1. Gordon Hayward, SF
Without a doubt, Miami’s top target in free agency is Gordon Hayward.
The former Butler man is coming off the best year of his career — one in which he averaged 21.9 points, 5.4 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.0 threes per contest on .471/.398/.844 shooting splits. He was also one of the two main culprits behind Utah making a second round playoff appearance, their first in quite some time.
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Though landing Hayward won’t be easy, Miami does have a few factors working in their favor. For one, Brian Windhorst of ESPN recently reported that Utah’s small forward might not want a five-year max (a deal that only the Jazz could offer him), because after not making an All-NBA team and qualifying for a super-max deal worth more than $200 million he could sign a three-year max with another team and join free agency when he’d be a 10-year veteran, thus making him eligible for another massive payday.
Since Hayward just missed out on All-NBA honors in 2016-17, he became ineligible for said super max, which, conversely, opened the doors for teams like Miami and the Boston Celtics to swoop in.
Moreover, on Tuesday, Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical mentioned that Hayward plans on meeting with Riley on July 1. We’ve seen what can happen when the Godfather of South Florida gets into a room with an undecided big-time free agent.
Next: 2017 NBA free agency tracker - Grades for every deal so far
Whatever actually ends up happening is anyone’s guess, but at the very least, the Heat are in a good position with their two biggest targets. Can’t ask for much more than that heading into free agency.