Miami Heat: 2016 Offseason Grades

The Miami Heat expected to look radically different after the 2016 offseason, but their summer went off the rails quickly. Here are their complete offseason grades.

Heading into the 2016 NBA offseason, something had to give for the Miami Heat. With a plethora of free agents and nowhere near enough cap space to go around — even in a record-breaking summer where almost every team had enough cap room to make a max offer — Pat Riley had some decisions to make.

Coming off a seven-game defeat in the Eastern Conference semifinals, the Heat were at an impasse. Chris Bosh‘s questionable health loomed over the team like a dark cloud, fogging up what was once a bright future centered around a Goran Dragic–Dwyane Wade–Luol Deng-Bosh-Hassan Whiteside core.

But with Bosh’s health status uncertain, and Wade, Deng and Whiteside all hitting free agency this summer (not to mention Joe Johnson, Tyler Johnson, Gerald Green and Amar’e Stoudemire as well), the Heat faced their biggest challenge yet in remaining an Eastern Conference powerhouse, starting with trying to woo Kevin Durant and retool overnight.

Though Riley managed to preserve future flexibility and some of his team’s younger players this summer, by and large, the 2016 offseason will be remembered as one of the biggest failures of his career. Here’s how it all went wrong for the Miami Heat with their complete offseason grades.

Next: Happy Hassan

Happy Hassan

The first move of Miami’s summer (and the first domino that resulted in Dwyane Wade’s stunning departure) was agreeing on a max contract with Hassan Whiteside. Whiteside agreed to leave some wiggle room for Kevin Durant negotiations, but when KD chose the Golden State Warriors, Whiteside was rewarded with a four-year, $98 million deal.

On the one hand, Whiteside wound up being the Heat’s marquee free agency acquisition this summer, ensuring they didn’t go empty-handed after missing out on the Durant sweepstakes.

There’s no question about Whiteside’s current skill level and potential upside. Last season he led the league in blocks, averaging 14.2 points, 11.8 rebounds and 3.7 blocks per game. Between Whiteside, Goran Dragic and Justise Winslow, the Heat still plan on being competitive next year.

However, $98 million is an awful lot to pay a guy who felt entitled before he was earning max money. His pride and bad attitude have reared their ugly heads at times, and now Whiteside is “the guy” in South Beach — with no stars like Wade or veterans like Deng to keep him in check.

That’s a risky proposition, even for a player who is teeming with talent. Though Whiteside bursting onto the scene was fairly recent, he’s already 27 years old, and he plus Dragic (plus Winslow in his second year) does not necessarily equal playoffs, even if Dragic-Whiteside pick-and-rolls will be fun to watch.

Under the new salary cap, $24.5 million a season is about the equivalent of an $18.2 million deal under last year’s $70 million salary cap — not terrible value, but not great for a slightly immature player who has yet to prove he can be a leader and franchise player.

The 2016-17 season will give him his chance to do so, but Whiteside isn’t on Winslow and Josh Richardson‘s timelines, nor was he on Wade’s. That makes paying him max money a risky endeavor to bridge the gap between now and Miami’s next contender, even before including his personality and maturity issues.

Grade: B

Next: Gone In A Flash

Gone In A Flash

The biggest change on the Miami Heat’s roster this offseason was obviously Dwyane Wade’s departure for the Chicago Bulls. Not only did Pat Riley bungle the re-signing of the team’s best player from last season, but he also managed to drive away the greatest player in the franchise’s history.

By prioritizing Kevin Durant (understandable) and Whiteside (sort of understandable, but faulty enough to irk Wade, who rightly felt he was being taken for granted), Riley and the Heat managed to push Wade into the arms of another team.

Their two-year, $40 million offer should’ve been more than enough, but the way Miami handled the whole situation was insulting to a player of Wade’s caliber.

On the one hand, you can see the logic of not paying a 34-year-old with a long history of injury problems around $20 million a season for three years, which is reportedly the kind of deal Flash was looking for.

Though Wade played 74 games last season and was dominant once again in the playoffs, his numbers — 19.0 points, 4.6 assists and 4.1 rebounds per game on 45.6 percent shooting — were hardly indicative of a player deserving that kind of max money, even under the new salary cap. This would’ve been Miami’s Kobe Bryant deal, pure and simple.

That being said, when Kevin Durant didn’t materialize and most of this summer’s useful free agents were already gone, how on earth was it possible to not even call the face of your franchise who’s helped bring three championships to South Beach?

