- In his final NBA season, Dwyane Wade was an effective bench scorer off the bench for the Heat, averaging 15.0 PPG, good for second on the team. With Wade no longer around, Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald examines how Miami might look to replace his scoring in its second unit, taking into account the club’s limited cap flexibility.
While the Heat weren’t considered a championship contender entering the 2018/19 season, they were viewed as a solid playoff team with the opportunity to increase their ceiling by making a trade for Jimmy Butler. Despite a steady stream of trade rumors in the fall, Butler was ultimately sent to Philadelphia instead of Miami, and the Heat’s star-less roster struggled to perform consistently during Dwyane Wade‘s farewell tour. With Wade calling it a career, the Heat are entering a new era in 2019/20 after missing the postseason this spring.
Here’s where things currently stand for the Heat financially, as we continue our Offseason Salary Cap Digest series for 2019:
Guaranteed Salary
- Ryan Anderson ($15,643,750) — Partial guarantee. Non-guaranteed portion noted below. 1
- James Johnson ($15,349,400)
- Justise Winslow ($13,000,000)
- Kelly Olynyk ($12,667,885)
- Dion Waiters ($12,100,000)
- Josh Richardson ($10,116,576)
- Bam Adebayo ($3,454,080)
- A.J. Hammons ($350,087) — Waived via stretch provision
- Duncan Robinson ($250,000) — Partial guarantee. Non-guaranteed portion noted below. 2
- Yante Maten ($100,000) — Partial guarantee. Non-guaranteed portion noted below. 3
- Total: $83,031,778
Player Options
- Hassan Whiteside ($27,093,018)
- Goran Dragic ($19,217,900)
- Total: $46,310,918
Team Options
- None
Non-Guaranteed Salary
- Ryan Anderson ($5,620,885) 1
- Derrick Jones ($1,645,357) 4
- Kendrick Nunn ($1,416,852) 5
- Yante Maten ($1,316,852) 3
- Duncan Robinson ($1,166,852) 2
- Total: $11,166,798
Restricted Free Agents
- None
Unrestricted Free Agents / Other Cap Holds
- No. 13 overall pick ($3,635,520)
- Luke Babbitt ($1,618,486): Non-Bird rights 6
- Udonis Haslem ($1,618,486): Bird rights
- Jordan Mickey ($1,618,486): Non-Bird rights 6
- Dwyane Wade ($1,618,486): Retiring
- Total: $10,109,464
Projected Salary Cap: $109,000,000
Projected Tax Line: $132,000,000
Offseason Cap Outlook
- Realistic cap room projection: $0
- Although Whiteside and Dragic have said they’re still undecided on their respective player options, it’s hard to imagine either player opting out. Assuming those options are exercised, that would push the Heat’s team salary over $132MM for just eight players and a first-round pick. Even if the club can shed some salary, staying out of the tax will be a challenge and creating cap room is extremely unlikely.
Cap Exceptions Available
- Trade exception: $6,270,000 (expires 2/6/20)
- Taxpayer mid-level exception: $5,711,000 7
Footnotes
- Anderson’s salary becomes fully guaranteed after July 10.
- Robinson’s salary guarantee increases to $1MM after July 15.
- Maten’s salary guarantee increases to $150K after August 1.
- Jones’ salary becomes fully guaranteed after August 1.
- Nunn’s salary becomes partially guaranteed to $50K after July 1 and to $150K after August 1.
- Babbitt’s and Mickey’s cap holds remain on the Heat’s books because they haven’t been renounced after going unsigned in 2018/19. They can’t be used in a sign-and-trade deal.
- This is a projected value. If the Heat reduce salary and stay out of tax territory, they could instead have access to the full mid-level exception ($9,246,000) and the bi-annual exception ($3,619,000).
Note: Minimum-salary and rookie-scale cap holds are estimates based on salary cap projections and could increase or decrease depending on where the cap lands.
Salary information from Basketball Insiders and RealGM was used in the creation of this post. Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
- The Heat could wait it out with Goran Dragic entering the final season of his contract, Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel writes. Dragic will decide in the coming weeks whether to exercise his $19.2MM player option for next season, though Winderman notes it wouldn’t be beneficial for the team to extend him on a cheaper, multi-year deal that cuts into future cap space. Should Dragic opt into his player option, he’d become an unrestricted free agent in July of 2020.
- Miami has a long way to go before achieving star status in the East, Winderman writes in a separate article for The Sun Sentinel. The Heat essentially have the same roster situation they did a year ago (minus the fact that Dwyane Wade has retired), leaving more questions than answers about the organization entering this summer. The team is coming off a disappointing 2018/19 season that saw them finish at 39-43, the sixth worst record in the conference.
Heat point guard Goran Dragic hasn’t decided if he’ll opt in next season and he’ll take his time making up his mind, Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald reports.
“I had a meeting with [team president] Pat [Riley] and that was it. I told him I’m going to make my decision when that comes,” Dragic told Chiang. “So I still need to talk to the family, the agent. Right now, I just wanted to have at least two weeks to one month completely off, enjoy my vacation with them.”
Dragic’s decision will have major implications on Miami’s offseason approach. His player option is worth $19.2MM. If both Dragic and Hassan Whiteside ($27.1MM) exercise their player options, the Heat will be over the projected salary cap before they make any moves.
Dragic endured an injury-plagued season while averaging 13.7 PPG and 4.8 APG. He underwent right knee surgery in December and wound up missing 46 games. Dragic told Chiang that he has not experienced a setback with his surgically repaired knee but needs to strengthen it during offseason workouts.
Replacing his current deal with a multi-year agreement at a lower annual salary might be a consideration for both parties, Chiang notes.
