Top Potential Trade Packages and Destinations for Mario Chalmers, Chris Andersen
If the Miami Heat can stay healthy next season, they should have a deep, talented and experienced nucleus. But there's a fourth adjective surrounding the group that could shape the rest of the franchise's summer plans: expensive.
Even with Hassan Whiteside playing at a bargain rate, this starting five is pricey.
Next season, the Heat are slated to have nearly $68 million tied up in Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade, Goran Dragic and Luol Deng alone. That number wouldn't be quite so problematic if not for the $14.8 million earmarked for reserves Josh McRoberts, Chris Andersen and Mario Chalmers.
Taking only guaranteed contracts into account, the Heat "are facing a total payroll cost in excess of $130 million for 2015-16, when factoring in salaries and luxury-tax payments," according to Ira Winderman of the Sun-Sentinel. Considering it's still hard to tell whether Miami qualifies as a full-fledged contender, that's a massive price to pay.
It comes as no surprise, then, that the Heat are reportedly shopping their spare parts to trim some of that bill. "Mario Chalmers and Chris Andersen are available for nothing, per several league sources," wrote Grantland's Zach Lowe.
Teams won't trip over each other chasing after Chalmers and/or Andersen, but their clearance stickers should still attract suitors. For bargain-hunting clubs who didn't address all their needs in 2015 NBA free agency, this is an opportunity to add players at deeply discounted rates.
Jazz Get: Mario Chalmers, Chris Andersen
Heat Get: Trevor Booker
This is what being available "for nothing" looks like. If flexibility is Miami's main motivation, this trade would deliver it.
Trevor Booker is set to receive a $4.7 million salary next season, but only $250,000 of it is guaranteed if he's waived before July 15, according to Jody Genessy of the Deseret News. In other words, the Heat could solve some of their luxury-tax worries with one lump-sum payment to Booker.
This would also be an opportunity for Miami's roster to get younger and cheaper.
By shipping out Chalmers and Andersen without replacing them, the Heat could free up spots for someone (or some players) they like at summer league. Big man Willie Reed has already turned some heads, and the Heat may stumble into an inexpensive solution to their perimeter shooting woes.
This deal would be a harder sell for the Utah Jazz but not an impossible one.
Since they aren't big players in free agency, they have found other ways to use their cap space. They scored five future draft picks and cash considerations for absorbing some of the Golden State Warriors' most burdensome contracts in 2013.
This trade would be different. The Jazz wouldn't be bringing back any draft picks, though they could probably pry away the Heat's 2018 second-rounder if they really tried.
What Utah would be adding instead is experienced depth to help with a potential playoff run. The Jazz need a few things to break right in order to claim a spot at the 2016 postseason table, but their furious finish to the 2014-15 campaign hinted that this team could be ready to make the leap from up-and-comer to legitimate playoff contender.
| Pre All-Star Break | 19 | 24th | 106.1 | 27th | Minus-3.1 | 21st |
| Post All-Star Break | 19 | 7th | 94.8 | 1st | Plus-6.9 | T-4th |
If the Jazz feel those stats are indicative of brighter days ahead, they have to consider adding Chalmers and Andersen.
Utah needs paint protection behind Rudy Gobert. When he needed a breather, the Jazz's defensive rating jumped from 98.8 to 106.0. Utah also might need a steadier hand at point than Dante Exum and Trey Burke. Jazz point guards ranked 25th in scoring (17.4 points per game) and 28th in assists (6.5) last season, per HoopsStats.com.
Chalmers and Andersen could help those areas, and the pair would arrive virtually cost-free. Veteran leadership could be key in navigating the Western Conference gauntlet, and Utah might hasten the development of its young prospects by giving them a sample of playoff basketball.
Clippers Get: Mario Chalmers and Chris Andersen
Heat Get: Jamal Crawford, Jordan Hamilton and Lester Hudson
The Heat are in a tricky spot. While a straight salary dump would help their bottom line, there are basketball reasons to not willingly sacrifice depth.
Miami had the league's third-worst scoring bench last season, per HoopsStats.com. Justise Winslow and a healthy McRoberts should improve that number, but that challenge would grow exponentially more difficult if Chalmers and Anderson are shipped out for nothing in return.
That's where two-time Sixth Man of the Year Jamal Crawford enters the equation. Even though he's 35 years old and coming off an injury-riddled season, the scoring guard would still be Miami's best shot-creator and playmaker on the second team.
