The Miami Heat’s recent hot stretch has brought with it a downside – the surging value of their upcoming free-agents.
Pat Riley had a simple plan when constructing this season’s Miami Heat roster.
Having missed out on the Kevin Durant sweepstakes, Riley decided to construct a team on short-term deals, and then reassess this upcoming summer.
But with the Heat taking the league by storm since January 17, another dilemma has confronted Riley and his front office. With the recent surge in the league’s salary cap, the monetary value of their upcoming free-agents has soared when you combine their individual numbers and the success of the team.
With Chris Bosh’s contract set to come off the books this summer, the players presently signed to long-term deals are Goran Dragic, Hassan Whiteside and Tyler Johnson. Naturally this is going to require some serious discussions and decision to determine which players they most want to retain.
Here we will compare players of a similar experience and role, and how these players were rewarded during last summer’s free-agency period. As you will notice, these free-agents comprise a number of different traits – age, experience and role on the team vary from each player.