In the end, no one gave Wade the third year that he wanted, so the Heat could’ve brought him back for the two-year, $47.5 million price tag that he agreed upon in Chicago. That would’ve been a steep price, but Miami wasn’t going to revamp itself into a contender overnight without KD anyway. Why not give Wade his just desserts?

Keeping Wade would’ve been the most natural course for both parties, and it would’ve helped bridge the gap between now and the future. It also would’ve made the max extension for Whiteside a bit more tolerable.

Instead, Riley just let three rings, 12 NBA All-Star appearances, eight All-NBA selections, an NBA Finals MVP Award, a one-time NBA scoring champion and the Heat’s all-time leading scorer walk out the door. Contracts should almost never be about past accomplishments, but in the case of an all-time great like Wade, an exception needed to be made.

The Heat have a bit more flexibility without a bloated contract for Wade being on the books, but they didn’t exactly manage to replace him and the other departing starters. Bearing that in mind, it’s awfully hard for Heat fans to feel good about this summer when the greatest player in their franchise’s history is gone for no good reason.

Grade: D-

Next: An Offer (Sheet) They Couldn't Refuse

An Offer (Sheet) They Couldn’t Refuse

With Whiteside locked up and everyone assuming Wade would be back as well, it seemed like the Brooklyn Nets’ massive offer to Tyler Johnson would be enough to steal him away.

But when KD and Wade both went their respective ways, matching that four-year, $50 million offer sheet became a no-brainer.

Heading into his third NBA season, Johnson has showcased plenty of potential coming off the bench, averaging 8.7 points in 24 minutes per game last season while shooting a tidy 48.6 percent from the floor and 38 percent from three-point range.

He only played 36 games due to injury, but Johnson was a significant part of Miami’s backcourt depth early in the season and should be again now that Dwyane Wade, Joe Johnson and Gerald Green are gone.

Tyler Johnson is not an adequate one-on-one replacement for Wade, but he’s only 24 years old and paying him $12.5 million under the new salary cap will hardly break the bank as the Heat look to retool in the future.

Grade: B

Next: Where There's A D-Will, There's A Way

Where There’s A D-Will, There’s A Way

On a one-year, $5 million deal, the Heat got decent value in signing Derrick Williams, who will now be playing for his fourth NBA team in six seasons.

Last year in New York, the “other D-Will” averaged 9.3 points and 3.7 rebounds in 17.9 minutes per game. He shot a respectable 45 percent from the floor, but only made 29.3 percent of his three-pointers.

He’s hardly the prototypical stretch-4 of the modern day NBA, but Williams can provide some scoring and energy off the bench. On a $5 million salary, that’s not insignificant, especially for a team that lost three starters and a few key bench players over the summer.

However, with Wade, Deng, Johnson, Amar’e Stoudemire and Gerald Green all on the way out, it’s hard to get too excited about an acquisition like Derrick Williams. Even on a cheap contract, this kind of deal was all to emblematic of the kind of summer Miami had.

Grade: C

Next: Waiters Island In South Beach

Waiters Island In South Beach

Speaking of acquisitions that feel hollow in the wake of everything Miami lost this summer, here’s hoping that South Beach is ready for a heavy dose of Waiters Island! With Dwyane Wade gone, it’ll be a toss-up between Tyler Johnson, Josh Richardson and Dion Waiters for minutes as the team’s starting 2-guard.

On a two-year deal that could be worth as much as $6 million, Waiters will have to prove that his fundamentally sound defense and efficient three-point shooting in last year’s playoff run with the Oklahoma City Thunder was no mirage.

Last season in OKC, Waiters averaged 9.8 points per game on paltry .399/.358/.713 shooting splits. He averaged fewer points per game in the playoffs, but his defense was noticeably suffocating and his three-point shooting improved to 37.5 percent.

With the Thunder trading for Victor Oladipo, there was no need for Waiters, even after losing Kevin Durant. Miami did the right thing by swooping in on a 24-year-old who has shown too many flashes to be given up on just yet, but downgrading from an all-timer like Wade to an all-time irrational confidence guy like Waiters isn’t exactly a winning move either.

If you’re not convinced, just think about the ramifications of Dion Waiters and Hassan Whiteside playing on the same team. Unless you revel in chaos, it’s not very fun to think about.

Grade: B-

Next: Odds And Ends

Odds And Ends

To round out the roster, Pat Riley really had to reach deep into 2016’s bag of free agents to unearth some useful end-of-the-rotation players. Unfortunately for the Heat, none of them are difference-makers.