The Heat have reportedly reached out to the Clippers to gauge Crawford's price tag, a source told Northeast Ohio Media Group's Chris Haynes. Given Wade's frightening injury history, the Heat could use Crawford as both insurance behind their franchise face and a spark plug off the bench.
While he missed 17 games to a calf bruise last season, he says he has no injury issues going forward.
"I'm 100 percent healthy, motivated and ready for next year," Crawford told Haynes. "I believe I have a big year in store."
Both Lester Hudson and Jordan Hamilton have non-guaranteed salaries for next season, so they could help lighten Miami's tax bill.
Would the Clippers consider making this move? Cutting Crawford loose wouldn't be easy, but the Clippers could use some more depth.
Chalmers could give a two-way lift on the perimeter. The fact that he's so comfortable operating away from the basketball—he hit 37.9 percent of his catch-and-shoot threes last season—could make him a capable backcourt partner for Chris Paul, Lance Stephenson and (if they bring him back) Austin Rivers.
Andersen would help too, though it's hard to tell how much. They might be in need of a starting center, or they could only have a part-time opening on their reserve frontcourt. It depends what DeAndre Jordan decides. He has verbally committed to join the Dallas Mavericks, but the Clippers are reportedly attempting to persuade him to reconsider, per ESPN.com's Marc Stein and Ramona Shelburne.
But even if Jordan returns, there won't be much behind him. The battle-tested Birdman could help the Clippers keep an above-the-rim interior presence on the floor at all times.
Knicks Get: Mario Chalmers, Chris Andersen
Mavericks Get: Jose Calderon
Heat Get: Raymond Felton, 2017 second-round pick (from Dallas)
The New York Knicks entered the offseason with a number of roster weaknesses, pretty much everything outside of a volume-scoring forward registered as a need.
But defense and perimeter shooting were near the top of that lengthy list. The Knicks finished the 2014-15 campaign ranked 28th in defensive efficiency, tied for 21st in three-point makes and tied for 15th in three-point percentage.
The Knicks have seemed determined to upgrade those areas. Both of their major pulls from the free-agent market—Robin Lopez and Arron Afflalo—should provide substantial lifts, even if neither qualifies as the splash that New York was hoping to make.
"The roster is taking shape—albeit in a far different way and with different names than expected," wrote Newsday's Al Iannazzone. "... The big-named free agents were never really an option for the Knicks. That led [Phil] Jackson and general manager Steve Mills to go alternate plans, and put more of an emphasis on defense and hustle."
Andersen's scouting report is built around the words defense and hustle, so he'd be a natural fit with the new-look Knicks. Chalmers grinds at the defensive end. His perimeter shooting touch (career 36.2 three-point percentage) and willingness to play off the ball could help him succeed in the triangle offense.
The Knicks would love to get from under the two years and $15.1 million left on Jose Calderon's deal, and the Mavericks might not mind helping them do it—especially if the process involved dumping Raymond Felton.
The Mavs need a point guard who can create for others and convert long-range looks. Calderon can check off both of those boxes. In 2013-14, he shot 44.9 percent from distance and tossed out 4.7 assists against only 1.3 turnovers per game. He also compiled those stats on a 49-win Mavericks team before a trade last summer sent him to the Big Apple.
Dallas' roster, with or without Jordan, doesn't have many self-sufficient scorers. It's going to take a shrewd distributor to maximize the production of the players around him. Calderon is more equipped to fill that role than what the Mavs currently have. Using per-36-minute marks, he has averaged more assists (8.3) and fewer turnovers (2.1) for his career than J.J. Barea (6.6, 2.7) and Devin Harris (6.3, 2.7).
This is mainly a financial move for Miami, as it could lessen its tax hit by taking back only Felton's expiring $3.9 million contract. The Heat could conceivably try to play the 31-year-old, but considering he saw just 9.7 minutes of action a night last season, they might not even bother.
But there's another perk to this transaction for the Heat. It gives them two different ways to invest in their future.
For one, they add a badly needed draft pick to their nearly depleted collection. Secondly, they can use all of their backcourt bench minutes on developing prospects such as Shabazz Napier, Winslow and Tyler Johnson.
The return isn't much, but then again, neither is the reported asking price.
Unless otherwise noted, statistics used courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com and NBA.com. Salary information obtained via Basketball Insiders.
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