It’s been a slow start to the 2017-18 offseason for the Miami Heat. Still, the AllUCanHeat staff has a few thoughts on the team’s summer so far.
Has this offseason been pretty much what you expected from the Miami Heat?
Allana Tachauer (@AllanaTachauer): Pretty much, although I’m probably in the minority who doesn’t really have a problem with it. Between the Miami Heat having a great young core to build around and guys like Goran Dragic to add veteran leadership, I quite like the current roster. Obviously it would have been nice to have some more financial wiggle room, but with contracts like Tyler Johnson‘s on the books, I wasn’t predicting much movement.
Rich Nurse (@followthepen): With no money to spend and none of the young assets (Justise Winslow, Josh Richardson, Bam Adebayo or the 2019 first round pick) being made available, I expected this to be an unfortunate lackluster summer for the Heat.
Lauren Gewirtz (@laurengewirtz): Yes and no. I did not expect the Heat to do a whole lot this offseason, but I thought that they might try to move at least one of their large contracts in either Johnson or Hassan Whiteside. That being said, the team really does not have that much money to work with right now, so I expected it to be fairly quiet.
Rahmeaun Rahming (@Boneman9000): Yup, this is exactly what I expected. I appreciate the organization being methodical with their moves as to no go further over the salary cap than necessary. I believe the Heat are treating Dion Waiters like a free agent since he missed almost all of last season. I even expected them to remain quiet at the draft, which they did. There was no reason to execute a transaction that would cost money or assets (acquiring a pick) and then again to actually sign the player. Standing pat was the best option.
Imran Ebrahim (@iebrahim81): Pretty much. I’d have like to see them trade Whiteside early in free agency, but once Dallas scooped up DeAndre Jordan, I knew that ship had sailed. I also really wanted them to get into the second round of the draft to pick up Rawle Alkins (now in Toronto) and was a little bummed when we didn’t grab him as a undrafted signing. All in all, went exactly as expected.
Michael Shofner: It’s been a quiet offseason thus far for the league, other than a few deals headlined by LeBron James. This is not surprising, as it’s become a yearly staple for an NBA offseason in which until the big pieces fall, the rest of the dominos begin to fall as well. I expected the Heat to be attached to names like Carmelo Anthony, though I think that is a name they should avoid. I expected them to do exactly what they’ve done and not make any big splashes, just focusing on trying to minimize their current salary situation. They re-signed Wayne Ellington, which I think was a good priority, but they are still having trouble finding suitors for Hassan and James Johnson, two players they desperately need to rid themselves of. I don’t see a deal for either player likely during this offseason, so I expect the Heat to remain under the radar in the free-agent market, while they will work on getting under the luxury line during the course of the regular season.
Are you glad they re-signed Wayne Ellington?
Tachauer: Absolutely. Ellington had a career 2017-18 run with the Heat, proving his worth not just as a player, but as someone who has fully embraced Miami Culture. On top of that, the Heat were able to bring him back on a great contract, making the move even sweeter.
Nurse: The Heat are in desperate need of 3-point shooting, but with that said, my happiness about Ellington being re-signed are for different reasons. The one year deal allows Miami to keep their cap flexibility for the 2020 (and possibly 2019) offseason. It also pushes the team over the salary cap enough to force them to think about dumping salary to land below the luxury tax before the end of this season.
Gewirtz: Yes, Ellington is a good player to come off of the bench for the Heat. Last year he gave the team good minutes, averaging 11.2 points per game with a few big ‘Golden Arm’ games here and there. I think it was a good one-year sign for the Heat.
Rahming: I was ecstatic to hear that Ellington decided to re-sign with the Heat. I know this puts us over the salary cap but it’s well worth it. At the beginning of last season, it appeared that Rodney McGruder and Ellington were replicas or close copies when it came to play-style. I’m not sure if it was the head coach Erik Spoelstra’s minutes crunch or a decline, but we barely saw McGruder play meaningful minutes. Ellington rose to the moment and thus rose in league notoriety this past season. He had the most disappointing All-Star weekend in my opinion though. Watching him flame out in the first round of the 3-Point Contest was hard. Better luck next year.
Ebrahim: Definitely glad to see Ellington back in the Heat colors, but the signs are there that it’s probably just for the year. If Duncan Robinson can develop, it might be curtains for the Wayne Show. I’m a little surprised he didn’t give more thought to joining a team like the Philadelphia 76ers or Los Angeles Lakers though.
Shofner: While they do get over the luxury tax with this re-signing, I still think that this is a great signing by the team. Off the bench, Ellington provided a much-needed deep threat that has become a standard in today’s current NBA climate. His 218 3-pointers off the bench last season were the most by a reserve in NBA history and his 227 total were the most in a single season in Heat history. While this deal pushed them into the luxury tax, I fully think that they will pull themselves under that line by the end of next season. I don’t think they would make this move without the confidence they can get back under by the trading deadline.
