5:22pm: The Heat have officially announced the deal (via Twitter). As had been expected, the Thunder announced in a press release that Leonard would remain away from the team.
“Leonard will not be reporting to Oklahoma City and will not be an active member of the organization,” the statement read in part.
Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel tweets that Ariza has been undergoing tests for the novel coronavirus COVID-19 in anticipation of a potential deal, and hopes to suit up for Miami as soon as Friday, when the Heat host the Pacers.
1:57pm: As expected, Leonard has signed off on the trade, confirms Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press (Twitter link).
1:32pm: The Heat and Thunder are finalizing a trade that will send forward Trevor Ariza to Miami in exchange for center Meyers Leonard and a 2027 second-round pick, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).
As Wojnarowski notes, Leonard’s contract gives him the option of vetoing a trade, but he’s expected to sign off on the deal. Although the veteran big man likely won’t ever play for Oklahoma City, he’ll probably remain on the roster through the deadline in case he can be used in another deal, tweets Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman.
After starting the 2019/20 season in Sacramento, Ariza was dealt to Portland and played well for the Trail Blazers, averaging 11.0 PPG and 4.8 RPG on .491/.400/.872 shooting in 21 games (33.4 MPG). However, he opted out of the summer restart, then was traded multiple times in the 2020 offseason, ultimately landing in Oklahoma City. Ariza and the Thunder reached an agreement to have him remain away from the team.
Since he’s 35 years old and has essentially spent a full calendar year out of the NBA, it’s unclear how much Ariza has left in the tank, but the Heat will pay a very modest price to find out.
Leonard is out for the season with a shoulder injury and was recently fined and suspended for using an anti-Semitic slur during a video game live stream. While his $9.4MM salary for this season is guaranteed, his $10.15MM salary for 2021/22 is a team option and has long been viewed as a lock to be declined. He’s just being included in the deal to sufficiently match Ariza’s $12.8MM expiring contract.
The real asset going to the Thunder in the swap is the future second-round pick, which was one of the only picks Miami had left available to trade. Even though they won’t actually receive it for another six years, the Thunder will be happy to add that 2027 selection to their ever-growing stash of draft assets, especially for a player who didn’t play a single game for the club.
Even after trading for Ariza, the Heat will have a handful of assets to pursue other deals prior to next Thursday’s deadline, including Andre Iguodala‘s and Kelly Olynyk‘s expiring contracts, a $7.5MM trade exception, and a handful of promising young players. Because they’re trading Leonard, they’ll lose the $4.7MM disabled player exception they received after he suffered his season-ending injury, as ESPN’s Bobby Marks observes (via Twitter).
Miami remains about $5.4MM below the tax line and still has approximately $10.6MM of breathing room below the hard cap, Marks adds (via Twitter).
If the Thunder don’t use one of their existing traded player exceptions to take on Leonard’s salary, they’ll create a new $3.4MM TPE in the deal. They could very well be active again before the deadline, with veterans like George Hill, Al Horford, and Mike Muscala among their potential trade candidates.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
I thought all 3 players signed two years team option contracts with No trade course
Dragic
Bradley
Leonard
Second year team option
Leonard gave his okay cuz he knows there’s no way he deserved 10 million this season.
Ariza has been traded 11 times, the most in the nba history
Not counting free agency
Interesting on two cap levels to me: first, the 2027 2nd appears to be Miami’s final available second rounder available to trade this calendar season. Second, if it is just these two players involved, for salary-matching purposes Miami would have to renounce rights to former free agents and some exceptions (most lilkely BAE and TPE, but could retain DPE).
They have one other 2nd round pick. It is the lesser of the two picks between Philly and Denver in 2022. But this is definitely the case of mortgaging the future. It would be different if Miami was a favorite to win it all. Mortgaging the entire future is fine if it leads to a championship, but if all it leads to is a conference finals loss, is it really worth it?
Although if they can continue to find undrafted diamonds in the rough like Kendrick Nunn and Duncan Robinson, then maybe they don’t need the picks. That seems like a bit of stretch to me though.
good catch, thanks
Theyve been able to add 2nd round picks when they needed to, and they’ve been able to grab undrafted players, and guys from the G-league when they havent had picks as well
They have their own 2024 2nd (unless it’s 51-60) too.
