Why a Goran Dragic-Heat reunion is unlikely this season. And Erik Spoelstra moving up list
Goran Dragic’s time away from the Toronto Raptors has included some time in Miami.
The veteran point guard attended the Miami Heat’s victory over the Washington Wizards on Tuesday at FTX Arena and also used Instagram to document a recent workout on the Heat’s practice court.
The Heat traded Dragic, 35, to the Raptors this past offseason as part of the deal that brought Kyle Lowry to Miami. Toronto announced in late November that Dragic would be taking time away from the team because of a personal matter, with no definite timeline for his return.
Dragic has played in just five games with the Raptors this season, averaging eight points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 17.9 minutes.
Despite the uncertainty surrounding Dragic’s situation with the Raptors, don’t expect him to return to the Heat this season. While not impossible, NBA rules make it very unlikely.
In order to prevent teams from using players’ salaries in a trade only to find a way to reacquire them shortly after, NBA rules do not allow the Heat to acquire Dragic directly from the Raptors this season. Even if Dragic agrees to a buyout with Toronto to become a free agent, he’s not allowed to sign with Miami during this salary-cap year that runs through the end of June.
Dragic would be eligible to sign with the Heat this season if the Raptors trade him to another team and he then agrees to a buyout. But that’s a very unlikely scenario, with a team needing to give up assets to trade for Dragic before allowing him to leave for nothing through a buyout.
Dragic, who has a $19.4 million salary this season, would be allowed to sign with the Heat again this upcoming summer when he becomes a free agent.
The Heat has one open spot on its 15-man roster, with only 14 players currently on standard contracts in part to avoid the luxury tax this season with the threat of the punitive repeater lax (when a team is over the tax at least three times during a four-year period) looming. The Heat finished the 2019-20 season as a tax team.
Although Dragic never won a championship, he’s considered one of the best point guards in Heat history.
Among the Heat’s all-time leaders, Dragic ranks 10th in games played (391), eighth in shots made (2,335), sixth in three-point shots made (588), 10th in free throws made (1,090), third in assists (2,034) and eighth in points (6,348).
MOVING ON UP
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra moved ahead of Doug Moe recently and into sole possession of 25th place on the NBA’s all-time regular-season coaching wins list. Spoelstra entered Sunday’s road game against the Sacramento Kings with 630 victories.
Spoelstra’s father, former NBA executive Jon Spoelstra, once worked for the Denver Nuggets while Moe coached there.
“I can’t even wrap my mind around those kind of things,” Spoelstra said. “Doug Moe is one of my dad’s favorite coaches. My dad loved Doug Moe.”
Spoelstra, who is in his 14th season as an NBA head coach, stands just nine wins away passing Chuck Daly for sole possession of 24th place.
Heat president Pat Riley is fifth on the all-time list with 1,210 regular-season wins over 24 seasons as a head coach.
AVAILABILITY REPORT
The Heat has ruled out 11 players for Sunday’s game against the Kings.
Marcus Garrett, Udonis Haslem, Duncan Robinson, Max Strus, P.J. Tucker and Gabe Vincent remain out while in health and safety protocols.
Bam Adebayo (thumb surgery), Dewayne Dedmon (knee sprain), Markieff Morris (whiplash) and Victor Oladipo (knee injury recovery) are also unavailable because of injuries. KZ Okpala, who was upgraded to questionable on Sunday morning, was also ruled out about an hour before tipoff on Sunday because of a sprained wrist.
Of Okpala, Spoelstra said: “He has really been pushing for [a return]. And we’ll just continue to treat him, evaluate him every day. But he’s not quite there.”
This story was originally published January 2, 2022 at 10:57 AM.
