Miami Heat to get first meeting with free agent Gordon Hayward
By Wes Goldberg
Free agent Gordon Hayward is expected to make a decision quickly, and the Miami Heat will have a chance to pitch their culture to the All-Star forward.
The Miami Heat, and Pat Riley, will be the first team to pitch free agent Gordon Hayward, according to Tony Jones of The Salt Lake Tribune.
Hayward will meet with the Heat on Saturday and the Utah Jazz on Monday, with the Boston Celtics also on deck.
"Hayward has three teams on his wish list: the Jazz, Heat and Boston Celtics. League sources say Hayward wants to take his meetings, and make a decision in short order. The Heat and Celtics are expected to offer him a four-year max contract. The Jazz, as the incumbent team, are expected to offer Hayward a five-year max contract."
The Heat will have enough cap space, after waiving Chris Bosh’s contract, to offer Hayward the four-year max as expected. With Goran Dragic and Hassan Whiteside already in place, signing Hayward would give Miami an interesting trio at point guard, wing and center.
The team would also have a nice group of young players who should continue to develop–with Justise Winslow, Josh Richardson, Tyler Johnson and newly-drafted rookie Bam Adebayo.
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Maybe this is getting ahead of ourselves, but if the Heat were to sign Hayward, it’s unclear if they’d be able to also re-sign one of Dion Waiters or James Johnson (let alone both).
As the Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson reports, Waiters is expected to receive offers between $8 million and $10 million a season, and Johnson could be signed for up to $15 million a season.
The Heat could open up about $6 million in cap space by waiving Wayne Ellington’s non-guaranteed contract before July 7, and clear an additional $4 million by waiving Josh McRoberts and stretching his cap hit over three years (to $2 million a year).
The Heat could also try to trade Tyler Johnson to save $5.8 million next season and avoid paying him more than $38 million over the final two years of his contract.
Next: Here are 4 reasons why Hayward should sign with the Heat
But before Riley and Andy Elisburg can even broach that topic, they’ll have to lure Hayward to South Beach first. Hayward is expected to make a quick decision, so at least they’ll know if it’s plan A or plan B soon.