Report: Miami Heat unlikely to offer Blake Griffin, Paul Millsap max contracts
By Wes Goldberg
The Miami Heat would like to sign Blake Griffin or Paul Millsap, but not at the max contracts they are expected to be offered from several teams this summer.
The Miami Heat want to bring back James Johnson and Dion Waiters, but they are first expected to make a run at some bigger name free agents–namely, Gordon Hayward, Blake Griffin and Paul Millsap–according to a report.
All three of them are expected to field max offers worth upwards of $30 million. However, according to the Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson, the Heat would be less inclined to do so.
"And even though the Heat likely would embrace Griffin if he surprisingly wants to leave the Clippers for a much lesser financial deal with Miami, there are some inside the Heat who see the merits of instead signing Waiters, Johnson and another player for the same $30 plus million it would cost to sign Griffin, who has missed 15, 47 and 20 games the past three regular seasons.For Millsap, 31, the interest from the Heat likely would be at a salary well below his $35 million max."
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This should give fans a sense of the Heat’s priorities. While they are likely to offer Hayward a max deal, Jackson adds “Hayward has given no indication that Miami is on his radar.” Still, Miami will have the cap space to sign him, and it would be surprising if Pat Riley did not get a meeting.
Beyond that, the Heat are likely to feel out Griffin and Millsap’s interest in signing for less than the max and turning down more lucrative offers from several other teams, as Jackson reports. If one of them were to sign in Miami for something closer to $20 million-$25 million a season, that would likely mean Johnson would be gone, though Waiters could possibly still re-sign in that scenario.
Griffin, 28, averaged 21.6 points, 8.1 rebounds and 4.9 assists per game for the Clippers last season. The injury history is real, and makes signing him to a four-year, max deal risky business. Though at a discount, Griffin could be one of the best bargains in the league. When healthy, he’s a difference maker.
Millsap, 32, averaged 18.1 points, 7.7 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game for the Hawks last season. He’s a more durable player than Griffin, but did play in just 67 games last season.
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Both Griffin and Millsap are upgrades over Johnson, 30, but might not be a better value depending on their contracts.