A look at why the Heat’s plan for 2021 is nothing new for Pat Riley and the organization
The Miami Heat has proven in the past that it doesn’t need salary-cap space to acquire stars, but the Heat has also proven that preserving cap space for a talented free agent class is a prudent strategy.
No cap space was needed for the Heat to land Alonzo Mourning, Tim Hardaway, Shaquille O’Neal, Goran Dragic and Jimmy Butler. All were acquired via trade.
But then there’s also the summer of 2010, when the Heat’s plan to hoard cap space resulted in the ultimate return of Chris Bosh, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade that went on to win two NBA championships in four seasons together in Miami.
With the Heat seemingly determined to enter the 2021 offseason with maximum cap space unless a superstar becomes available via trade during the next year, recent comments from Heat president Pat Riley on the organization’s preparation for the summer of 2010 provided some insight into how the front office seems to be operating in preparation for a 2021 free agent class that includes reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo.
“We just wanted to make sure that we could be a player in 2010 even though that was three or four years away and be able to have cap space, be able to talk to these guys,” Riley said during an April interview with longtime Heat play-by-play broadcaster Eric Reid of Fox Sports Sun. “So we planned at that time that 2010 was going to be an incredible free agent class and I just wanted to be able to have dinner with them or get at a table with them with Micky [Arison], myself, [Mourning], [Erik Spoelstra], Nick [Arison], and Andy [Elisburg] always came to the meetings and stuff.
“But there are two sides to that also. While we see it as an organization, and we can talk about it and plan it. But the players also see it and their agents see it, and their agents could see that come 2010, the agents of these players, all of the players, the Heat has enough to sign three players.”
The Heat is on track to have cap room for one max free agent in 2021 to potentially add to its All-Star core of Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler, even with the COVID-19 pandemic impacting NBA economics. The cap is currently projected to rise to $125 million for the 2021-22 season, but that number will almost assuredly drop because of a dramatic decrease in league revenues caused by the pandemic.
But the Heat could survive the 2021-22 cap dropping by as much as about $10 million from the $125 million projection and still achieve max space if it doesn’t add any other salary commitments for that season and declines Andre Iguodala’s $15 million team option for 2021-22 . And even if the cap drops by more than $10 million, the Heat likely would be close enough to open a max slot if needed.
Remember, the reason the Heat’s trade for Oklahoma City Thunder forward Danilo Gallinari never came to fruition in February has a lot to do with the 2021 plan. Heat officials and Gallinari could not come to an agreement on an extension, according to multiple league sources.
Gallinari, who is set to become a free agent this upcoming offseason, prioritized years when it came to an extension and wanted a deal that would have included substantial guaranteed money in 2021-22. But the Heat balked at that idea because of its desire to preserve max cap space for the summer of 2021.
“Am I disappointed? Yes. I wanted everything,” Riley admitted to reporters in February when asked about not completing the trade for Gallinari. “But I wasn’t going to, nor was Micky [Arison] nor was Andy [Elisburg] or was Nick [Arison], were we going to compromise. A two-year plan, that’s what we’re looking at. It would be this year and then it would be next year. And whatever machinations that we would have to prepare for, if/or things would happen after next season, then we would do that. So, you got to take some risks here, and I think at that time, when you do it, you never know that things are really going to work out. But we want to win.
“I like Gallo. And I think he would have fit in here really well, but it didn’t work out. And somewhere you have to sort of draw a line in the sand for your team.”
Along with Antetokounmpo, the list of those who could potentially be free agents in 2021 includes Victor Oladipo, Anthony Davis, Gordon Hayward, Kyle Lowry, DeMar DeRozan, LaMarcus Aldridge, Mike Conley and Rudy Gobert. Also, Donovan Mitchell is set to become a restricted free agent in 2021, and James, Blake Griffin, Paul George, Kawhi Leonard, Jrue Holiday and Chris Paul have player options to become free agents that offseason.
As for Riley’s 2010 free agent pitch to Bosh and James, it could prove to be one that’s somewhat relevant again in 2021 depending on the Heat’s free agent target.
“After July 1, I just laid it out on the table,” Riley said to Reid of his 2010 pitch. “LeBron and Chris, two of the greatest players in our game. LeBron, maybe the greatest player of all time, with Dwyane. All you had to do was put it on the table after July 1 to say, ‘Why keep banging your head against the wall like you have been in Cleveland?’ And Chris in Toronto, having great seasons but never really getting very far in the playoffs. I said, here’s an opportunity to have three of the greatest players in the game in their prime at a time when they can make this kind of decision.”
The Heat also pursued stars in free agency in the summers of 2016 and 2017, missing out on Kevin Durant and Hayward, respectively. That’s the risk of playing the free agent game, but the potential reward is big.
