As part of the sign-and-trade bringing Jimmy Butler to the Miami Heat on the first day of free agency, Goran Dragic has been traded.
As the components of the sign-and-trade deal that brings Jimmy Butler to the Miami Heat begin to flow in, we’ve got an update to the transaction. According to Ramona Shelbourne on ESPN, Goran Dragic has been traded to the Dallas Mavericks to help facilitate the deal.
Dragic is a Slovenian national teammate of Mavs’ sophomore star Luke Doncic, having been roommates when they played together on the 2017 team. Without a doubt, this move will please Doncic as they look to continue to build around the 19-year-old.
The current deal as it stands has Butler coming to Miami, with Josh Richardson heading to the Philadelphia 76ers and Dragic heading to Dallas.
The Miami Heat will have to cut a substantial amount of salary in order to make the deal legal, as a sign-and-trade triggers the hard cap for the receiving team. The hard cap is set at the luxury tax apron, which is $138 million this season, and the Heat currently have $147 million on the books. This means at least one more player should expect to be on the move from the Heat in order to consummate this deal.
Players who could be on the move as a result could include Justise Winslow, Dion Waiters and James Johnson. It’s also possible that the Miami Heat will opt to waive and stretch Ryan Anderson, which would provide them with a massive $16 million in salary relief this season.
Keep an eye on the feed here at All U Can Heat as we’ll break down each additional component of the transaction to get a full idea of what is going where, and what it all means as the Heat look to rebuild this team.