Who is one free agent who is now off the market that you wish they would have signed?
Tachauer: Obviously, seeing James back in the 305 would have been incredible (here’s my theory on how it could still happen) but otherwise I didn’t really have my eye on anyone. I do still think Jamal Crawford could be an interesting addition though…
Nurse: I would say no one, because what the team is missing is the one thing the free agency class was devoid of (outside of Kevin Durant and James): quality small forwards.
Gewirtz: I feel like this is a trick question, but assuming we are talking in a perfect world, James. Who would not want the best player on the planet on their team? A return to the Heat would have blown up #HeatTwitter and #NBATwitter all in about five seconds and it would have been entertaining to see.
Rahming: Since realistically I didn’t want any of the taken free agents, I’m going to go with a hot take on this one: DeMarcus Cousins. In a Candyland scenario, we would’ve signed him to the same one-year deal the Golden State Warriors did, with an understanding that he could calmly work his way back from injury while simultaneously acting as a fire underneath Whiteside. If we liked what we saw at the 2019 trade deadline, we could trade Whiteside somewhere that wants him or better yet, keep them both until season’s end and if Whiteside doesn’t pick up his player option, offer Cousins a long-term deal.
Ebrahim: Seth Curry. I definitely saw him as a good Ellington replacement; he’s a high upside guy, even though he’s coming off injury. He’s younger than Ellington and signed for much less. He’s also a bit more of a ball handler and shoots really well from range (small sample size though), so I would’ve like to see them take a chance on him.
Shofner: With the current state of limbo that the Heat payroll is in, I don’t condone them suffocating themselves more by going after any top shelf free agent names until they sort that mess out. Hopefully, they can rid themselves of Whiteside’s contract and, by the time they move on from Chris Bosh’s remaining salary, they can position themselves to make more of a splash in next year’s offseason which includes many fruitful options such as Klay Thompson and Jordan. With that being said, if money wasn’t a current ordeal, Paul George would have been a name that could gravitate other big name players to Miami in the future. Since we don’t live in a perfect world, I like the way Miami is handling this current mini-rebuild.
Is there anyone on the current roster you absolutely think they should try and move?
Tachauer: By now, everyone should know I’m not going to say Whiteside (sorry not sorry). I may reconsider if he has an equally turbulent 2018-19 campaign, but for now, I’m continuing to keep the faith. So if I have to pick someone, I think that moving Johnson would both be in the organization’s best interest and their best bet; shedding his salary would be of tremendous help to the Heat and he could definitely bring a unique skill-set to the table for another team.
Nurse: I think the Heat’s best chance to shred salary is to try to move Johnson into the cash slot that the Sacramento Kings have been trying to use on a shooting guard. That would get the Heat under the cap and get them one step closer to completing in next year’s offseason.
Gewirtz: If the Heat had to move someone, I think it should be Whiteside. That is a huge contract and he was unimpressive this past season, especially in the playoffs. Moving him would open up cap space and give the team more flexibility. Will it happen? I doubt it, given the contract size and the players left on the free agent market this summer.
Rahming: Most would say Johnson and with a $38.4 million price tag over the next two seasons, I wouldn’t blame you if you did. But let’s face it, we’re stuck with that contract. He hasn’t done much and no team should be willing to take that type of risk on him just yet. Our best bet would be to trade Dragic and trade him fast. Yes, you heard correctly. I’m saying trade our most recent All-Star and get some nice pieces/salary cap relief. He doesn’t fit our play style. Being ranked 27th in pace is holding him back, but he’d be ill-advised to not pick up his $19.2 million player option next summer at 33 (ouch). We should transition and allow Richardson and Winslow to take turns running the point. This would allow Dwyane Wade to impart upon Johnson the ways of being an explosive scorer, in what most would assume the next contract he signs would be his last.
Ebrahim: The obvious answer to this is Whiteside, especially based on what we saw from him in the playoffs and his exorbitant contract (the same as Anthony Davis this year). There’s a lot of bad contracts on the roster, but I think Waiters or Dragic are the only ones that would warrant not giving up draft capital or younger players.
Shofner: Of course, the obvious answer is Whiteside. He has $52.2 million remaining on his contract and fences don’t seem mendable between the team and the once formidable big man. This relationship is toxic and needs to end. The problem is that there doesn’t seem any traction in finding a suitable dancing partner to trade him. At this moment, there is no interest from other teams so the best-case scenario for the Heat would be Whiteside playing well enough to gain the attention of mid-season contending teams in need of a big man. This way, the Heat can rid themselves of him and his deal and gain valuable assets in return. I’d love to see Adebayo take over the role and see how much potential he truly has.
Next: Miami Heat 1-on-1: Is Dion Waiters an integral part of the team's success?
Let’s see what the rest of the summer will have in store for the Miami Heat.