The Miami Heat will dump Josh McRoberts on the Dallas Mavericks to create more room to re-sign James Johnson. Here are NBA Trade Grades for both sides.
After agreeing to sign Kelly Olynyk to an unexpected deal worth $50 million over four years, many wondered what that would mean for James Johnson, an unrestricted free agent in the Miami Heat‘s frontcourt who was deserving of a nice payday after a breakout 2016-17 season.
However, Heat fans had little to fear from the signing, as it was quickly reported by Ira Winderman of the South Beach Sun Sentinel that the team intended to re-sign Johnson on top of Dion Waiters‘ and Olynyk’s agreed-upon deals.
However, the Heat needed to free up enough cap space to do so. In a potential trade with the Dallas Mavericks, there were initial fears that Tyler Johnson‘s backloaded contract could be a prime candidate to be on the move.
Fortunately, The Vertical‘s Shams Charania soon reported that Tyler Johnson would not be included in the agreed-upon exchange, with the Heat ready to send Josh McRoberts and a future second round draft pick to Dallas for A.J. Hammons.
The question is, which side got the better end of this minor deal (which has yet to be made official)? To sort out how this affects Miami’s free agency and why the Mavs would engage in a salary dump like this, here are NBA Trade Grades for both sides.
Dallas Mavericks
For the Mavericks, it’s a little underwhelming to see a second-year player shipped off in a Josh McRoberts salary dump, especially since McBob’s $6 million salary for next season takes up most of the cap space that was freed up by Dirk Nowitzki‘s incredibly team-friendly discount deal reported Thursday.
However, Dallas only had $11 million in cap space to work with anyway, and among the pool of remaining free agents, they weren’t going to be able to land one of the best for that amount, nor would they have found difference-makers outside of that tier.
To that end, pocketing an extra second round pick isn’t terrible, especially since McRoberts is an expiring contract who will be off the books next summer.
Mavs also get rid of Hammons guarantee for next yr. McRoberts deal expires at end of season. Mavs gain about $1.5m in space next summer
— Chuck Cooperstein (@coopmavs) July 7, 2017
That $1.5 million in cap space may not seem like much, but the 2018 free agency class is going to be loaded. As we’ve seen this summer, cap space is precious after the spending spree of 2016, especially since the cap didn’t balloon as much as expected this offseason.
A.J. Hammons didn’t get much run in Big D as a rookie, playing a grand total of 22 games while averaging 2.2 points, 1.6 rebounds and 0.6 blocks in 7.4 minutes per game.
However, the former Purdue product only shot 40.5 percent from the floor, he’ll turn 25 years old before the upcoming season starts and the Mavs are fully stocked in the frontcourt between Nerlens Noel, Dirk, Salah Mejri and Dwight Powell.
Josh McRoberts to Mavericks is happening. Not sure what's outgoing, but the bottom line is he's an expiring contract so won't impact future.
— Eddie Sefko (@ESefko) July 7, 2017
There’s not a ton to be excited about here, but letting go of an unimpressive seven-footer in this McRoberts salary dump is worth it when one considers there’s a decent chance that future second-rounder becomes a more productive NBA player (or more valuable trade chip) than Hammons.
Grade: B
Miami Heat
All in all, this is a pretty solid deal for the Heat. News of the Olynyk signing underwhelmed most Miami fans — especially before it was reported the team planned on re-signing James Johnson as well — but the news of this trade came as a collective sigh of relief.
Heat Twitter after hearing Olykyk signed, Heat Twitter literally 10 minutes later hearing McRoberts might be gone pic.twitter.com/BNJmCpLFyN
— we not ass anymore (@BlSCAYNEBUCKETS) July 7, 2017
For starters, finally getting McRoberts’ deal off the books will be a welcome sight after he signed a four-year, $23 million contract with the Heat…and went on to play a grand total of 81 games in three seasons for the team, averaging 4.1 points and 2.8 rebounds per game in that time.
He wasn’t necessarily weighing the Heat down, but getting rid of him ensures Pat Riley will be able to re-sign Dion Waiters, haul in Kelly Olynyk AND re-sign James Johnson to a reported deal worth $60 million.
Sources: Miami Heat and James Johnson have agreed to a 4-year, $60+ million deal.
— Michael Scotto (@MikeAScotto) July 7, 2017
Hammons is only coming off his rookie season, and could spend time in the D-League developing his game, especially since the Heat already have Hassan Whiteside, Kelly Olynyk and rookie Bam Adebayo at the center spot.
AJ Hammons is gonna be intriguing to follow in Sioux Falls, btw. Wouldn't be surprised if he's a serviceable backup in a couple of years.
— Nekias (Nuh-KY-us) Duncan (@NekiasNBA) July 7, 2017
The Johnson and Olynyk signings will make it hard to bring back Wayne Ellington, but this deal freed up the cap space to lock down Johnson, the team’s point forward who played a pivotal role in its 30-11 finish to the season. It also got rid of McBob’s contract and brought a second-year player into the fold — all at the cost of a measly second round pick.
The Heat’s four-year deals over the last week basically represent Riley waving the flag on true title contention and embracing a fun, lovable team instead, but given all the versatility in Erik Spoelstra’s system, that’s certainly not the worst way to enjoy living under the Golden State Warriors’ shadow for the next few years.
Next: 2017 NBA free agency tracker - Grades for every deal so far
Grade: A