Miami Heat: 5 key questions to keep an eye on as free agency looms

Pat Riley, President of the Miami Heat (Photo by Issac Baldizon/NBAE via Getty Images)
Pat Riley, President of the Miami Heat (Photo by Issac Baldizon/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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CHICAGO, IL – MAY 18: Miami Heat president Pat Riley attends Day Two of the NBA Draft Combine at Quest MultiSport Complex on May 18, 2018 in Chicago, Illinois. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
CHICAGO, IL – MAY 18: Miami Heat president Pat Riley attends Day Two of the NBA Draft Combine at Quest MultiSport Complex on May 18, 2018 in Chicago, Illinois. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images) /

What is Pat Riley’s plan to get out of the luxury tax?

Unless the Miami Heat put together a major push into the top of the Eastern Conference, it’s safe to say that ownership will be incentivized to stay out of the luxury tax. After all, the Heat cut Rodney McGruder, a player who played 66 games last season for them and averaged 23.5 minutes per appearance, before they were mathematically eliminated from the playoffs last season in order to get under the luxury tax.

With this in mind, it’s safe to say that marginal contention is not worth the tax for this organization.

As we mentioned previously, stretching Ryan Anderson’s contract is within the realm of possibility from a pure savings standpoint, but moving any of the more cumbersome contracts like the ones belonging to Hassan Whiteside and James Johnson will require including high-value assets like first-round picks or young players with upside on rookie scale contracts.

The Heat are in a conundrum as getting cheaper will almost certainly be a painful process, and almost certainly cannot be done in conjunction with getting better on the court given that moving off bad money will come with a bitter cost.