the day in the playoffs.
Seems to me, Miami gave up a very good young player for an old guy and a replacement vet. Yay?
Winslow isn’t that good. He can be good but is consistently more of an ok player. He’s also got an injury history. Crowder was a good pickup. They didn’t like Waiters and getting rid of his contract really freed up cap space for them. Iguodala, Crowder, and cap space is really good for Winslow.
Well,I appreciate that you don’t think Winslow is good, but Memphis obviously does. And 538 projects he’ll be an above average rotation player/quality starter for the rest of his contact. And, he’s earning less per season than Iggy, Waiters, or Johnson, all of whom have much lower projected value.
The fact that Miami could make this deal at all suggests Winslow is in fact very valuable…which is why I think it’s a bad trade.
I wouldn’t say Iguodala is “very highly compensated” with how high the cap has gotten.
Making $17M this season and $15M next season doesn’t seem like a lot for a 36-year old player who will be playing no more than 20-25 minutes coming off the bench? Iggy is being extremely highly compensated.
Untradeable? Johnson got flipped for Dieng
A good point. I didn’t see that coming.
I think Miami thinks Winslow has peaked for basically medical reasons and lacks efficiency. He’s not good for that many minutes and a better permanent option will always be needed. 11 games this year due to a back injury yikes. Yes he does look good, always has, but realistically he was phasing out in Miami.
Look at all the salary Memphis took on to get him at 2/36 left– $37MM or so. The FO must have thought next years’ free agency offered nothing because they won’t be in it now.
Dieng should be something at the 5, but that’s another trade.
As a Heat fan, I’ve said I dont like the deal. The only thing that may make sense is it sounds like Winslow may have been out the rest of the year, but even so, I wouldnt have moved him. Iguodala brings a facsimile of Winslows skillset, as does Crowder in some ways, so at least theres that, although Winslow can guard bigger guys in my opinion
…I’d also have preferred to keep JJ and Waiters in this iteration of the deal, to be honest. JJ fills a need, especially without Winslow, and Waiters could have been useful in certain matchups
I dislike the trade too. It seems to rely on risk-taking, esp given that both teams were on a roll, relative to expectations.
Compared to getting a major-ish offseason FA, getting Winslow is a decent alternative, but I bet Dieng gets in more games. You know, distrust of Riley, etc.
I would’ve liked to of seen Gallinari added without giving up too much. And then I’d be singing his praises
Riley’s constructed a nice pair of deals for his timeline. But a true visionary would have foreseen that Gallo was very unlikely to do a 1/1 extension under his career timeline – for the very reasons it would have been so valuable to the Heat under Riley’s timeline. Or have a plan B. Johnson and Waiters had negative value, and Crowder and Hill don’t with expiring deals, but that seemed more important to OKC than the Heat.
Maybe it was all a game with OKC in order to draw Memphis in and dump salary there for a player he didn’t have a place for anyway.
I’m skeptical. Swapping Winslow for Iggy for the purpose of dumping the 2nd years on Johnson’s and Waiters’ contracts is a very pedestrian use of visionary powers. You have to consider that visionary also gave those guys those contracts.
As a thunder fan, I’d love to keep Gallo, but I’m al realistic that he’s leaving after this year. So if the trade was going to be Miami’s 2025 first and the restrictions removed off the 23 first, then I am saddened to hear it didn’t go down.
I still think we sign and trade him this offseason for something, but that would have been a great haul for okc.
Pat Riley still a loser in my eyes for leaving the Knicks
If the Knicks had given him control of personnel that wouldn’t be the dumpster fire they are today. If anything you should blame the management
Rofl maybe you should check the “fax”
Yeah, not his fault! Anytime the Knickerbockers are involved … blame it on the Knickerbockers !!