NOVEMBER 23: The Heat have officially announced their deal with Bradley, issuing a press release to confirming the signing.
“This is a great signing that can help us right away,” team president Pat Riley said in a statement. “Being able to add a two-time All-NBA Defensive Team selection who is also a great shooter and fits perfectly with our current philosophy as a multi-positional player. Avery will be a great addition to fortifying our backcourt.”
As we relayed in a separate story, Boston and Charlotte were among the other teams that expressed interest in Bradley before he agreed to sign with Miami.
NOVEMBER 21: The Heat and free agent guard Avery Bradley have agreed to a two-year, $11.6MM deal, agent Charles Briscoe tells Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
The contract will include a team option for the second year, sources tell ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link). The Heat took a similar route with their new deals for Goran Dragic and Meyers Leonard as they prioritize preserving cap room for 2021.
The Heat will use a portion of their mid-level exception to sign Bradley. The Heat have also agreed to a one-year, $3.6MM contract with Maurice Harkless and Miami could preserve its bi-annual exception by splitting up the MLE between Bradley and Harkless, as John Hollinger of The Athletic tweets.
Bradley was considered a fallback option for the team in case it couldn’t re-sign Jae Crowder, Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel tweets. While Crowder was a priority for the Heat, he wasn’t comfortable with only a one-year guarantee, says Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald (Twitter link). As a result, he’ll head to Phoenix on a three-year deal while the Heat replace him with Bradley.
As Charania explains (via Twitter), Bradley – who was recruited by Heat president Pat Riley and star swingman Jimmy Butler – was sold on the Heat’s culture and made the decision to leave Los Angeles after spending the 2019/20 season with the Lakers.
Bradley, who will turn 30 next Thursday, appeared in 49 games for the Lakers in 2019/20, starting 44 of them. He averaged 8.6 PPG and 2.3 RPG with a solid 3PT% (.364) and strong perimeter defense, but opted out of the restart and wasn’t part of the club’s championship run.
The Warriors were among the other teams that had interest in signing Bradley, tweets Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area.
Dana Gauruder contributed to this story. Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Wow! Lakers are hosed….
So crowder is gone correct? So are heat also giving up on giannis next year?
Dragic multi year, Bradley multi year, meyers multi year. Anyone know what there cap looks like?
Lakers aren’t hosed.. if lakers resign Kcp, starters Kcp, Mathews, lebron, Ad and mcgee
Bench Schroeder, caruso, kuzma, Harrell.. I still think lakers are gonna sign cousins and Kcp and Morris..trade mcgee..
That would be Kcp, Mathews, lebron, AD, cousins
Bench
Schroeder, caruso, kuzma, Morris, harrell
Crowder to suns!
I think lakers are going to sign and trade for Bogdan for kuzma and mcgee potentially kcp if we can’t agree on dollars. Then sign thompson at a reduced rate like montrezl
I think he means in the sense of a cheap vet, now lakers need to sign kcp or potentially upgrade with Bogdan. I can definitely see the Bogdan and thompson scenario, no one predicted harrell for that cheap and lebron had dinner with thompson the other night. Legm is at work
All Dragic, Bradley and Meyers contracts have second year team options. The Heat would have plenty of room in case Gianni’s becomes available.
Nah, screw Bradley…he bailed on the team and they didn’t need him. If you want a good L.A. story read up on A.J. Pollock and what he and his wife went through regarding his decision to stay with the Dodgers.
100
I’m thinking maybe the lakers moved on from Bradley when he opted out of bubble.. that locker room probably wouldn’t accept him back..
Wow! Don’t know why tho
They have enough shooters with Duncan and Herro. Weird!
Potentially trade bait for another star like beal? Or in future for giannis if available cap space?
Bradley plays top level defense which combined with his shooting makes him a valuable addition even with Robinson and Herro already in Miami
You got it DVail. His perimeter D is outstanding and he can drop the three. Smart player. Love this signing.
It’s gotta have a team option or NG on year two, right?
There will be a second-year team option. Having some technical difficulties updating the rest of the story at the moment, but it’ll be filled out soon.
SHOCKER
Nice pick up for the Heat. I am sure second year is not guaranteed. Ireally don’t know what the Lakers are doing. Their team defense which won them the championship is weakening . They need Kcp and Morris’s to sign . Rondo, Green, Dwight and Avery ( even though did not play in the bubble) defense will be missed for the Lakers .
Solid pickup. Makes them a little guard heavy, but he definitely fits.
So
C Bam, Leonard, Silva, Haslem
PF Olynyk, Harkless, Precious
SF Butler, Iggy, Okapala
SG Robinson, Herro, Bradley
PG Nunn, Dragic
Wow. Love the roster!!
I would have personally tried to bring in Carmelo over Mo Harkless to play next to Bam (would be a reliable stretch 4, because Mo Harkless and Olynyk are not as good scorer as he is). But I think this team actually got better defensively and is primed for another run at the NBA finals! Let’s go Heat!
Not a huge loss but this guy is a piece of garbage. He decides not to return when the NBA season resumed then the Lakers win the title. Rob Polanka FaceTime Tim during the championship celebration informing him he is just as much a part of this championship team has anyone and there would be a spot waiting for him next season and he would be getting a championship ring. How did he respond? Declined his player option and signed with the Miami Heat.
He has a child with respiratory issues. He elected for forego 5 million to not expose his child.
Have a nice day.
Hmmm maybe Miami can turn Olynyk, Iggy and (maybe Nunn) into LaMarcus Aldridge and a future second rounder or two… I think he’d be the perfect get for Miami to round out the offseason.
C Bam, Leonard, Silva, Haslem
PF Aldridge, Harkless, Precious
SF Butler, Okpala
SG Robinson, Herro, Bradley
PG Dragic, FA vet
Wouldn’t that leave them a bit thing on the wing position? Maybe they would be players for Batum? He’s always been a great passer and just needs to play within his game and not do too much.
It’s a good signing for Heat. Gives them depth and solid Vet. One who plays D and plays both ways. I was under impression Heat had resigned Crowder. Now I get the Harkless signing. Crowder was big piece of Heat team. So this signing will help that loss.
Douche
helps the Heat with one of their issues guarding PGs…Based on what they did retaining Leonard, and signing Bradley, I have to think a trade involving Kelly Olynyk and/or Kendrick Nunn has to be coming, but I dont know for what. It would have to be a wing player/4, or possibly a strong option at the 5, and then they would fill the roster spot with a cheaper 4 or 5 (depending on what they trade for), maybe a Rondae Hollis Jefferson and Noah Vonleh or maybe even Dedmon…
Maybe Olynyk, Nunn, and Silva for Aaron Gordon? or Olynyk to Memphis for Justise Winslow?