After Finals run, Heat enters important offseason. Strus, Vincent discuss impending free agency
Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra believes this season’s team had enough to win an NBA championship. Now, members of the Heat’s front office will decide whether they agree.
Exit interview day for the Heat came and went on Wednesday afternoon at Kaseya Center, with players, coaches and executives gathering for meetings before going their separate ways for the summer. But the day didn’t end without Spoelstra making clear how he feels about the Heat’s roster entering the offseason.
“My mind-set is that we had enough,” Spoelstra said. “We could have found a way to win that title this year.”
The reality is, though, the Heat entered the playoffs as the Eastern Conference’s No. 8 seed after an underwhelming 44-38 regular season and finished three wins short of an NBA championship following a historic and improbable playoff run. The Heat’s season ended Monday night, losing the NBA Finals 4-1 to the Denver Nuggets.
And the reality is the Heat faces a salary-cap crunch with only seven players under guaranteed salaries for next season: Jimmy Butler ($45.2 million), Bam Adebayo ($32.6 million), Kyle Lowry ($29.7 million), Tyler Herro ($27 million), Duncan Robinson ($18.2 million), Caleb Martin ($6.8 million) and Nikola Jovic ($2.4 million).
Including the $9.5 million player option that Victor Oladipo is expected to accept after sustaining a significant knee injury this postseason, Haywood Highsmith’s $1.9 million salary the Heat is expected to guarantee and a roughly $3 million cap hit for its first-round pick at No. 18, Miami has about $176 million in salaries committed to 10 players.
With the projected salary cap for the 2023-24 season set at $134 million and the projected luxury tax set at $162 million, that means the Heat is already a luxury tax team and very close to crossing the newly-instituted and ultra-punitive second apron of $179.5 million with roster spots still to fill for next season.
Since the Heat has no cap space and is already close to the second apron, the only realistic way to add outside talent to its roster this offseason is through the draft, a trade and/or with minimum contracts unless a move is made to change the salary-cap math.
If the Heat crosses the second apron, as expected, it won’t be permitted to use the taxpayer mid-level exception that it would otherwise have at its disposal in previous years before the new salary-cap rules were established.
The Heat also has its own free agents to make decisions on: Kevin Love, Max Strus, Gabe Vincent and Cody Zeller will be unrestricted free agents this offseason. Omer Yurtseven will be a restricted free agent.
The two big names on that list are Strus and Vincent, who were starters for the Heat during its playoff run to the Finals.
The good news for the Heat is it holds the Bird Rights for Strus and Vincent, which allows Miami to exceed the salary cap to re-sign them up to their maximum salaries. The bad news for the Heat is re-signing Strus and/or Vincent will make its luxury tax bill even more expensive.
Both Strus and Vincent want to return to the Heat, but they also know there’s a possibility they could be elsewhere next season.
“I haven’t had a better fit than being here in Miami,” Strus said Wednesday. “It’s what I know, it’s what I’m comfortable with. But I’m just excited to see what these next couple weeks, month is going to be about. I’ve never been here before, so I’m just going to take it all in stride and have my agent’s help out with everything. But a comfortability is definitely something to take into account.”
Vincent added on exit interview day: “Money plays a role, place plays a role, situation plays a role. There’s a lot of things that factor in, and I think it will all take care of itself throughout the summer.”
Strus and Vincent both signed with the Heat as undrafted free agents, going from two-way contract players to full-time starters for a team that made the NBA Finals in a span of three seasons.
Strus averaged 9.3 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game while shooting 40.2 percent from the field and 31.9 percent from three-point range in this year’s playoffs.
“I couldn’t ask for anything more,” Strus said of his Heat experience. “I’ve had an unbelievable time here. I did what I came here to do for myself. They gave me an opportunity and I took advantage of it. I will forever be thankful to coach [Pat] Riley, coach Spo, Andy [Elisburg] for keeping me around and giving me the opportunity to take that step in my career. I couldn’t have asked for anything better.
“I’ve been spoiled the last two years. Playing as a starter, getting to the Eastern Conference finals last year, getting to the NBA Finals this year. I don’t think people realize how special that is and it doesn’t happen for a lot of people. So I have a lot to be thankful for. This place is always going to have a special place in my heart.”
Vincent averaged 12.7 points, 1.4 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game while shooting 40.2 percent from the field and 37.8 percent from three-point range in this year’s playoffs.
“Obviously, all my time in the NBA has been with the Heat other than my short stint in the G League with Sacramento,” Vincent said. “I built a lot of great relationships with the organization, with staff. I’m beyond grateful for the opportunity they gave me and the chance they took on me. I’ve been blessed to represent this city and this organization so far.”
But the Heat, Strus and Vincent will all have business decisions to make once free agency opens on June 30.
On top of all that, the Heat has already been linked to potential trades for Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard and Washington Wizards star Bradley Beal.
Even after making it all the way to the NBA Finals and facing roster-building restrictions because of its salary-cap situation, it’s setting up to be another interesting and important offseason for the Heat.
“The goal is to win a championship, and this organization will do anything possible for that to happen,” Adebayo said. “I feel like everybody in here knows it’s a business. And that’s why you cherish the moments you go through with your teammates, with your brothers because you never know what can happen next year.”
▪ Speaking to the media on exit interview day is optional for players. The list of those who did not speak to reporters on Wednesday included Butler, Udonis Haslem, Herro, Love, Lowry, Martin, Oladipo and Zeller.
This story was originally published June 14, 2023 at 3:50 PM.
