UPDATE 6:21 p.m.: Bosh apparently has not opted out just yet, and remains undecided.
Chris Bosh’s agent now tells AP that Bosh has not decided on the opt-out decision. Not yes, not no.
— Tim Reynolds (@ByTimReynolds) June 28, 2014
4:46 p.m.: LeBron James got what he wanted. Pat Riley has gotten what he wanted. The Miami Heat are going to have cap space to maneuver this summer.
Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh have both confirmed to the Miami Heat that they are opting out of their contracts, Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press reports. (Other reports say Bosh has yet to opt out, according to his agent, which is the same one as Wade and Udonis Haslem. Hard to see Bosh not opting out at this point, hard to see him being the one to blow up the Heat.)
While in theory they all have the right to leave Miami (free agency opens July 1), this move really makes it more likely that all three members of Miami’s “big three” — the ones that have led them to four straight NBA Finals and two titles in that span — will return together. Teams that have called trying to set up meetings after July 1 with LeBron have been rebuffed. It was expected that all three of Miami’s stars would opt out and take pay cuts per year on new, longer deals. Haslem also opted out of the last year of his deal, as did Chris Andersen.
However, LeBron may seek an actual max deal or close to it, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports.
While Bosh, Wade and Haslem could ultimately take less money with the early termination outs in their deals, James, the NBA’s four-time MVP, is seeking a full maximum contract extension – or something close to it – to stay with Miami, sources told Yahoo Sports. James is eligible to sign a five-year, $130 million extension with the Heat.
We will see if that pans out to be true, the idea of them all taking $15 million a year on five-year, $75 million deals has been floated. LeBron is certainly by far the best player on the Heat and the key to all their success, but he’s also the one most able to take a salary cut because his off the court income dwarfs his actual salary. If he goes for a max it will put a lot of pressure on Wade and Bosh to take much less.
Whatever happens it is very likely that Riley will have room under the salary cap to add players. While Wade’s knee issues are causing a deterioration in his game, Riley has said from the start that he wants Wade to be a member of the Heat for lift — he wants to bring him back.
Had all three Heat stars had opted in, each owed about $20 million next season, combined with Norris Cole’s contract, the Heat would have been at the salary cap and Riley would have had no room to maneuver. With something like the proposal above where each takes $15 million Riley would be roughly $15 million under the cap to go chase name free agents.
Kyle Lowry’s name has come up. The Heat could go after big men such as Pau Gasol or Marcin Gortat, both of whom would fit their system well. Depends on how much cash the Riley has to play with and the costs for those players. Carmelo Anthony does not plan to meet with Miami at this time.
However it shakes out, it is unlikely that Miami’s big three is breaking up any time soon.
