Two days ago, Pat Riley held a press conference to discuss the state of the team as he usually does in each offseason. He was pretty certain that the Miami Heat were going to be able to retain Goran Dragic, something that I have written has been hidden under a cloud of uncertainty.
"Pat Riley on Goran:"If he doesn't re-sign, then my ass will be in that seat wrting about it." (points to where the media sits). #Heat
— Josh Friedman (@FriedoJosh) April 20, 2015
Seems a bit certain for someone who already has two max players under contract. The only way that the deal goes through is if the Heat offer Dragic the max contract, or if he takes less to stay with the Heat, which is something that they have done in the past to lure players who want to win championships.
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I doubt that Dragic gets the max contract because the Heat are already over the cap, and Heat owner Mickey Arison will have to pay a deep luxury tax (something he has said in the past that he is willing to do).
This also puts the Heat into a predicament when Hassan Whiteside becomes an unrestricted free agent next season. His market value is already pretty high, and his ceiling could make it even higher, especially if Miami excels this season the way the team plans to. The Heat have already locked nearly $70 million in their current roster, not including Dragic.
If they re-sign him, then surely Miami will be over the cap. In the 2016-17 season, only Chris Bosh, James Ennis and Josh McRoberts (and Dragic, if he signs) will be on the books. And the NBA will have that new shiny television contract which will heighten the salary cap, giving Miami enough room to offer something to Whiteside.
But Miami will have to do a bit of negotiation with Whitside, and Dwyane Wade for that matter, who has usually been the recipient of max contracts throughout his entire career. In the 2016-17 season, when Wade will be 35 years old, he will likely have to take significantly less money in order to get the pieces to fit.
Plus, Miami will likely have to begin to look for replacements for Chris Andersen and Udonis Haslem, who will both be in their late 30s by then.
Pat Riley also seemed a bit bitter about LeBron James having left the Heat.
Pat Riley: ‘No more smiling faces with hidden agendas.’ That’s totally about LeBron, right? http://t.co/hvy6DLhQS3
— Kurt Helin (@basketballtalk) April 20, 2015
This is the same guy who last year told fans and the media that he was not angry and was at peace with LeBron’s departure from the team. It is not clear that this was about LeBron, but to me it’s only not clear in the sense that he didn’t use LeBron’s name. It is only the second offseason that the Miami Heat have experience after LeBron left, so what other player would he be referring to?
What other player could stoke the same kind of passion from Miami fans?
Of course, the question should be asked, why is this still coming up? This was in an effort to provide confidence for Miami fans of the Heat’s ability to resign Goran Dragic in the offseason, and also because Pat had just finished talking about Miami’s inability to make the playoffs.
Part of that was due to LeBron’s not staying with the team after the team had gone to four straight NBA Finals appearances, winning two championships. Now, the Heat are in the post-LeBron era and failed to make the playoffs.
If you have not watched the Heat, then you might see this as a situation of destruction after hurricane LeBron came through. I don’t see it that way, and I don’t think anybody in the Heat organization does either. The Heat should have made the playoffs, hands down.
But injuries did bite them hard this season, and it is hard to imagine that any team would be able to bounce back from that (see the Oklahoma City Thunder).
Next season will look different, thanks to a lineup that already looks really good outside of Dragic. That lineup will have Wade, Luol Deng, Bosh and Whiteside. If the Heat are able to sign Dragic, then they are a team that is looking not just to compete for the playoffs, but for a championship.