Heat acquires three players from Memphis, sends away Waiters, Johnson
The Heat is adding former first-team All NBA defender Andre Iguodala but it won’t be acquiring 19-point-a-game scorer Danilo Gallinari, which had been part two of the team’s master plan this week.
The trade deadline passed on Thursday with Miami acquiring Iguodala in a three-team, seven-player deal with Memphis and Minnesota that also will send veterans Jae Crowder and Solomon Hill to Miami. The deal was made official on Thursday night after a trade call with the league.
But Miami did not trade for high-scoring Oklahoma City forward Gallinari, after extensive discussions, primarily because Gallinari and the Heat could not agree on a multiyear extension that the Heat believed was important to consummate the deal.
According to a source, Gallinari wanted a deal that would include substantial guaranteed money in 2021-22, and the Heat wasn’t willing to do that because it wants to preserve max cap space for the summer of 2021 for a pursuit of Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo, who can become a free agent that summer.
Miami did not want Gallinari, an impending free agent, merely as a three-month rental because of the draft compensation that would have been required by OKC to complete the deal.
In return for Iguodala, Crowder and Hill, the Heat sent Dion Waiters, James Johnson and Justise Winslow to Memphis, which re-routed Johnson to Minnesota for center Gorgui Dieng.
“They want to win now,” Heat wing Jimmy Butler said of the Heat’s front office following Wednesday’s loss to the Clippers. “That’s what I was told and that’s what they’re doing. I think they know what everybody is capable of in this locker room, myself included. And we’re ready to go to war. We know that we can compete with the best of them. So moving forward, that’s what we’re expected to continue to do.”
Hill, a 28-year-old 6-6 small forward, is averaging 5.7 points and 3.0 rebounds in 48 games for the Grizzlies, including three starts, while shooting 41.2 percent from the field and 38.1 percent on three-pointers.
He’s earning $13.3 million in a contract that expires at the end of the season.
Hill, a former first-round pick of Indiana, has averaged 5.9 points in a seven-year career.
Crowder, who’s earning $7.8 million in an expiring contract, is averaging 9.9 points and 6.2 rebounds in 45 games, all starts, but is shooting just 36.8 percent from the field and 29.3 percent on three-pointers. The 29-year-old 6-6 small forward has averaged 9.5 points in eight NBA seasons.
The Heat cannot take back more money than it’s sending out because it’s operating under a hard cap this season. The math works on this trade because Waiters and Winslow and Johnson are earning a combined $40.4 million, with the cap hits equaling $41.6 million because of a Waiters bonus that he’s not getting but still counts against the Heat’s hard cap. The salaries of Iguodala (making $17.2 million), Hill and Crowder equal a combined $38.1 million.
One upshot of the deal for Miami is that the Heat won’t have Johnson or Waiters on its cap next season. Johnson is due $16 million next season in the final year of a four-year contract, provided he doesn’t exercise a player option this summer. Waiters is due $12.6 million next season in the final year of his four-year deal.
The Heat shed about $27 million in salary for next season, with Hill and Crowder on expiring contracts. Miami is now projected to have about $27 million in cap space for next summer and up to $40 million if Kelly Olynyk opts out of his player option for the 2020-21 season.
Also, the Heat is now $3.4 million below its hard cap, giving Miami the ability to add a player who’s bought out but only if Miami cuts a player, with the Heat now standing at the NBA’s 15-player limit. Players who have appeared in the NBA this season must be released by March 1 to be playoff-eligible elsewhere.
Through it all, the Heat preserved maximum-level cap space for the summer of 2021 with Iguodala’s two-year, $30 million extension which includes a team option for the 2021-22 season.
Iguodala, who turned 36 last week, is looking forward to getting back on the court. Iguodala has yet to play this season, as he and the Grizzlies mutually agreed that he would stay away from the team after Golden State traded him to Memphis this past summer.
Iguodala told The Undefeated that he’s expected to take a physical with the Heat in Sacramento on Friday in advance of the Heat’s game against the Kings, but he’s uncertain when he’ll make his debut since he has not played in an NBA game since June.
“I need to put on some weight, which is usually the opposite,” Iguodala said to The Undefeated after learning of his move to the Heat. “Usually, it’s like, ‘He needs to lose some weight and shed some pounds.’ But for me, I was doing a lot of boxing. I was on the court a little bit. I was working strategic. I was working smarter, not harder, on the court getting into basketball shape. I was always getting my reps. But in terms of my endurance, I am ready to go.”
Iguodala said he’s excited to join the Heat, telling ESPN’s Marc Spears: “Jimmy Butler is very well respected in terms of passion and hard work he brings to the game. His temperament and values he has really resonates with the Heat. They’re very well aligned. He’s brought out the most in those young guys. Those are some of the guys I’m really excited about. I feel I can make the most impact with those guys. I’m a big fan of Bam [Adebayo].. Really looking forward to playing with him... Been hearing about him last couple of years. Help him get better. Really excited about that opportunity.”
The Heat has been determined to trade Waiters, who was suspended on three separate occasions (totaling 17 games) this season for insubordination and violation of team rules. Miami also was eager to move Johnson, who had failed to live up to the team’s expectations after signing a four-year, $60 million contract in the summer of 2017.
Waiters averaged 13.9 points on 41.3 percent shooting and 3.6 assists in 123 regular-season games (101 starts) over his three-plus seasons with the Heat. Johnson averaged 10.3 points on 47.6 percent shooting, 4.3 rebounds and 3.2 assists in his three-plus seasons in Miami.
And to an extent, the Heat’s patience had run thin with Winslow because of a mysterious back ailment that has sidelined him longer than the team expected.
The Heat will move forward with a rotation that could include Bam Adebayo, Butler, Kendrick Nunn, Meyers Leonard, Duncan Robinson, Goran Dragic, Tyler Herro, Derrick Jones Jr., Olynyk, Iguodala, and possibly Crowder and Hill.
“Pat [Riley] is obsessed with winning,” Adebayo said Wednesday night. “You can’t be mad at that. We all have that DNA here. At the end of the day, he has to make big decisions. He’s doing that right now to get us a championship.”
This story was originally published February 6, 2020 at 12:16 PM.