A swap of Ariza for Leonard shouldn’t require Miami to have to renounce any cap holds. The only exception that would be lost (for sure) is the DPE.
Miami can’t trade a 1st right now (without it being contingent). But after this season, they’ll owe only a single 1st (to OKC) and it’s lottery protected for 3 years. It’s a bit less than trading away their entire future. Detroit also can’t trade a 1st right now (without it being contingent).
Bam, Iggy, Butler, Duncan, KNunn – Starters
Olynyk, Ariza, Harkless, Bradley, Herro, Dragic – Bench
Very good defensive team now, but I think we badly need an upgrade to our backcourt. Kyle Lowry would be a really nice add.
Why would Iggy be starting instead of Herro or Olynyk?
He won’t be.
Herro would not be starting with Nunn and Robinson together. I personally think Iggy ends up back in the starting 5 by the end of the year. Unless they swing a deal.
Because starting in the NBA is really meaningless. Most teams have a starter that plays far fewer minutes than at least one bench player.
Not getting Lowry. Trade for Lonzo.
Miami does not want Lonzo. I actually see Miami as a viable destination for Lowry. I could see a package of Achiuwa and Nunn, complemented with cap fillers, being enough to acquire Lowry. My bet would be Achiuwa, Nunn, Iggy, and Olynyk for Lowry. Raps get two expiring contracts in Olynyk and Iggy, while acquiring two young players in Nunn and Achiuwa that could be good rotation players for years to come. Could also see a scenario where Iggy gets routed to a contender out west, like the Lakers or Clips who in turn send more young talent to Toronto.
Young talent for Iggy? Gonna need to hire GSW’s Pr team to get that boat afloat again
Ah yes, the long and storied NBA tradition of “here, YOU throw this out”. Unless Ariza comes back, which if he’s got enough left in the tank would be helpful.
Why is Duncan starting over Herro? Dude can’t create his own shot.
Duncan is starting because he’s their best 3-point shooter. Not every player in the starting lineup has to create their own shots, they can both start.
Herro, right now, isnt as good as you think
I wonder how the Jewish community of OKC feels about this
I think he is indifferent.
Leonard won’t ever play for them. Will probably get traded again or waived.
He will be playing overseas next year. Nobody is going to offer him anything. Play over seas for a year come back and nobody will care anymore.
play for maccabi tel aviv, free for the season.
Meyers Leonard’s NBA career is now over!
I guess PJ has one less suitor. Funny how many criticize Crowder. Yet they have been trying to replace him all yr still. Reminds me of Boston , oh wait. Maybe not cause Boston has been trying to replace Horford for yrs now. It’s a good pickup. Heat can still make more. Especially after buyouts.
Nobody criticized Crowder…they also did try to keep him by offering him more money than he got. He wanted more guaranteed years. Heat always were going to need to address that spot, which they tried to do with Harkless, and Okpala getting minutes, as well as before they realized Achiuwa isnt a 4 right now
Miami didn’t want Leonard after his bigoted commentary during a video game & it’s clear that OKC doesn’t want him around either
Good deal, 3 and D forward with loads of experience for a 2nd round pick in 2027
But we’re talking about a 35-year old player who hasn’t stepped on an NBA court in over a year. He will have less than two months to get back into form before the playoffs. It’s very unlikely he will help the Heat that much, although he will do more than Leonard (which is obviously nothing).
If he looks like he did with Portland before the pandemic, then it’s a win, and fills a big need, but as you said, we havent seen him. If he is apparently going to play as early as Friday, that means the Heat know enough, I would assume
I still would have maybe considered other options, but the Heat can still make other moves. They used 1 of their bigger salary matchers, and 1 of their only movable picks though, so not sure how that effects that…
They’ve been connected to Ariza countless times over the years, for obvious reasons, besides him being from Miami, so hopefully they get most of what he has left for them. If he does look like he did with Portland, it pretty much puts them back in relatively similar position as they were last year, roster wise, mostly needing a big that can post defend and rebound for 8-14 minutes in certain matchups