Front office expert explains how Miami Heat could sign Kevin Durant
By Wes Goldberg
The Miami Heat don’t have any salary cap space, so how do they sign Kevin Durant? A former NBA executive explores just how they could do it.
Don’t let the lack of cap room fool you, the Miami Heat are in on the Kevin Durant sweepstakes.
Pat Riley will get his meeting with this summer’s top free agent, but if Durant decided he wants to play in South Beach, it will take some maneuvering to create the cap space needed to sign him.
Durant is at the top of Miami’s wish list, but so are their own free agents Hassan Whiteside and Dwyane Wade. It will likely take financial sacrifices on their part to bring Durant to Miami.
The Vertical’s Bobby Marks explains the Heat’s options.
"Here’s how the Heat can create cap space:1. Renounce the free-agent cap holds of Luol Deng, Udonis Haslem, Amaré Stoudemire, Gerald Green, Joe Johnson and Dorell Wright.2. Sign Wade to a one-year, $8 million contract. Wade would have full Bird rights next summer to recoup lost wages.3. Sign Whiteside to a one-year, $10 million contract. Whiteside would have full Bird rights in 2017, with Miami having the ability to sign him to a max contract next summer.4. Stretch the Josh McRoberts contract.The Heat would still have early Bird rights with Tyler Johnson and would have to fill out the roster with minimum contracts along with the room mid-level ($2.9 million).The more drastic measure is if Miami determines that Bosh has a career-ending injury. The Heat could stretch the remaining $76 million owed to Bosh over seven years and incur a $10 million cap hit for 2016-17.The Heat could then petition the league to remove the remaining six years of Bosh’s stretched salary off their cap, but they couldn’t do so until February."
The other option not listed is trading Goran Dragic. However, Dragic is just a few years removed from an All-NBA season, and likes to play fast. If Durant decides to play in Miami, Dragic is likely part of the draw.
must read: Is signing Durant just the first part of the plan for the Heat?
We know Wade has been willing to take less money for the chance to chase titles in the past, but we haven’t seen that from Whiteside.
Marks also mentions the Thunder, Warriors, Spurs, Clippers and Celtics in his piece.