- ESPN’s Bobby Marks examines the offseason outlook for the Heat, who ended the 2018/19 season in a disappointing manner when the team missed the playoffs. The Heat are essentially in the same position they were at this time last year, minus the fact that Dwyane Wade has entered retirement.
After watching his longtime teammate Dwyane Wade enjoy a farewell tour in his final NBA season, Udonis Haslem remains undecided on retirement, Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald writes.
If Haslem decides to play next year, it will be his 17th NBA season — all with the Heat. The 38-year-old has settled into a mentor role over the last three seasons, appearing in just 40 games in that stretch. Despite his limited minutes, head coach Erik Spoelstra said he would “love to have” Haslem back.
For Haslem, the decision will be up to his family, who he said want to see him receive a similar farewell to Wade.
“Me and my wife have talked about, me and my family have talked about it,” Haslem said. “Although nothing on the scale of what Dwyane has done for his ‘One Last Dance,’ a lot of people feel like I should take the time to be celebrated at some point. Even though personally as the person I am, I’m kind of like whatever.
“But I feel like the Haslem family as a whole deserves the opportunity to celebrate when my career does come to an end. So that has some effect on the decision that we make, and my wife is adamant about me letting people celebrate me at some point.”
Haslem turns 39 years old in June and would presumably return on a veteran’s minimum salary if he re-signs with Miami. The offseason has not even officially started, so the Miami native does not need to make a decision anytime. But his leadership in recent years would make for a valuable addition, according to Spoelstra.
“His leadership is something that everybody and every franchise in the league is looking to add to their team,” he said. “We have it in-house, built-in.”
APRIL 19, 9:45pm: The Lakers will meet with Howard on Tuesday, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
APRIL 14, 2:28pm: Members of the Lakers’ front office will travel to meet with Williams sometime after Game 2 of the Sixers’ playoff series, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).
APRIL 14, 2:14pm: The Lakers have received permission to talk to Heat assistant Juwan Howard about their head coaching vacancy, tweets ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne. An interview will probably take place next week, she adds.
Howard is the third name to appear in the Lakers’ coaching search since they parted ways with Luke Walton on Friday. L.A. also plans to discuss the job with former Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue next week and has gotten permission from the Sixers to interview assistant coach Monty Williams.
Earlier today, we told you that Howard and Jamahl Mosley will interview to replace Larry Drew in Cleveland
Heat president Pat Riley felt it was time to invest in his own roster after he failed to sign top-level free agents in recent years, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reports. “Once we didn’t land Kevin Durant or didn’t land Gordon Hayward, then it was time to sort of move on from searching for room and at the same time holding your other players hostage,” Riley said. “To move into a two- or three-year window with young players that we drafted and others who we thought were on-the-brink-to-make-it veterans that hadn’t made it somewhere else. What we came up with and what we found out is that we have a very, very competitive team.”
The Heat missed the playoffs for the third time in the past five years this spring, heading into the offseason with more questions about their roster than answers.
The steady decline in playing time for Hassan Whiteside, potential position change for Justise Winslow and important draft in June are among Miami’s biggest factors to address, and that’s without including Goran Dragic‘s player option decision or Dion Waiters‘ major weight loss goal.
“I would like to continue to grow within that point guard role [next season], but I don’t want the narrative to be between me and Goran, us fighting for that position,” Winslow said, as relayed by David Furones of the Sun Sentinel.
Winslow started at point guard with Dragic sidelined for part of the season, then failed to find a defined role upon his return.
“We’re both unselfish guys, and I’ve learned so much from him. If James Harden and Chris Paul can play together, then I think me and Goran can play together.”
Miami has a strong coaching staff and front office regime capable of turning the ship around, but the absence of future Hall-of-Famer Dwyane Wade will surely leave a void. The team will look to regroup in the offseason with hopes of contending for the playoffs next year.
“The time without him was different, but I think we showed ourselves that we’re capable,” Heat guard Josh Richardson said of Wade. “We’re all wiser, better basketball players, so I’m excited to see how this summer and everything plays out.”
There’s more today from the Southeast Division:
- The Heat could benefit from waiting one year before striking in free agency, Ira Winderman writes in his mailbag for the Sun Sentinel. Aside from lacking cap space (unless Whiteside and Dragic opt out), Miami could use next season to further develop the likes of Richardson, Winslow, Bam Adebayo and Derrick Jones Jr. before placing a major focus on the open market.
- Frank Urbina of HoopsHype examines the potential landing spots for Hornets guard Kemba Walker, who’s set to enter unrestricted free agency in July. Along with the Hornets, Walker has been linked to the Knicks, Mavericks and Pacers throughout the season. “I have no feeling right now, I don’t know,” Walker said of his impending decision, according to ESPN. “Honestly, I don’t know what to expect. I guess it’s a lot of different emotions bottled up into one. I’m not sure. I don’t know.”
- The Hornets must show Walker how they’re going to win next season and beyond if they hope to re-sign him this summer, Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer writes. “I want to win; I want to win,” Walker said during his player interviews. When asked what the Hornets need to do in order to keep him, Walker replied, “They know,” according to Bonnell.
1:32pm: The Cavs also plan to interview Utah’s Alex Jensen and Portland’s David Vanterpool when their teams are done with the playoffs, Wojnarowski adds (Twitter link).
12:55pm: Heat assistant Juwan Howard and Mavericks assistant Jamahl Mosley will be the first two candidates to interview for the Cavaliers‘ head coaching job, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. Both interviews are expected this week.
Cavs GM Koby Altman plans to go through a long list of candidates before hiring a replacement for Larry Drew, Woj adds. The team will start with assistant coaches on teams that didn’t reach the playoffs.
Howard has been part of Erik Spoelstra’s staff in Miami since retiring from the NBA in 2013. Mosley was an assistant in Cleveland for four seasons before leaving for Denver in 2014.