It seems this last season had an impact on Miami Heat owner Micky Arison, and he may not let two of his best players get away this summer.
One of the main questions this offseason for the Miami Heat is if they will re-sign Dion Waiters and James Johnson, but owner Micky Arison may have hinted at the organization’s thinking on Instagram.
This weekend, Arison posted a picture of him posing with Waiters, Johnson and a stuffed rabbit. Everyone in the picture had rabbit ears, and Arison’s caption read “The @miamiheat future looks very bright.”
After a strong season, Waiters is expected to opt out of a $3 million salary he’s due in 2017-18. Waiters averaged 15.8 points and 4.3 assists per game in his lone season with the Heat.
Johnson signed a one-year, $4 million deal with the Heat last summer, and after the best season of his career he is expected to be able to triple, or even quadruple, that salary. Johnson averaged 12.8 points, 4.9 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game — all career highs.
Both Waiters and Johnson have mentioned there hope to stay in Miami. Waiters said earlier in the season that he doesn’t want to go through a long free agency process. “I want to get it done as quickly as possible,” Waiters told the Miami Herald in March. “I know where I want to be.”
The Heat are expected to have about $31 million in cap space after releasing Chris Bosh and having his salary removed from the cap. The Heat are in a tough position because re-signing even one of Johnson and Waiters would likely mean not having enough cap space to sign a max-level free agent such as Gordon Hayward or Blake Griffin.
The question is: How good is the Heat’s current core? They finished the second half of the season going 30-11 — a 60-win pace, but are they that good? If Pat Riley thinks so, re-signing Waiters and Johnson makes sense.
Next: Heat's End of Season Awards
Last summer, the Brooklyn Nets made a qualifying offer to then-restricted free agent Tyler Johnson. Arison reportedly told Riley not to let Johnson get away, and the Heat matched Brooklyn’s offer. When it comes to James Johnson and Waiters, Arison may have already made his wishes known.