The most notable names are probably Wayne Ellington (two-year, $12.3 million partially guaranteed deal) and Luke Babbitt (one-year, $1.2 million deal). Ellington was last seen with the Brooklyn Nets last year, averaging 7.7 points per game on 38.9 percent shooting, while Babbitt posted 7.0 points per game and shot 40.4 percent from three-point range for the New Orleans Pelicans.

The Heat also signed former Toronto Raptors power forward James Johnson to a one-year, $4 million deal. Johnson averaged 5.0 points and 2.2 rebounds in 16.2 minutes per game for the Raptors last season, shooting 47.5 percent from the field but only 30.3 percent from downtown.

Sir Charles In Charge

Babbitt provides some help at the 3-spot vacated by Deng, Ellington will try to supply some scoring off the bench behind that Waiters/Johnson/Richardson hodgepodge and James Johnson provides much-needed frontcourt depth — especially in the event that Chris Bosh is unable to play the 2016-17 season.

There’s also Willie Reed, a 6’10” power forward/center who went undrafted back in 2011 and bounced around from D-League team to D-League team until working his way onto the Nets’ roster last season, when he averaged a meager 4.7 points and 3.1 rebounds per game. Reed is on a two-year deal with a $1.1 million player option for the second year.

Rodney McGruder, a 6’4″ shooting guard who helped the Sioux Falls Skyforce win the D-League title last year, will be joining the Heat on a three-year, partially guaranteed deal.

Finally, there’s Stefan Jankovic and Okaro White, who are both on three-year, partially guaranteed deals. Jankovic is a 6’10” Serbian-Canadian center who went undrafted in this year’s draft, while White is a 6’8″ power forward who went undrafted in 2014 and has been tearing it up in Greece ever since.

None of these is a bad signing, especially for a team looking to unearth its next diamond in the rough. But with guys like Dwyane Wade, Joe Johnson and Luol Deng leaving, these are hardly the kind of replacements you’d hope to find on the open market during the biggest spending spree in NBA history — marking yet another unfortunate consequence of losing the Kevin Durant Sweepstakes.

Grade: D-

Next: Overall

Overall

To be fair, the Miami Heat still have a promising future. Pat Riley will always be aggressive and persuasive during free agency as the NBA’s Tywin Lannister; Justise Winslow and Josh Richardson aren’t going anywhere; Tyler Johnson is now locked in for the long-term; and the team still has a franchise player in Hassan Whiteside.

But having Whiteside as your franchise player is not exactly an encouraging thought, especially after handing him nearly $100 million on a silver platter and informing that ego that he’s now “the guy.”

Forget about the potential head case factor; Whiteside thrived with defenses paying attention to everyone else, but what will happen now that he’s the No. 1 option?

A core of Dragic-Winslow-Bosh-Whiteside might be good enough to make the playoffs, but if any of them are injured for any significant amount of time, that goes right out the window and this team enters tanking territory fast.

Even worse, all of this is before we even mention that the Heat lost the most beloved and decorated player in franchise history, a living legend who deserved to spend his entire career in Miami.

So what if they had to overpay Wade with a Kobe contract to keep him? After losing out on Kevin Durant, the Heat weren’t going anywhere for the 2016-17 season anyway.

You can see the logic in not wanting to clog up the books to keep Wade, but losing him to Chicago was a gut check nevertheless, especially when he could’ve been re-signed if not for pride on both sides.

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If you’re still not convinced it was a miserable summer for the Heat, here’s a quick checklist. Over the course of the 2016 offseason, Miami lost Dwyane Wade, Luol Deng, Joe Johnson, Gerald Green and Amar’e Stoudemire, while bringing in Dion Waiters, Derrick Williams, Wayne Ellington, Luke Babbitt and James Johnson to replace them. Yikes.

Re-signing Whiteside was a step toward keeping this team competitive, but to what end? And can Whiteside really keep this team in the playoff hunt, especially if Chris Bosh or Goran Dragic miss significant time — or worse, even if they don’t miss significant time?

The Heat preserved some of their long-term flexibility this summer, but they got significantly worse, missed out on KD, lost their franchise player, could lose their secondary franchise player because of his ongoing blood clot concerns and lost two other starters without finding viable replacements.

More hoops habit: Charlotte Hornets: 2016 Offseason Grades

That’s a pretty miserable summer, especially for a league executive of Pat Riley’s caliber.

Grade: D