Miami Heat Making More Moves
(This article is also featured on MIASPORTSGUY.COM .)
Pat Riley has already pulled off the most amazing free agency coup in NBA history.
Locking down Dwyane Wade, Lebron James, and Chris Bosh was the dream scenario, creating the dynasty that Riley talked about. Last night, the streets of Miami had an aura about them.
I haven’t seen Miami sports fans that excited since the Heat won it all back in 2006.
The Foundation
Phase one of the Miami Heat’s blockbuster offseason is complete. They have finished compiling a championship-caliber core headlined by Wade , Bosh , and James , a core that just may go down as the most devastating in league history.
The Heat are officially one of those teams you’re not allowed to play with in the game NBA 2K11 because it’s simply unfair to the opponent.
Earlier this morning, Mike Miller also agreed in principle to join Miami. He is easily one of the top ten shooters in the league, as his career three-point percentage of 40.5 percent indicates. Nobody in the NBA has a better-looking jumper than Miller. He is a pure textbook shooter.
Riley Making Moves
The naysayers’ main argument is that Miami won’t be able to seriously compete for a ring next year, as they will only be able to surround the trinasty of Wade, Bosh, and James with minimum-salary players.
Well, Pat Riley is about to shatter that idea into a million pieces. He is about to beat the system.
The latest detail involves the Heat acquiring Chris Bosh and Lebron James via sign-and-trades with Toronto and Cleveland, respectively. Not only does it give Bosh and James an extra sixth year on their deals, but it also will allow Miami to splurge on many of their own free agents.
Because they acquired James and Bosh in sign-and-trade deals, the Heat’s current free agents (like Udonis Haslem) can be re-signed regardless of cap space because they have Bird Rights (Check out the link at the end of the article for clarification).
Once a team dips into its cap room for an outside free agent, Bird Rights would no longer be in play. Haslem is easily the top priority now, with Dorell Wright, Quentin Richardson, and Joel Anthony also as options.
Now they can give Haslem his worth, which obviously strengthens the odds of his return.
Miller can still be signed for the mid-level exception, which is similar to the deal he covets ($5-6 million a year).
In the sign-and-trade involving Bosh, Miami sent Toronto their 2011 first-round pick and sent back the first-round pick that the Raptors had sent Miami in the Jermaine O’Neal trade.
In the sign-and-trade involving James, Miami will send Cleveland two first-round picks and two second-round picks. The deal has been tentatively agreed upon and should be announced in the coming days.
If you’re wondering why the Cavalier’s owner, Dan Gilbert, would want to do anything to help Miami at this point, it’s because at the end of the day, this is a business. Losing James for nothing would be bad business for his team and and his fans.
James and Bosh both signed six-year, $110 million deals with starting salaries set at $14.5 million, while Wade signed a six-year, $107 million deal with a starting salary of $14.2 million.
Each took around $15 million less overall, as a maximum contract would have a starting salary of $16.6 million. All three have ETO’s after year four, meaning they can choose to opt out after 2013-14.
Recap : If all goes according to plan, and it is certainly looking promising, this is what your Miami Heat roster should look like after these moves get done:
Starters : Mario Chalmers, Dwyane Wade, Lebron James, Chris Bosh, Joel Anthony
Bench : Udonis Haslem, Mike Miller, Jarvis Varnardo, Dexter Pittman, Desean Butler, Patrick Beverley
The Heat would also probably decide on either bringing back Richardson or Wright, but likely not both since they play the same position.
They would then finish out their roster with minimum-salary players.
Notes :
- Over/under on the number of obscenities from Michael Beasley upon hearing he got traded to Minnesota: 5,000?
- Dan Gilbert , the Cleveland Cavalier’s owner, wrote an open letter to Cavs fans , slaughtering Lebron on a personal level. Gilbert has hands-down beat out James, who had a one-hour special on ESPN last night announcing his decision, for Clown of the Year.
- Wade, James, and Bosh all have said Erik Spoelstra will remain the head coach. Something tells me he is going to have an urge to “spend more time with this family” (he is currently single) within the next three seasons.
- The Bulls' Jerry Reinsdorf wasn’t too high on Miami’s free agency acquisitions. “I also think we’re a better team than Miami right now, assuming we get a shooting guard,” Reinsdorf said. “Of course, with LeBron, we would’ve been a great team. Without him, we’re still going to be a very good team. If you look at the Miami roster with these three guys but not much else, I think we’ll be better next year.”
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If you’re interested or just flat out confused, as I often was, with the NBA’s salary cap guidelines, click here .
